Staff Pix 4/14: Desire
The Milk Crate staff’s favorite songs about desire, in honor of the release of our “Desire” zine, presented with blurbs worthy of a promotional sticker on a jewel case. Tune in Fridays from 2-3 EST to the Staff Pix radio show.
Karenna Umscheid
Novacane by Frank Ocean
Frank Ocean’s double entendre-filled, drugged-up sex trip that is “Novacane” is sonic storytelling at its finest (and horniest). He tells of a festival odyssey featuring a girl studying dentistry, a red light on a tripod, and an ice blue bong that holds more than the drug that was promised. He doesn’t let the high go to waste, giving into his desire for the “model broad with a Hollywood smile/Stripper booty with a rack like wow/Brain like Berkeley.” During the outro, he reflects on his high and sex with a slight peril, singing “I can’t feel a thing/I can’t feel her.” “Novacane” chronicles a self-aware irresponsibility, confusion peeking beneath the curtain of lust, and the physical and emotional dangers of succumbing to desire.
Izzy Desmarais
Man or Muppet by Jason Segel and Walter
Anyone who knows me might initially think this is my pick because of my gigantic crush on Jason Segel. The answer is yes, but also no. The real, and much more astute, reason why I picked this song is because of its disillusioned self-reflexivity. My feelings about desire and sex and being a person inside of a human body possess an eerily similar tone. Sometimes, I feel just fine about the fact that I am a human being who experiences desire. Other times, I feel outrageously insecure that maybe I don’t experience desire enough. But most of the time, I feel inadequate and send myself into a downward spiral as I compare myself to everybody else. Within the context of this week’s Staff Pix theme, “Man or Muppet” represents an internal dialogue between myself and I, wondering whether I’m normal or just barely masquerading as normal-ish.
Stephanie Weber
I Wanna Be Your Dog by The Stooges
Released in 1969, “I Wanna Be Your Dog” by The Stooges has been changing hearts and libidos ever since. It’s off of their first studio album, self-titled of course, and remains one of their most streamed songs of all time, making Rolling Stone’s top-500 songs of all time. The song opens with a sick and twisted guitar line, setting a dark and vulgar tone for the remainder of the track. It’s grainy and rough, defined by Iggy Pop’s abrasive voice. Backed up by distorted guitar, bass, and drums, Iggy Pop repeats the chorus “Now I wanna be your dog” with sparse lyrics like “In my room, I want you here” and “and now I’m ready to feel your hand / And lose my heart on the burning sand.” The song is inherently erotic and sexual; even though I don’t like men in a sexual way, I can’t help but be drawn into its unpolished finish and Iggy Pop’s tousled hair and vocals. “I Wanna Be Your Dog” is a direct reference to kink and fetish culture, specifically about being a submissive “pet.” It’s all about being dominated and letting your partner take control. I Wanna Be Your Dog” is one of the sexiest songs to exist and the music world agrees.
Isa Luzarraga
SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK by Joji
*Sigh*... From the beginning chords to its muffled beat drops, this was the original Joji song. “Glimpse of Us” is simply too depressing for me, so whenever I want my Joji fix, this never fails to hit. The light synth in the intro and interludes renders this song in a sort of dreamlike state, perfectly mirroring the lustful lyrics that are tinged with just the right amount of mournful yearning, “I don’t want a friend / I want my life in two (My life in two) / Waiting to get there / Waiting for you (Waiting for you, I done fought it all night).” Sung by Joji in a hushed tone, there is this reluctant resistance in these lyrics, which makes the beat drop and transition to the chorus all the more striking. Paired with his angelic belt, Joji begs, “Give me reasons we should be complete / You should be with him, I can’t compete / You looked at me like I was someone else / Can’t you see? / I don’t wanna slow dance…” Yeah. If I was going to be serenaded by someone, this would have to be the song they are singing, or else, I don’t want it! Just kidding, within reason. Add “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” to your sexy playlist ASAP.
Julia Norkus
Bare Hands by Deal Casino
This song takes the idea of desire and pretty much morphs into a glamourization of gluttony. Is it awesome to know someone only wants you for one thing and not your…personality? Probably not. But is it everything to be the b*tch holding the reins on a guy who can buy you anything and take you anywhere? Absolutely. Gold diggers—you might know ‘em, you don’t necessarily love ‘em, but the world still spins. We—meaning I— crave the day where we stumble upon the trust fund baby reality we never had, finding an in into the world of socialites and the 1% with their dinner parties and private jets, “A new car, a new house / (If you) got a heart, she’ll tear it out with her / Bare hands, her bare hands.” “Bare Hands” is the sexy, dangerous embodiment of what someone sees in a gold digger. The song itself is a warning about being on the receiving end and being heartbroken, but damn does it sound fun to be the monster getting everything they want. Lines about being desirable and absolutely ruining the life of the narrator, or the person warning the narrator, like, “Ties his tongue in knots / Just so he won’t speak / Comes to bed in heels / Such a stylish freak,” followed by a glissando up the fretboard gives it the energy of “She’s so Mean” by Matchbox 20—the same kind of toxicity in a love song that you know isn’t good for you, but is incredibly hot. Thus, “Bare Hands” is everything desirable—crushing the spirits of entitled men AND being hot, sexy and cool.
Lily Suckow Ziemer
SPIT IN MY FACE! by ThxSoMch
The title says it all. In “SPIT IN MY FACE!” by ThxSoMch, the singer expresses a masochistic love. The woman the lyrics are written to has no love or care for the singer. Still, his love doesn’t fade, repeating, “Spit in my face, my love, it won't phase me /… it won't change me / … I've gone crazy / … I've gone mad.” The repetition of the title is sexual, but in a relationship that can clearly be seen as toxic. This song displays how desire can be so extreme we will devalue ourselves, tolerating degradation and pain easily. Even as this woman rejects him and treats him like trash, he can’t stop referring to her as “my love.” Despite how dark the lyrics are, the aggressive desire in the song is addictive.
Will Ingman
Closer by Nine Inch Nails
Someone had to pick it.
Anne O’Leary
disco tits by Tove Lo
In this disco-electroclash-dance pop Tove Lo wants you to know that she doesn’t have a type and is “fully charged, ready to go”. This track is off of her third studio album, Blue Lips and moves at a tempo of 110 beats per minute, making this a perfect fast paced club song lyrics full of references to sex and drugs. Lo says the inspiration for this song was when after her Coachella performance her boyfriend called her “disco tits” referring to her see through top. I think this song really emulates the essence of Coachella in many ways. I could totally see this song being played at the afterparty in a dingy gay LA club. Lo is not afraid to write music about self indulgence. Her breakout song, “Habits (Stay High)” also alludes to drugs and sex, but is much more somber in it’s message while “disco tits” is fun and carefree. This is totally the perfect song for a nightclub hookup; energetic, adventurous, and easygoing.
Maura Cowan
Wouldn’t it be Nice by The Beach Boys
“Wouldn’t it be Nice” perhaps reflects an unconventional form of desire (at least by the standards of our magazine) – it’s by and large PG, even somewhat chaste, but it is two minutes and 34 seconds of concentrated yearning. The pain and frustration of being deeply in love but too young to do all that much about it, and the deep desire to run far away, to be anywhere other than where you are… those are feelings so many of us are all too familiar with. Though their legacy is somewhat complex in the public memory, it’s hard not to understand why the Beach Boys were so beloved by the youth of the 1960s and 70s. Pet Sounds is an album that is deeply tuned into teenage and young adult desire in a way that feels very timeless, and I will always listen to this track when I’m overwhelmed by the craving for a better life.
Harry Bates
Grass by the Pretty Things
Enough said.