Adam KennyWhat did we forget?
I adore the name of this album, You Forgot It In People, as it perfectly encompasses the themes and contemplation that the album brings forth. What have we forgotten? Is it the memories of a past life with a completely different friend group? Is it more pessimistic than that, do we forget what people are truly capable of? The terrible deeds and good grace they can exact? Have we ourselves left something within the people that we’ve met in our lives? Good impressions, bad impressions, lame jokes, awkward pauses, insightful thoughts, total opposites or soulmates? What have we forgotten in people?
Even the band’s name, Broken Social Scene, makes me think of the outcasts of society. It’s as if the band is trying to come together as some outfit that copes together through music. The black sheep of the family. The kids who didn’t fit in. The failures and has-beens. The band have had as few as 6 members, as grand and boisterous as 19. Each member coming and going depending on what they’re doing. Most bands stick together throughout the entirety of the album. Even Liam Gallagher is on “Don’t Look Back In Anger” playing the tambourine, and he’s known for throwing the bloody thing! However, this cast of misfits, all 19 of them stuck together throughout the duration of the album. This bunch of weirdos, drifters and odd-balls come together to figure out what they’ve left behind in people, and what has been left behind in themselves?
The Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie band that has been around since the late 90s. They’re still active to this very day. Normally I’d list the band members, but I wasn’t joking when I said there was almost 20 members. Look at their wikipedia, you’ll notice they’re not even marked as previous members, they’re all technically still active! However, the idea and core of the band started off with Kevin Drew (one of the lead vocalists of the band and guitarists) and Brendan Canning (vocals and bass). The other 17 or so members are all apart of different bands and groups. Whilst sonically the band lean towards a more indie-rock centric sound, they often lean into ambient territory.
Their first record, Feel Good Lost was an ambient album. You Forgot It In People hangs onto the ambient strengths that Drew and Canning brought to the table. Evidently introducing more experimental sounds such as baroque, post-rock and experimental pop which conjured a unique and refreshing sound in You Forgot It In People. The Broken Social Scene, a scattered group of people, made something sound so complete and vibrant.
What do the misfits have to say?
The first track on the album, “Capture the Flag” is a short 2 minute ambient track. The entire 2 minutes are encompassed by this synth like trance that’s followed up by horns and trumpets. The ending of the introduction swells into horns and synths meeting together to say “okay onto the music”. Then, it jumps straight into “KC Accidental” which brings forth the catchy guitars that are so beautifully textured and satisfyingly layered. The drums act as backup to carry the guitars through the meandering sounds and obscure tones.
We get a peak at the vocals for the first time here where Kevin Drew comes in. His vocals lend a mournful sincerity as he softly proclaims “your kind”. Community and social spaces are a theme throughout the album and the band. Drew’s vocals bring forth this “hey this is what you guys are like” air to it all. As though he’s an old uncle on a porch telling the nephews and nieces what they’re all like, as though he’s seen their entire story already.
“Almost Crimes – Radio Kills Edit” brings in the more thrashy post-rock side of things. The drums have a lo-fi texture that makes it sound like glass crashing over and over as the synths and guitars dance together. The vocals being this combination of spoken word and Drew’s uncle vocals bringing in that annoyed wisdom. It’s a wonderful mirage you get lost in. It’s a classic 2000s rock track that’s elevated by the weird characteristics of the band and their sound.
Hanging onto their ambient roots
“Looks Just Like The Sun” is a much more laid back track. The drums come in to provide a chill easy going landscape that features Emily Haines and Feist on background vocals with Andrew Whiteman leading. The track sounds like a scene of people sitting around a campfire with their instruments and voices harmonize over the crackles and pops of the fire. No track on this album sounds incomplete. Few tracks have little going on, and the tracks that have plenty do not overwhelm. It’s pleasant and relaxing if anything.
Another ambient track comes into the swing of things, “Pacific Theme”, that has this oceanic funk sound to it. As if it’s the evening and you’re done swimming in the lagoon with your friends. Each track has it’s own personality, sound and expertise being outlined. It’s a treat for the ears and allows for you to walk away from the album with several favourites. “Pacific Theme”, being one of mine.
Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl
The biggest track on the album however, is without a doubt “Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl” which is just an absolutely phenomenal song. Emily Haines takes the reins for the vocals here where she haunts the a voice looming over the instrumentals. The track’s lyrics are what truly shine here. “Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that / Now you’re all gone, got your makeup on and you’re not coming back / Can’t you come back?”.
The narrative of the track is about a woman looking back on her rebellious youth, once again tying into the theme of individuality. The song goes through the nostalgia of the woman’s youth and what it meant for her to grow up. She put’s on makeup now showing a conformity of sorts where that rebellious attitude has now gone from her. She wears makeup now which in her youth she would have skoffed at, but she had to grow up and become a woman. Something had to give.
Dream about me!!!
The chorus repeats “Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me”, a chant and demand from her previous self to stop being a grown up and remember her. To tap into whom she once was. Park the car, stop where you’re going, don’t talk to anyone about any of the things you need to do, sleep on the floor, ground yourself from your new found arrogance and dream about me! Dream, remember and miss. Growiing up has a different challenge and meaning for each person. It can mean a change in your style, opinions and tastes. For some people it’s a natural progression, but for others like the members of the Broken Social Scene, it’s leaving a piece of yourself behind and wondering where it’s gone when you’re an adult. “Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl” is as melancholic as it is catchy.
What else does the band have to say?
A personal favourite of mine comes from “Cause = Time”, the track straight after “Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl”. The variety displayed throughout the album shows itself off more than ever on this track. “Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl” leans more into the pop and folk aspects where as “Cause = Time” is far more indie punk. If I could compare it to anyone, it reminds me of Radiohead, specifically their album In Rainbows.
The track has a lot going lyrically. It goes into speaking about menstruating and televangelists on televisions, “I’ve seen your hope on television”. It’s a commentary about political activism, hippy culture, not conforming to social norms and religion. How blind faith, regardless of the cause, is less about the cause but about the people who need the cause. They need to dedicate themselves to something bigger than themselves to give meaning to their fears and hopes. The people don’t need the cause, but they need to be it. It questions the morality of these causes and the true wants of them. It’s political song, and is still applicable to many things today. Meaning aside, it’s a great garage punk track that I often revisit it.
The struggle of self hate and internalised homophobia
The second to last track, “I’m Still your F**”, is one of the less musically inspired tracks on the album but for good reason. It’s got a subtle beat with the drums in the back and a basic acoustic guitar to pair with Kevin Drew’s vocals. The track goes through the affair between two gay men, one of which is not fully out of the closet and is actually a married man.
The song goes through the internal turmoil of having to hide this love that feels wrong due to internalised homophobia towards themselves. “You’re only coming out ‘Cause you came back in”, showing that in order for them to meet each other and for the married man to be able to “come out”, he must hide his sexuality from his wife whom has no idea of his true self and that he’s “in” the closet, in the marriage, in no way could he be gay.
It’s a timeless song. It shows the struggles of self-hate and the true reality of what it meant to be gay in the 90s and the early noughties. How there’s a struggle to “save face”, to be seen as socially acceptable. You can’t be gay, you must have a wife, kids, house and a job! A common mindset from a time not so long ago, and is something that feeds into today’s society still. Again, a song for an outcast, for one of the rotten ones, for a member of the Broken Social Scene.
To Pitter and Patter out of frame
The album’s final track, “Pitter Patter Goes My Heart”, is a short ambient track that wonderfully ties the album together. The melody being similar to what we heard on “Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl”, the drums kick in to help bring the album to a close as it pitter and patters out the same way it came in, with caressing synths.
Overall
You Forgot It In People is a monumental album. Lyrically, it conveys so many stories and perspectives that many teenagers and young adults would be able to identify with. The music, the genre blending, the pace and the overall structure of the album is breathtaking. It’s something I come back to constantly. It has tracks for when you’re angry, sad and struggling with yourself. It helps you feel less alone. I don’t think there’s a single bad track on this album. Its themes of community, individuality and that desperation to be accepted for who you are or who you used to be is something I think we can all understand to some capacity. The question started with forgetting something in people and by the end of the album you’ll find that “it” comes in many forms, just like people.
