Nobody by Mitski

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Nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody.....
Mitski released a new single by the name of “Nobody” Monday, June 26, in anticipation of her upcoming fifth album, Be the Cowboy. This is the second single Mitski has released, following “Geyser,” all under the record label Dead Oceans. These two songs couldn’t be more unlike one another in terms of both subject matter and their musical composition, creating much more anticipation for how the full album sounds, expected to come out August 17, 2018.  
“Nobody” opens with rapid sixteenth drum notes before Mitski utters the first line that encompasses her entire tone on the track: “My God I’m so lonely.” The song is a complete ode to romantic isolation but pulls it off an a spectacular way, transforming the wallowing despair into a celebration of heartache.
The words and sound of the single exist in juxtaposition. The lyrics are an endless cycle of pleading for a partner, even just in temporary form, in a way that is overall hopeless and desperate. A universal feeling, of course, but the music carries the words of sorrow into a new place of enthusiasm and delight, turning the blues into a pop song. These variables intersect at the chorus, which is simply the repetition of the name of the track over and over again until the syllables of “Nobody” have been stripped of meaning. Mitski allows the word to be a joke, poking fun at the helplessness of her own disposition while still being distraught by its effects. At the same time, the lyrics are not strictly or inherently despairing, she shows self-awareness “I don’t want your pity,” humor “Venus, planet of love/ Was destroyed by global warming,” and fantasy “Give me one good movie kiss” seamlessly, creating a well-rounded, honest portrait of human complexity and the want for what’s not readily unattainable.
These subtleties are highlighted through the musical composition. Instead of creating an atmosphere of loneliness with sparse instrumentation and croaking vocals, Mitski turns disco. She creates a dance beat that allows listeners to be freed by their frustrations rather than trapped by them, in turn showing how even our discontent can be celebrated. Each wave of layered instrumentation mirrors the building sense of unwarranted enjoyment washing over listeners. The song was produced to most ideally exist on a sweaty strobe-lit 80’s dance-floor, perhaps the polar opposite of the atmosphere the speaker is living in. The pouncing beats make jumping up and down a necessity, Mitski refusing listeners to be put down like the speaker suggests, single-handedly drenching the track in careless positivity.




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