Author: Nick B.

Song: Real Bad Lookin’ by Alex Cameron

Phrases:

• “The little dream sits there, she’s like a fly in a jar”
• “I made a deal over lunch baby, yeah it was worth 15k, I show my teeth when I smile in a real matter-of-fact way”

The first phrase strikes me because calling her baby a little dream while also describing her as a fly in the jar both shows how treasured a baby is while also denoting how defenseless they are at the same time. The other phrase is also good because it really hits on the nose how highly the “dumbest, richest guy at the bar” thinks of himself.

Repetitions:

• The same synth line repeats nonstop throughout the whole song.
• “Yeah who the hell are you to tell me that I can’t leave my kid in the car” repeats three times with the latter two being in succession.

Changes:

• During the first verse, Alex Cameron calls himself “drunkest, ugliest girl at the bar” while in the second verse he reuses this kind of phrasing to describe himself as a different character which is the “dumbest, richest guy at the bar.”
• In between the two verses, a fuzz guitar is introduced to the song to provide a solo that also bridges the two verses while that same synth line still continually plays.

 

The song makes it clear how miserable the two characters are and how their misplaced pride is used as a crutch to protect them from their realities while also making them intolerable to anyone else.