The past few days have been such an exhilarating experience. It's funny how one can find adventure in places they'd least expect it. I sought for adventure in the wrong places. Literally. I thought I'd travel to a new place to experience new things, the new city, its roads, its culture, food. But adventure was never about just the superficial. It's always the emotional aspect that matters more. And I had almost forgotten about that. While I certainly have traveled to another place, I've found most of this, so called adventure, not in the new environment, but with people. New, as well as old! I've grown so much in this past year, in a direction I did not expect. But I look at myself now and feel that I've done a good enough job with the issues that were thrown at me. The present Sugandha, appreciates the older one, for doing whatever it is that she did, or didn't do. In a span of mere 6 months, I've experienced way too many new things. I feel extremely grateful for it all. Prior to this, all of it seemed possible in books, fairy tales, fiction, crime, drama, thriller, what have you. But now, it's all real. It's happening. And it's all bloody fascinating. I've met many new people, made innumerable friends, and I even found many who've left a life lasting impression on me. I could find people who share my love for science, food, philosophy, psychology, life itself, with ease, and I'm grateful for that as well. I just feel blessed at the moment. This adventure, that I talk of? I guess it's all related to growing up, or experiencing new people in this new phase, where the people around me are growing up themselves. Like I said, new, and old. It's all so lovely.
After a long journey through time, covering all her past works, we finally come to Marina's latest album (as of now), that goes by the name of Froot! This album starts off with a song that is one of my personal favorites, Happy. It is a song that gives everything that we've known about Marina, until now, a very beautiful closure. Like a fan rightly said in one of the comments in the next video, "She used to write sad songs with a happy melody, now she writes happy songs with a sad melody and it's still beautiful." - How perfectly put!
Happy, is about that feeling of complete satisfaction, where one feels like they finally belong somewhere. No words could ever do justice to how the song feels when you're actually feeling, happy. I think this was the time when Marina finally found someone, or something, she could be in love with completely, without any inhibitions.
The next song, which also happens to be the name of the album, Froot, is a very colorful piece. Now Marina has spoken about how this song isn't about sex, but the lyrics suggest otherwise. Either way, the song has some really amazing beats; And if it does compare sexy times with fruity metaphors, it ends up doing a great job at that. "I've been saving all my summers for you, like Froot." and "Baby I'm plump and ripe." Damn. Marina's extremely husky, seductive, and an elegant lady-like voice gives this song an extra oomph factor. Froot was the first song from the album to be released for the fans all over the world.
I'm a Ruin is another lovely song. I think many go through what Marina seems to go through in this song. The feeling of being someone who ends up ruining other people's lives, not on purpose though, of course. Don't we all justify of how we do so, and why, anyway? "Babe I'm going to ruin you, if you let me stay." "You still mean everything to me, but I wanna be free." I think this has a lot to do with how someone feels like being free from relationships, because of not wanting to be the one who ends up ruining the other person. "But I don't wanna say goodbye." Oh, life does get confusing.
My other very favorite song from the album, Blue, is a happy go lucky song. No, not like Happy, which was a very serious song, this one's more playful in nature. It's got some cute beats, and a lovely dance sequence by our Marina. Even though she talks about something that might be considered sad, it's a light-hearted number and she seems more optimistic here. Check out the video!
Forget is more towards the serious side, once again. "I have lived my life in debt, yeah I've spent my days in deep regret." And she'd like to forget it all, forgive, and forget. In Gold, Marina reveals that she's been wrong about what she wanted all along. I think this song gives away this fact that yes, Marina has certainly changed from her first few song releases and earlier albums. She now believes that gold, or something precious, like fame, perhaps money, or love, is not what she thought it was, earlier. She believes there's much more to everything that she had been striving for. Gold, or those things that she wanted, can't be bought, nor can they be sold. Does this mean that she, heart of heart, isn't someone who is materialistic? Probably. That's what I think anyway (Ya, right. Who am I kidding. She's materialistic as fuck). The next song is very similar to what she could have shared in The Family Jewels. The song Can't Pin Me Down has similar colors to how she doesn't care about the world, as long as she is satisfied with what she's doing, something Marina always stood for. "I'm never gonna to give you anything you expect." I don't think anyone could ever pin her down.
I cannot completely describe my feelings on what I think about Solitaire. The lyrics are pretty self explanatory, and there is a metaphor here where Marina is comparing herself to a solitaire. Rare, who doesn't want to be compared with cheap shimmer and glitter.
"Hard like a rock, cold like stone,
White like a diamond, black like coal,
Cut like a jewel, yeah I repair,
Myself when you're not there."
The song speaks a lot of what goes in one's mind when they feel like wanting to be left alone. When the crave silence over the chaos that surrounds us. And it's not necessarily a bad thing. A lovely song by Marina, and another gem from this album, in my opinion.
Better Than That is a light song that basically deals with three people. Perhaps a love triangle? She compares an unwanted history that keeps re-surfing in her thoughts, to weed in a garden, in the song called, Weeds. You cut them at the root, she thinks, and that's what she tries to do with her history. At the same time, she can't do it with ease. She remembers everything about her past, as it isn't really easy to let go of times when you've felt good.
The last two songs in this album are quite philosophical. In Savages, Marina talks about how everything is all about the survival of the fittest. Where people are not afraid of war, or murder, metaphorically, only to survive. "It's a human trait, hidden deep inside of our DNA.", she says, "I'm not afraid of God, I am afraid of man.". The chorus goes something like this,
"Underneath it all, we're just savages,
Hidden behind shirts, ties and marriages,
Truth is in us all, cradle to the grave,
We're just animals still learning to behave."
It's the bridge that sums up what she's trying to suggest though,
"All the hate coming out from a generation,
Who got everything, and nothing guided by temptation,
Were we born to abuse, shoot a gun and run,
Or has something deep inside of us come undone?
Is it a human trait, or is it learned behavior?
Are you killing for yourself, or killing for your savior?"
Finally, in the last song, Immortal, Marina talks about being so, and how reserving a space in history, is such an important part of the human race. She says she's chasing after time, but everybody dies. Still, if everything does end, earth and the seas, there's one thing she believes that will survive. The memories she'd share with the ones she loves, and the memories they would have, of her. The song is extremely pessimistic, but she knows that love is a powerful thing, and the only thing that matters, in the end. The song, and hence the album, ends with her chanting, "So keep me alive." She could be saying this to anyone, her fans, her lovers, or to show everyone that the last plea uttered from anyone, is something that gives them the hope of still being alive, even after they are long gone.
Now that we have covered all her albums, we can see how Marina, as an artist, has grown over the years. The image of herself that she gave us in the three albums, speak volumes of what she might be going through with, in her life at that time. From someone wanting to make her name, to someone who just wanted to experiment and have fun, and finally, to someone who seems to be wanting to settle down, in search of answers to questions that demand stability, and a deeper meaning of what life is all about. I can only imagine what Marina will share with us in her future works.
Till then, here's the Holy Trinity.
~
This finishes my set of blog posts about my queen, Marina, from Marina and the Diamonds. I wonder if anyone is ever going to read them. If you have, thanks for sticking around!
Released 2-3 years after her previous album, Electra Heart seems like Marina's entry into the pop scene. By pop here, I mean popular, anything that's not indie. The songs are unique, brimming with ideas along the lines of girl power. The preppy tunes keep ringing in ones head for a long while, way after you've had an Electra Heart listening marathon (I can say that for myself, at least).
The album starts off with Bubblegum Bitch. The song introduces us to the life of Electra Heart. I presume it's a pseudo identity of one side of Marina. A side most teenage pop lovers would love to idolize. A woman who is strong willed, who's had it with bullshit, and who wouldn't be afraid to be bad. I think I do not agree to most of the songs here, and hopefully, all those teenage girls don't either. Marina herself has stated once, that she wasn't as attached to this album as her other works, as it wasn't very satisfying to her actual purpose, and was too pop for her liking. I agree. But I can't at the same time. Despite the bad-girl image Electra Heart has in store for us, I can't help but agree that this album, offers a sense of liberation, and realizations, that life is too short to feel sad about messed up things.
The Primadonna girl is nasty, narcissistic, and egoistic. But she doesn't care why people make a fuss out of it. She just wants to be adored! Lies is a song from the sadder lot of her songs. Somehow, I always find her sadder songs more realistic, than the ones in which she seems happy. The happiness, seems like a facade; she's always simply just waiting to be hurt again. I love Homewrecker, honestly? because it's got some great lyrics. "Boys and their toys, and their six inch rockets", WHAT? It's too funny and catchy not to sing out loud. "I don't belong to everyone." Sometimes I wonder if this all is just a reaction of what Marina had to go through during The Family Jewels.
The next song The Starring Role, is one of my favorite songs to feel depressed to. Even if I'm not sad for the same reasons as Marina seems to be in this song,"Sometimes I Ignore you, so I feel in control. Cuz really, I adore you, and I can't leave you alone." The reason why I like this song, is because it pushes me forth to stop feeling sad that I'm, well, sad. There's a certain satisfaction in realizing that you too can feel sad, and feeling that too, is a wonderful thing you could be grateful for. I love Marina's voice on this one. The next song, The State Of Dreaming, is too beautiful! PRETTY SURE the Diamonds will relate to this when they're sad. Here's the video -
Power & Control has some amazing beats, another lovely song from Electra Heart, and it talks about the dynamics of power, and control, in relationships. Which brings us to the next scandalous song, Sex yeah.
"Question what the TV tells you,
question what a pop start sells you,
question mom and question dad,
question good, and question bad."
I love these lines! The single hope from Marina where she's asking us to be careful of the things she does in her own life, as Electra Heart. She's talking about the society here; can someone tell me how in the world she manages to talk about serious things with so much fun? Maybe it's just her voice, and her choices of rhythm. A serious world that we live in, and a light-hearted way to handle things. Remind you of how most good people out there deal with things in the world?
Teen Idle won the hearts of many Marina listeners. It's preppy, fun, dark, and very girly. She wants your blood, guts and angel cake, for Christs sake! Every girl wants to be a Teen Idle. Or does not, really not, want to be one. Either way, every girl knows what a Teen Idle is, and has her own version of story around it. Listen to the song if you'd like to understand what many young girls go through.
One can find Marina in the Valley Of The Dolls, with countless others that she's speaks for, as a spokesperson, "Living with identities, that do not, belong to me. In my life, I've got this far, now I'm ready for my last hoorah. Dying like a shooting star, in the valley." This song talks about the cycle that these 'dolls' find themselves in. Of rising, and falling.
In Hypocrates, Marina stands her own guard against, a certain someone. Someone who's trying to tame her, or perhaps, guide her for what they feel is better for her own good. She doesn't agree though, or even if she does, is too mad to even consider what's good for her, in the light of her not being able to be in control of her own life. Electra Heart is hell bent on breaking hearts. In How To Be A Heartbreaker she gives us easy tips on how to do exactly that. Even though this song is far from what I think Marina is REALLY about, it's one of her popular songs, loved by many across the globe.
Radioactive is the song that casts Marina as a queen. She takes the charge of her situation, and perhaps of the people around her, and declares that fact to the world. The song tells us that she's disappointed in others. "Ready to be let down, now I'm heading for a meltdown."
The last song of the album, gives us the Marina we all knew all along. All along this pompous galore she had created around Electra Heart. "Now I see, I see it for the first time, there is no crime, in being kind." I think she tries to justify her actions with the help of this song. Of what made her make the wrong choices, what she's learned from them, how it has changed her, and how it she can still change for the better. I think she wrote the song addressing herself. "Baby you don't have to live your life in fear." No body wants to live in Fear and Loathing.
Even though the album is not something I would preach about (it's got way too many narcissistic elements for my liking), it deals with some extremely real situations many girls find themselves facing. Marina is extremely narcissistic though, and I can't hate her for that. She's honest, and true, and I love the way she's proud about being truthful, even if she lacks the subtlety of being more polite. This album resulted in a spike in Marina's popularity. I for one discovered her around this time too. One can certainly let go, and dance nights away, swinging to the beats of Electra Heart, knowing that what they feel, is felt by someone else out there too. As usual, Marina is a queen, and Electra Heart makes up for an extremely lovely album to listen to.
