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 TITLE: Upside Down ARTIST: Vara Gallo WRITERS: Vara Gallo LENGTH: 5:14 GENRE: Experimental rock, alternative rock, alternative metal PRODUCER: Reza Vranitzky LABEL: Titanic Records RELEASED: November 1st, 2014
Vara Gallo has not been shy from the limelight at all, although the last song she released was several months ago. Between those months, her fanbase has stayed busy, trying to keep up with Vara's on-and-off again fueds, friendships, and flings - not to mention her very controversial season on Celebrity Big Brother 4. With so much that's happened to her over these past few months, when Vara finally announced that she was going to release new music, everybody started to wonder what she would write about this time. Well, your questions have been answered...
It's no secret that Vara Gallo and her new girlfriend, Mariko Kobayashi, have had a complicated - and at times, sordid - relationship. Vara admits that when they first met, Vara had very negative feelings towards Mariko. At the time, Gallo was dating Trent D'amour of Shadowmachine - an underground industrial band that never quite reached the height of fame that it seemed destined to meet. D'amour and Mariko Kobayashi had become quick friends after meet, and Vara says that she was jealous by their relationship. By her own account, Vara and Mariko's relationship was difficult until they found an equal love of drugs, drinking, and... women. From then on, the friendship between Vara and Mariko was very strong, lasting through Vara and Trent's break-up, and the several relationships Mariko has been in in the last couple of years. In later Spring of this year, several people accused Vara of having a romantic interest in Mariko after Vara and Mariko's then-girlfriend, Nina "Rum" Tarantino, openly fought over social media over Nina's treatment of Mariko. Although Vara vehemently denied any sort of romantic feeling towards Mariko, the public wouldn't know how right they were until the fourth season of Celebrity Big Brother started, when it was revealed that both Vara and Mariko were going to be in the house together.
It seemed that even from the first week, Vara and Mariko had no problems showing affection towards each other. While they continuously stated that they were "just close friends" when they were questioned about it, it all came to a head when Mariko had a sexual encounter with Daisy on the show, publicly ending Mariko's relationship with Nina Tarantino. After a heated confrontation between Vara and Mariko after this encounter came to light, Vara and Mariko continued the rest of the show as a couple, proving everybody who predicted that this would happen right. While many saw this relationship as a gross romanticization of cheating, many others saw it as real life fairytale of two people that are meant to be together finally becoming a couple. As Shakespeare wrote in A Midsummer Night's Dream, "The course of true love never did run smooth." After the show, the couple moved to Prato, Italy - where Vara is from - and have mainly kept to themselves since the end of the season. So the question now is... what's the relationship been like?
Vara uses her new song, "Upside Down," to answer just that question. The song chronicles the thoughts of insecurity and unsurity that Vara has had since the ending of the show with her relationship with Mariko - which is understandable, seeing as they both launched themselves into the relationship without fully thinking about it on live TV. The song is titled "Upside Down," and those very words are sang multiple times throughout the song to illustrate exactly how Vara feels her world has become since she and Mariko began their relationship. While the song does slightly put the relationship in a negative light, Vara explains in the song that it's only negative because of her insecurities and self-destructive thoughts. The song starts out with a very ethereal, light tone to it - more reminiscent of the type of music Vara made on her debut album, "Hoes and Bitches," than the heavy toned material she produced on her more recent album, "Lover's Eyes." In the first verse, Vara sings that they can find comfort in the unknown, and that they can make a friend out of a foe - obviously talking about her relationship with Mariko, and how she originally very much disliked her when they first met. Vara starts describing an event between her and Mariko, where Mariko had to pick her up from a club. From the way that Vara describes the setting, it's clear that she's under some substance - which she confirms in the next verse, when she says that she doesn't think they're "high enough." Vara tells Mariko that she can take her down fast, or just take it slow - seeming to think that she's destined to get hurt, and is asking if it'll be fast or slow.
The entire feeling of the song changes dramatically when the next verse starts. In the first verse, Vara's voice seemed distant and echo-y, and the song seemed to maintain a slow tempo; In the second verse, the song speeds up considerably, and Vara's voice drastically changes. It's now the front and center of the song, maintaining a very sexual edge - as her voice normally does - while still seeming almost menacing. In the slower verse, Vara's words are very compliant and submissive. In the faster verse, she seems to be much more antagonistic and aggressive. In the style of the song, the faster verses are supposed to be her inner thoughts that are telling her that everything is going badly, while the slower verses are the verses that are trying to help the situation rather than make it worse. She starts off by singing that they're not high enough for tonight. A voice - Vara's - shouts, "Give up!" loudly, imitating the sudden negative thoughts that Vara often has because of her bipolar disorder. After the next verse, Vara shouts, "Fuck up!" to show her own psyche breaking herself down. She tells Mariko, in her own drug-addled state, that Mariko's smile could devour her whole, and that she hopes the confusion of the night will just take them away. After the last line, Vara says, "Fuck up," again, but this time in less of a screaming way, and more of a scolding way. She continues in this same style into the next verse, begging for Mariko to hold her close and help keep her in the real world, and not into her own world in her drugged mind. Vara professes to Mariko that Mariko is her savior and her lover, and that Mariko has won. It's unclear as to what Vara means by that, especially since she potentially wrote the song while under substances, but many have believed what she meant by that line is that Mariko has won the ongoing battle for each other's affections that they seemed to have been having for a year now.
The next verse is what can be considered a chorus of the song, where a mixture of the two tones come together - Vara's voice is still front and center and loud, but the musical arrangement takes on the same flowy feeling as it did before, in the slower verses. Vara, in a very obvious call to Mariko, tells her that Mariko can take her to Japan, and that Vara will do everything in her power to find room for herself in Mariko's "new old life." Again, this is another line that confuses people, but many think that Vara is comparing their relationship to Mariko's other relationships that she's had in the recent past, as if she's saying that although their relationship is new, their situation is old. Going back to the style of the slower verses, the song starts the next verse, where Vara's mind has gone back to it's softer, submissive side. This verse focuses mainly on Vara's drug use again, stating that the drugs are starting to mess with her mind and making her feel broken inside. But she can't give the drugs up because she loves how they make her feel, even though they make her feel like death in the morning.
And again, the drugs taken over and send Vara back into the fast verse state of mind, with her stating how a normal Friday night in the Gallo-Kobayashi household goes: They're either fucking or fighting all night. No matter what they do, Vara still feels like she needs Mariko in her life, and she afraid of what will happen if she fucks up. She finishes the verse by stating one of the most honest truths of the song: "I hope you want me, but you know I need you." The next verse, although still in the same style, is much more antagonistic than the previous one. Vara's insecurities get the best of her and she tells Mariko that she's much hotter than the girls she was with, but she's much colder than the girls that have shot Mariko down. Vara openly brings up Mariko's ex-girlfriend, saying that she won't compare herself to them, but she's still not as crazy as they've all been. In the last line, she counts to three in Japanese, and then announces that she's not going to leave Mariko the way that the other girls she's dated have. She sings the chorus again, and then the song fades out with her singing, "Upside down..." over and over again. There's no real conclusion or nice wrap-up to the song, since their relationship is an on-going thing, and since Vara continues to have insecurities about herself. The listener is left with just a small insight into Vara's head during the time that she wrote this song, and possibly a bit more insight into Vara as a person.
Upside down Upside down We can find comfort in the unknown And we can make a friend out of a foe Just pick me up outside of the club, we'll make our way down the blinding road You can take me down fast, or we'll just take it slow Honestly, I don't think we're high enough (give up) The world is sleeping, gotta wake me up (fuck up) Your smile could devour me whole (no way) Confusion will take us away tonight (fuck up) You whisper in my ear, hold me tight, eyes are clear I'll scream if I can't feel, and I'll scream if I can't move (fuck up) You are my savior, you are my lover, you've won I know we're in my house, but I can't run You can take me to Japan I can find room for me in your brand new old life Upside down Upside down I've been breaking and shaking a lot lately They can take their time when they're messing with my mind I'm fine if we can just keep tripping, love the way the lights are blinking These midnight stranger hangovers hang me It's Friday night, we're gonna fuck or fight (all night) It's time and all I need is you tonight (fuck up) We lock eyes like it's the last time you'll see me I hope you want me, but you know I need you (fuck up) I'm hotter than the girls you're lookin' up (shut up) I'm colder than the girls who shot you down (fuck up) I won't compare, but I'm still not crazy (bitches) Ichi, ni, san, not gonna leave! You can take me to Japan I can find room for me in your brand new old life Upside down Upside down Upside down Upside down Upside down Upside down Upside down Upside down... SOUNDS LIKE:
Tomahawk - 101 North
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