Song Case Study: The 1975

The following was written for an assignment for a "Special Topics" class called "Popular Music and Social Change" in Spring 2023.

Please note there were certain formats and content criteria for this assignment.

This was the final paper written as part of my final project.

The 1975: Making Their Statement

As a band, The 1975 has made quite a splash in both British and U.S. media. Frontman and lead singer Matty Healy has made a point of being viewed as odd or eclectic and the band has been known to attempt to cross any boundary they can. From songs about heroin dependence to gun control, even calling out Donald Trump, The 1975 has tried to use their platform– whether it be live onstage or a 30-second acceptance speech– to address societies’ atrocities and call for a better world.

Their sophomore album, I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It, features a variety of songs featuring a more pop feel as opposed to the hard rock angsty vibe of their debut album. One song in particular, “Loving Someone,” has become somewhat of a gay anthem following the spike in homophobic politics and social views that came to the surface during the 2016 election. That December in London, Healy gave a quite lengthy speech about the state of both the UK and the US politics. After being in the US for the election and UK during Brexit, he gained somewhat of a cynical perspective of the world. Healy gave roughly a three-minute speech, concluding with a simple call to action to his young, liberal audience.

“So if we’re young, right? And we’re liberal, and we’re compassionate, and we’re Muslin and we’re black, and we’re gay, and we’re whatever. If we are that then it is our responsibility to be compassionate, to listen to everybody, listen to their concerns, and move things forward. And you are our people and we love you so fucking much, you have no idea. This song’s about loving someone. [rainbow lights flash across the stage, music starts]” (The1975VEVO, 2016)

Their next anthem came in 2018. “Love It If We Made It” was released as a single prior to their third album, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships. The song can be described as the political outcry of political outcries with each verse, line, and lyric calling out one atrocity of another. The music video includes footage of every disaster and tragedy in the past 20 years, showing horrible images and video footage of the consequences of our society. Healy went on with Genius to analyze the song’s lyrics line by line. When referring to the line, “I moved her on her like a bitch,” he went into why he specifically decided on using that.

“That’s a direct quote from the sitting President of the United States. That’s a weird reality.... It’s like on the radio, they don’t play swear words. I would have to be censored for literally quoting the leader of the free world.” (Genius, 2018)

“Love It If We Made It” has served as somewhat of an anthem to the fanbase as it captures the angsty feel that a lot of fans miss from their debut album. Despite its massive popularity, the band plays the song at almost every show, feeling like they have to address the increasing negativity around the world. At the band’s show in New York’s Madison Square Garden, Healy said, “Remember in 2018 when we thought everything was really bad? Honestly, I didn’t want to still be playing this song in 2022. The point of this song is not to have to play it but here we are” (Kyle Davis, 2022).

A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships was a bit revolutionary for the band. The first two albums had a song called “The 1975” that was mainly instrumental with only a few lyrics and while the lyrics stayed the same, they were played to different music for the first two albums.

Their third iteration did not feature the same lyrics and was instead a spoken word by Greta Thunberg, an environmental activist who was 16 years old at the time. The five-minute song is yet another call to action, where Thunberg preaches radical change in order to preserve what we have left. The ending is particularly powerful, as seen below.

Today, we use about 100 million barrels of oil every single day. There are no politics to change that. There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground. So, we can no longer save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed. Everything needs to change, but it was to start today. So, everyone out there, it is not time for civil disobedience. It is time to rebel. (The 1975 – the 1975 (NOACF), n.d.)

Their statements are not limited to politics, however, and they’re certainly not limited to their lyrics. In 2019, The 1975 won the BRIT award for Best Group and took the opportunity to use their 30 seconds to, of course, say thank you to those who voted but also to read a quote by Laura Snapes, the deputy music editor for The Guardian before simply walking off stage.

"Male misogynist acts are examined for nuance and defended as traits of difficult artists, while women and those who call them out are treated as hysterics who don't understand art," (BRITs, 2019).

Most recently, the group performed at the Hangout Music Festival in Alabama, just days after they passed their abortion ban. This was a speech that one could say was more of a rant simply due to the rage that Healy was filled with as he spoke. After having read the bill, he commented on how appalled he was by the comparison of women receiving abortions to the Rwandan genocide or all of the Jewish people who died in the Holocaust, calling the men responsible for the bill “misogynist wankers”, not men of God (Content Box, 2020).

"The reason I'm so angry is because I don't believe it's about the preservation of life I believe it's about the controlling of women," (Content Box, 2020)

The band has been together for over 10 years and have been able to create a platform that fights for freedom and equality across all races, ethnicities, genders, and sexualities as well as providing as safe space for people to feel loved and accepted. The group– especially lead singer Matty Healy– goes out of their way to try and cross any boundary they can, in their own odd way.

Sources

The1975VEVO. (2016, December 25). The 1975 - Full Live Show - (Vevo Presents: Live at The

O2, London) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kiY87XLahk

Genius. (2018, November 1). The 1975 “Love It If We Made It” Official Lyrics & Meaning |

Verified [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzWt3EUsqiwKyle

Kyle Davis. (2022, November 14). The 1975 - Madison Square Garden, New York | 11/7/22 |

FULL SHOW - PRO SHOT | 4K HD [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkIqI05qAZI

The 1975 – The 1975 (NOACF). (n.d.). Genius. https://genius.com/The-1975-the-1975-noacf-lyrics

BRITs. (2019, February 20). The 1975 win British Group | The BRIT Awards 2019 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBjM_v-KT44

Content Box. (2020, June 5). Matty Healy (The 1975) - Talking About The US Government - 2019 (Pro Audio) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlH1acMk298