“It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now,” says Cathy, and Heathcliff overhears that much and no more, triggering the central tragedy of Wuthering Heights, and proving that eavesdroppers never hear good of themselves. It’s that tragedy that Kate Bush turned into her debut single, singing the part of Cathy’s ghost out on the moor as she begs Heathcliff to open the window and let her in. They can’t get free of each other even after death.
Those are, of course, fictional characters. Songwriters tend to be unreliable narrators of their own lives, and we could argue all day about whether Diamonds and Rust is an accurate account of Joan Baez’s feelings about Bob Dylan. I’ve no idea of the state of Skin’s love life but, as she takes the part of the abuser in a destructive relationship in Tracy’s Flaw, we can tell how damaged Tracy is. There is screaming.
The Monks are less articulate – perhaps a bit of screaming would help – with I Hate You, while Three Days Grace take it a bit further, saying "I Hate Everything About You": both bands use repetition to emphasise the dreadfulness of the situation. They’re like hamsters on the wheel.
Joni Mitchell is world-weary, and you can guess she’s been there before. Nevertheless, she’s in the throes of her obsession with A Case of You. Alcohol use is threaded through the relationship and echoes in the title metaphor. Is she still on her feet? I hope so.
Boomerang is a slightly more cheerful take on the topic, as the Barenaked Ladies’ protagonist cheekily avers he’s going to keep coming back no matter what, like the eponymous projectile. Dessa’s Matches to Paper Dolls is stuffed full of extraordinary imagery about moths and flames and feathers and glue. There’s gravel under Lucinda Williams’s wheels in Can’t Let Go, and Led Zeppelin second that as they charge ahead into Willie Dixon’s I Can’t Quit You Baby.
Richard Thompson isn’t usually known for his high spirits, and Oh I Swear introduces a new dilemma: the characters can’t separate for financial reasons. House prices haven’t exactly stood still in the 24 years since the song came out (on the Hard Cash concept album) and, as the broken halves of couples find themselves on friends’ sofas and in parents’ spare rooms, there are still those who stay together for the sake of the mortgage.
With this week’s final song we find that sometimes it’s not a question of ‘can’t live with, can’t live with without’. Sometimes, as Amy Winehouse goes Back to Black, it’s can’t live at all.
You didn’t think this was going to be a happy week, did you?
The list
I Hate Everything About You – Three Days Grace
Matches to Paper Dolls – Dessa
Can't Let Go – Lucinda Williams
I Can't Quit You Baby – Led Zeppelin
• See all recommendations on last week's blog, from which treefrogdemon created this playlist
