Music Review: Tove Lo "Habits (Stay High)"

Tove Lo

Habits (Stay High)

Album: Truth Serum

Year: 2013

        Tove Lo is on a downward spiral after a breakup in the rueful “Habits (Stay High).”

         She oh’s over deadened synths, setting a gray tone.

        A bowl of macaroni and cheese rests on her stomach. In between bites, she takes a hit of the joint The knob pinches her back and she moves to a more comfortable position, dropping some noodles in the bathtub. She shrugs as it falls by another crusted, dried noodle. After she eats, she plans to go to a S & M club. It amuses her to watch people rub against each other and moan.  She figures it’s just sex. At around midnight she gets home and heads straight to her counter. She tears open the Twinkie box and proceeds to eat the entire thing. She begins gag and then runs to the bathroom. She leans over the bathtub and heaves, bringing everything that she ate. She wets a towel and cleans her face. She puts her hand to her head. The headache won’t stop pounding. She flops onto the bed and goes to sleep. The mess will be there in the morning. It’s not like anyone is coming over anyway. (“I eat my dinner in my bathtub, then I go to sex clubs/Watchin' freaky people gettin' it on/It doesn't make me nervous, if anything, I'm restless/Yeah I've been around and I've seen it all/I get home, I got the munchies, binge on all my Twinkies/Throw up in the tub and I go to sleep/And I drank up all my money, tastin' kind of lonely.”)

         In the chorus, the ache won’t go away. She misses her ex-boyfriend and can’t stop thinking about him. She can only survive with her mind fuzzy and buzzed. She can’t even remember the last time she was sober.  (“You're gone and I got to stay/High, all the time, to keep you off my mind/High, all the time, to keep you off my mind/Spend my days locked in a hazeTryna forget you, babe, I fall back down/Gotta stay high, all my life/To forget I'm missin' you.”)

         She’s in the mood to flirt today. She takes a shower and puts on some makeup. She finds her favorite miniskirt and crop top. She drives to the park and looks for the fathers there. Rings don’t deter her. She sees their tired eyes and tells them how wonderful they are. She listens to them as they say they love their children but need some me time. She tells them she’s available to help with that. He finds someone to watch his kid. Together, they head to the men’s bathroom and have sex. (“ Pick up daddies at the playground, how I spend my day time/Loosen up their frown, make 'em feel alive/Make it fast and greasy, I'm numb and way too easy.”)

           The chorus is sung again.

          In the bridge, she currently likes the role of the wild young woman with no inhibitions. It means she’s no longer by herself. There is always someone around to distract her. (“Stayin' in my play pretend where the fun ain't got no end/Can't go home alone again need someone to numb the pain/Stayin' in my play pretend where the fun ain't got no end/Can't go home alone again need someone to numb the pain.”)

        The chorus is sung again to end the single.

      Lo’s troubled vocals choose not to feel. Self-medicating is her life now. If it’s not with alcohol or drugs, it’s sex. After her last relationship ended, she has no idea who she is now. She was the live-in, long-term girlfriend with a decent job and a loving boyfriend who was going to propose at any minute. Now, she’s living in her new apartment by herself without any options for her. A majority of her friends are married, most have kids. She wonders why it couldn’t have it, too.

       The description in the lyrics are top-notch. At first glance, it may not make Lo sympathetic but it does make her memorable. Regular visits to sex clubs and hookups at the park are not regular occurences in pop music.

     The vivid “Habits (Stay High)” mourns a life that won’t ever happen.