31. TV Girl - “Song About Me (Feat. Maddie Acid)”

The minstrel of our generation’s love life is back at it once it again with this track. It’s a jam that perfectly captures the disequilibrium that ensues post-breakup – although I’m not really sure we can even call it a ‘breakup’, because the word implies that a relationship actually existed to begin with. Whereas today most people prefer to do everything in their power to paint their ‘relationship’ as anything but what it actually is.

However, this track gives voice to all of that. It recognizes the intrinsic contradiction of modern love and then embodies said contradiction. TV Girl is a master at delivering intense emotion through a veil of apathy. He sings of anger, anxiety, and sadness, and yet he never gets riled up or raises his voice. As he so aptly states – “who really cares?” It’s the perfect summation of his aesthetic and millennial love in general. It’s the denial of all investment, of actually stepping off of the pedestal of ‘self-love’ to sacrifice and care for someone else.

What makes this track even better is the fact that Maddie Acid is on it. We’re all used to being drenched in the uber (millennial) masculinity of TV Girl’s perspective – and although its always an entertaining dose of self-deprecation, it’s nevertheless nice to hear an alternate perspective and be given the thoughts that rest on the other side of the equation. Every relationship is built of two minds, and Maddie’s contribution perfectly captures how the shittiness that leads to a breakup can so often pervade both parties. Rarely is the friction one-sided, but rather an amalgamation of immaturity, withdrawal and self-preservation from all sides.