My final candidate for this year’s alternate universe Song of the Summer is ‘Relationships,’ the lead single of Haim’s fourth studio album, I Quit.
Haim has never had a song reach the Billboard Hot 100 (with the exception of Taylor Swift’s ‘No Body No Crime,’ on which they featured). So this breezy single had no chance of cracking the actual Song of the Summer chart. It was also released in March, three months before the album dropped, so maybe it’s more a Song of the Spring.
But ‘Relationships’ got a hell of a lot of airplay in my household this summer, and it has the feel of the season. Even the single’s cover art captures the exuberance of basking in the summer sunshine.
That cover art was part of a series the Haim sisters did recreating famous paparazzi photos. In this case, it’s a shot of Nicole Kidman walking down an L.A. street after (allegedly) finalizing her divorce from Tom Cruise.
Kidman denies that back story, saying the image was shot while she was shooting a movie. But nobody has ever been able to pair it with one of her films.
Wasting time, driving through the Eastside
Doing my thing ’cause I can’t decide if we’re through
Well, are we?
And if we are, what we gonna do?
[Verse 1]
Relationships, oh
What’s all this talk about relationships?
It feels like everyone’s caught up in it
Oh, just you wait, you must be new to this
(Goes like, goes like, goes like)
[Pre-Chorus]
You got a look on your face
Like you’re caught in a lie, lie, lie (Goes, goes like, goes like)
I got you all to myself
But I keep asking “Why, why, why?” in this relationship
[Chorus]
Baby, how can I explain
When an innocent mistake
Turns into seventeen days? Fuckin’ relationships
Don’t they end up all the same
When there’s no one left to blame?
I think I’m in love, but I can’t stand fuckin’ relationships
(Goes, goes like, goes like)
[Verse 2]
Why do I have a guilty conscience?
I’ve always been averse to conflict
But you really fucked with my confidence
(Goes like, goes like, goes like)
[Pre-Chorus]
You gotta tell me the truth
If you don’t want to try (Goes, goes like, goes like)
I hear a voice in my head
And it keeps asking, “Why am I in this relationship?”
[Chorus]
Baby, how can I explain
When an innocent mistake
Turns into seventeen days? Fuckin’ relationships
Don’t they end up all the same
When there’s no one left to blame?
I think I’m in love, but I can’t stand fuckin’ relationships
(Goes, goes like, goes like)
[Bridge]
Relationships
How did we get ourselves into this?
Relationships
Oh, this can’t just be the way it is
Relationships
Or is it just the shit our parents did
And had to live with it
In their relationship?
Relationships (‘Ships, ‘ships, ‘ships)
Relationships
Fuckin’ relationships
[Chorus]
Baby, how can I explain
When an innocent mistake
Turns into seventeen days? Fuckin’ relationships
Don’t they end up all the same
When there’s no one left to blame?
I think I’m in love, but I can’t stand communicating it
Let me tell you how it ends
When we can’t even pretend
Feels like we’re not even friends in this relationship
But I would do it all again
If you put down your defenses
I think I’m in love, so why am I trying to escape from it?
Maybe that’s just how it goes
When you’re not fully grown
But baby, when you know, you know, fuckin’ relationships
So don’t let it bring you down
‘Cause it all comes back around
I think I’m in love, but I can’t stand fuckin’ relationships
Meet Me In Montauk 
Good song – or should I say good f’ing song as this is yet another example of dropping the f bomb into a commercial pop song.
I think lyrics are just more reflective of the way people really talk these days.
I think it’s a relatively new phenomenon, especially for female pop artists, and is not really an organic outgrowth of the songwriter’s expression as it is a strategic decision to capture a higher billboard chart ranking .
The shift from radio to streaming made expletives more acceptable… in the radio days, it would actually hurt your chances at success.
I think for artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish, that’s just how they talk and write. They came of age without the restrictions placed on older artists. For someone like Taylor Swift, who started swearing later in her career, it was a way to shift her music into more adult territory.
Yes, that’s true, but it has now become so ubiquitous, particularly among young female artists, that it feels more strategic than a natural form of self-expression.
Here’s an interesting article I found about the F bomb phenomenon in music: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2022-03-08/gayle-olivia-rodrigo-demi-lovato-f-bomb
Love Haim – this was definitely a primary song of this summer for me 🙂