Essay: Everybody Talks is awesome.

Why is “Everybody Talks” by Neon Trees the most perfect set-them-up-and-knock-them-down pop/rock song?  Here are 11 reasons:

·         Amazing catchy chorus.  It wormed its way into my brain after hearing the song only once and before I knew it I was googling lines of lyrics to find out what song it was.*

·         Slight inability to understand exactly what the singer is saying in places.  Back in the day, when I needed to sing the exact lyrics I had to rewind and transcribe lyrics and listen to the unintelligible parts again and again, never really sure if I had it right.  Now, however, I can find the lyrics online and discover he is singing “everybody talks back” instead of “everybody talks, babe.”  Before, mush mouth lyrics inspired debate, now they just fuel insider knowledge.

·         Reference to drugs.  Every good rock and roll song should have some reference to drugs, however mild.  This one seems to lean toward prescription drug abuse.  Bonus points for implying the person being sung to could be the drug.  Who doesn’t want to be someone's drug?

·         Mild profanity.  Just like reference to drugs, mild profanity is always welcome in a classic pop/rock song, the better to imagine the scandal if one’s parent heard it.  That the mild profanity could be interpreted as “not a swear” makes it that much better.

·         Implied sex, but of a very innocuous strain.  We now have drugs, profanity and sex! Awesome! We know there was a kiss, but there’s also discussion of a love shack.  And really, is everybody talking just because they kissed?  I think not.  However, tweens might have a different interpretation.

·         Classic structure: verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus.  It is a setup that has been working well for more than half a century, and it still works now.

·         Short (2:59) so you can hear it often.  When it takes less than three minutes, commercial radio can play it every hour.  Or I can hear it three times in 10 minutes.

·         Self pity.  With lyrics like “I’m the sorry sucker and this happens all the time,” don’t you want to just snap up the singer and tell him he deserves so much better?

·         Lyrics need a bit of interpretation musically.  There’s that “oh my my” section in the second verse that requires a bit of ballsy singing, making this a tough karaoke song to pull off successfully, despite its simple construction.

·         Not too many words.  Though a lot of repetition can be bad (see “Lean on Me”) it can also be quite good because it means that the lyrics can be learned quickly.

·         Slightly nonsensical video that is quite fun.  They are watching the zombie movie and in the zombie movie? Huh?  Also, there’s a bit of backup singer-type choreography in the cars, which is delightful.

You want to hear it again, don't you?

ps.  Female drummer!  Awesome!

*Not only did the internet tell me, I then listened to the song three times in a row on YouTube.  This is why I love the internet, though I acknowledge that it is causing a shift in the economics of being a musician.