When Valerie Melina wrote to me last week she opened with a humble “I don’t know if you remember me?…”
Valerie my dear, how could I forget you? Her ‘Death of me’ single last year, a song about the ecstatic feeling that comes early in the stage of falling in love with someone, concomitant with being slightly aware that it could all go wrong, was memorable. Concomitant. Cripes. Where did I get that from, that’s a big word for a Sunday evening?
It was an absolute gem of a song, one that showcased that rare ability to write sad lyrics to an up-tempo song, and which not only easily got into the NMC end-of-year Songs of 2024 list (the only one that matters, of course) but also only just missed out on a Top Five placing.
Now she’s back a year later with ‘My current obsession’, which she says is written from the perspective of a self-proclaimed Manic Pixie Dream Girl; or at least, someone who has been viewed as one by others.
If you’re unfamiliar with the phrase it refers to a young woman with an eccentric personality who exists only to teach the male protagonist important life lessons, while receiving nothing in return. Elizabeth Bennet to Mr Darcy in Pride & Prejudice I suppose although it could be argued that in that example she is as much the protagonist as he is.
There are plenty more examples in the movie world but all this stuff started in the early 19th Century when women knew a thing or two about how to please a man…
Valerie’s question is, if we ever got to know more about her, what would she say? I guess that means about herself. Her raison d’être.
Before we get into the song I’ve used the same photo of her that accompanied last year’s review for the simple reason that she does carry that alluring look that an MPDG would have. It helps to have the basics in place first.
The video reveals that anyone can be an MPDG, even if they’re working for, or acquiring ‘clients’ via, the Boring Beige Bureau, which designed my living room. (By the way, did anyone notice how Jarvis Cocker of Pulp turned out in slightly differentiated beige blazer and trousers at Glastonbury? What a smart move.
But I digress. The first takeaway is that her MPDG is a tease that wants you to see her through her own rose-coloured glasses.
“(I’ve) Never really been alone/ And I grow attached easily, and sometimes
I mistake convenience/for something like love
Oh, I could flip your world upside down/For as long as I’m around”.
Then later,
“So can you flip my world upside down?/Can you shift my point of view?
You know I’ll chase you for a while/But can you keep up with me?”
And the coup de grace:
“Your hesitation is cute but I/won’t be here forever”.
It’s evident that it’s all a game at the end of the day, with only one winner and only one loser, the latter being one who learns nothing and is the one wearing the pants. But not for long if a liaison actually develops into something, if you get my drift.
This young lady can write a lyric. She has the irony of a Morissette and the biting satire of an Apple.
Musically, the melody doesn’t quite reach the heights of ‘Death of me’ but that would have been an exceptional turn of events. That doesn’t mean it isn’t catchy, in fact I mused several times since I first heard it that it’s the sort of thing that Madonna might have come up with around the same time as ‘Everybody’ and ‘Holiday’.
Madge Melina. That’s got a ring to it. Pity the boyfriend didn’t get one.
Would I call Valerie my current obsession? I’ll take raincheck on that one.
Find her on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valerie.melina.artist/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsvaleriemelina/
