For the second edition of this blog (The Music That Changed Our Lives, The Music That Made Us,), I travel more than 40 years ahead to the year 2015, that gave us a rockingly familiar yet entirely disruptive music experience, the sensational Canadian singer-songwriter, Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd.
I think there were not too many who were immune to this phenomenon that took us by storm. Boy or girl, man or woman or anyone else, there was no one that wasn't instantly smitten by this utterly delicious and desperately seductive track, that had us all enamoured enraptured and engaged. The music had this unique quality that stirred something inside us, that was nothing short of excitement. The rush that we felt every time we played the track, was so addictive that we wanted to go back again and again to. Not very different from the central topic of the song itself, addiction. “I can’t feel my face when I’m with you, but I love it”.
It’s one of those unique soundtracks that makes us feel exactly what the song is about. Some say the song is about the experience of being addicted to drugs, and some say it’s about being addicted to a toxic love(r). And I say, potay-to potaa-to, one and the same thing. “And I know she’ll be the death of me, at least we’ll both be numb”. The heart thumping feeling that we get right from the opening of the song feels like a warning for something that’s about to explode in our face, and yet we are so hypnotised by the intensity of the performance that we can’t help giving in and following this untrodden path, of a song that somehow has total control over us. Just like a drug or just like a sadistic lover.
Few more seconds in the song, and we are hooked, immersed in the “Beauty Behind the Madness” not able to let go, not wanting to let go, caught by a desire for more, to listen more, to feel more, with the words consuming us “And she’ll always get the best of me, the worst is yet to come”. We are waiting for the worst, because that’s what’s sounding the best. We are listening from our ears, but somehow our bodies are moving almost involuntarily to the beats, slow at first and speeding up with the rhythm of the song as it moves further. As this new kid on the block croons “She told me don’t worry about it, she told me don’t worry no more”, we snap out of our reverie and have a moment of awe with what’s happening. Who is this dude? What kind of music is he creating? How is he doing this? How can this music be soooo goood. How can this be so intense? How is he is surpassing my brain and getting directly into my bloodstream? Just like a drug… wait, what?!.. and before we know it, the song has taken over again “We both know we can’t go without it, she told me you’ll never be alone… I can’t feel my face when I’m with you, and I love it”. And we do LOVE it, he is right. We love it, every bit of it. Every note, every word, every falsetto.
The magic of Can’t Feel My Face, and indeed a lot of the songs from the Weeknd, is this unique combination of a familiar kind of pop-rock music, that is reminiscent of the genius of Michael Jackson (waiting to write that one), including the moves, the spin, the body language, and the oomph. And yet a completely new sound experience that feels contemporary and highly modern. It’s almost like if MJ had a dark side and he had let that take over, and added a huge layer of an almost-uncontrolled hormonal sexuality, coupled with shades of masochistic pain, topped with an unhealthy dose of adrenaline, it would be the music of The Weeknd.
The moment before the song ends, when it slows down for a bit almost building to a climax, with softer background vocals, till the tempo picks up again with an MJ-style “oooooooh”, seen in the video when he is set on fire by the audience that is both enjoying his music as well as his suffering, becomes the perfect ending, crescendoing into our loud cry of pain as a form of collective catharsis “All the misery was necessary when we’re deep in love, this i know”
And finally when the song finishes, and let’s go of us, we snap out of it, feeling breathless, sensing our heartbeats going back to normal, with a smile on our face, a satisfaction of the pleasure we’ve just experienced, straightening our hair and our clothes, getting back to our everyday lives, pretending like nothing happened, left with this secret yearning of hitting the play button again.. real soon. That’s when we know, we’re addicted to The Weeknd, for life. Mission accomplished Tesfaye
That’s why Can’t Feel My Face is special and featured in this blog, because this song is what started the journey of this entirely new sound of music that didn’t exist before, and one that has made The Weeknd the deserving rock star he is today.
Thank you Weeknd for coming into our lives. For the music you make and for the addiction you have given us. Our lives wouldn’t be the same without you. “At least we’ll both be beautiful, and stay forever young, this i know, uh, this i know”…
