40. TV Girl - “Taking What’s Not Yours”

Leave it to TV Girl to write the perfect post-breakup song. It’s golden. It has the characteristic swagger of all his tracks. The sort of apathetic affectation that has made him the de facto poster child of Millennial love.

After all, we’ve all been there. Stumbling around in the ruins of a relationship only to find artifacts left behind from the civilization of our past love. We’re caught between throwing them away and holding onto them, because giving them back just isn’t an option. All communication is cut. The other half might as well be dead, and yet at the same time you can’t help but think about the things you’re missing and wonder what they’re doing or how they’re being treated.

This jam gives voice to all of those unspoken thoughts and feelings. It’s almost as if the subject is a cultural taboo. A universal topic we’ve all experienced and yet people seldom talk about due to its inherent awkwardness. Only TV Girl doesn’t get awkward, or better yet, he thrives within upheaval it produces. He relishes the uncomfortable friction of conflict, finding inspiration and turning it into art.