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 TITLE: Not Going to Lie
BY: Carmen Grant
GENRE: Indie rock, folk rock, blues rock
LABEL: None - IndependentCarmen's first single off of her upcoming debut album, Speak Soft, is Not Going to Lie, a song that she wrote a few years ago after a rough breakup. The song talks about the aftermath of her breakup, and how, even though they were no longer in a relationship anymore, she still wanted to continue to sexual relationship they had. Carmen felt that this was something that a lot of people could relate to. In the first few lines of her song, she sings to her ex, as if they were in the same room together, explaining to him that the situation that they are not in is very complicated and she needs to get away. She goes on to sing that she's "not going to smile at all the shit that's happened," talking, of course, about their dead relationship, and that she doesn't want to be friends. She finishes the two verse by singing, "Just take off your clothes and get into my bed." It's obvious that, while Carmen's wants out of the relationship are now purely sexual, the ex still wants some sort of romantic relationship between them. In the third verse, she talks about "the press." One interpretation on that line could be the literal press, as in perhaps Carmen once dated a famous person, and the media was constantly trying to figure out how their relationship was. Another interpretation, and one that was been considered the true one for most people, is that what Carmen calls "the press" is actually just the people who are trying to know everything about Carmen and her ex, even though that information should only be strictly between she and them. With social media/websites on the rise, and people able to see who is in a relationship with who in just a few seconds, its easy to feel like you're being pressed and interviewed for information about your love life now. We also learn in the third verse that Carmen either broke up with her ex, or was definitely the reason for their breakup. The very last verse of the song is the verse that brings everything together. Carmen seems to be speaking very sternly to her ex as she explains that she doesn't need to explain anything to them because they are no longer dating, and that her ex no longer has any sway over what she does and what she thinks. At the last line, we see a glimpse of the Carmen that we've grown to love, where she mentions that instead of dealing with all the crap that her ex is throwing her way, she's just going to drink all day instead.
From the very beginning of the song, we know that this is not going to be a fun song. Carmen Grant, although being known in some group because of her bouncy, colorful personality, tends to write very emotional songs. Not Going to Lie is not different from the other ones in that aspect. The song starts with a slow jazz feeling to it, a piano starting the song off, and then a saxophone joining in to truly give the song the "jazz club" type feeling. When Carmen starts to sing, her voice is low and sultry. Even though the song is about not wanting to be romantic with a person anymore, she still sounds like she's trying to seduce him, almost as if the whole song were one big tease. A soft drum keeps the beat throughout the song. In the second verse, her voice gains some confidence, getting a little bit louder, and then going back to her original low voice. This continues throughout the song, as if she gets up the confidence to take her ex back, and then backs away from it. Because of her voice, many people can walk away with different interpretations of the song: Is she denying her ex a romantic relationship because he doesn't deserve one, or is she denying him one because she is teasing him and only wants sex? Was it really her fault that they broke up, or was it something that he did, and not everybody knows that? Of course, the listener will probably never know the answers to these questions, so the song is completely up to how that certain listener wants to interpret it. In the very last verse, Carmen's voice finally grows much more confident than ever before. All the instruments speed up their pace, the sax playing a much more upbeat tune than before as the song takes on less of a jazz club feeling and more of a musical theatre feeling. The whole last verse develops the feeling of Carmen really telling her ex off before she sings her last line, and all of the instruments go back to their original tune. The sudden change back to the slow tune could make the listeners have a few other questions: Was the sudden change because she only had enough confidence to tell him off just that once, or was it because she immediately regretting telling him off like that? Or maybe it goes back to the relaxed feeling because she truly is more relaxed now that she's gotten him out of her hair? Who knows. That's only up to the listeners to decide.I'm not going to lie
Not going to make up my mind tonight
I'm not going to pretend
I cleared out of town so I could clear my head
I'm not going to smile at all the shit that's happened
It's going to take a while
I don't want to be your friend
Just take off your clothes and get into my bed
And the press is after you
Jumping over fences just to see who's cool
And now I stand accused
I put a hole in your heart
And then I fed it to you
I'm not going to think
About all the shit you want me to think
I'm not going to say
Who I spent my time with yesterday
I'm not going to choose
In the end, either way, I still lose
I'm not going to
I was thinking about drinking my way through the daySOUNDS LIKE:
Cat Power - Lived in Bars
Edited by user 22 June 2013 11:19:13(UTC)
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