Paramore — “Misery Business”

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• "Misery Business" is deemed an ideal car sing-along song due to its propulsion and the communal cover provided by group singing, contrasting with karaoke where its vocal difficulty violates a social contract.  Copied to clipboard!
• The discourse surrounding the removal and subsequent return of "Misery Business" to Paramore's setlist, including lyric changes (like Hayley Williams omitting the 'whore' line), represents a fair compromise between artistic evolution and owning a confrontational past, unlike outright historical revisionism.  Copied to clipboard!
• Hayley Williams is viewed as the platonic ideal of both a rock star and a pop star, whose influence is evident in contemporary artists like Olivia Rodrigo, and whose solo work showcases her versatility as a 'vocal shapeshifter' beyond the band's established sound.  Copied to clipboard!

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Power Glove Kid Archetype

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(00:00:07)

• Key Takeaway: The character ‘Power Glove Kid’ from the movie The Wizard embodies a dastardly, manipulative archetype that mirrors the problematic emotional swagger found in 90s and 2000s emo and pop-punk music.
• Summary: The Power Glove is deemed ’trash’ and unusable, yet the character who wields it possesses a malevolent allure that connects to the emotional manipulation in emo music. This archetype is seen as the pursuer or pursued in songs by Taking Back Sunday, Avril Lavigne (‘Skater Boy’), and Lana Del Rey (‘Video Games’). The character’s manipulative pickup line, ‘By the way, I’m entered in the championships too,’ establishes a toxic dynamic.

Rilo Kiley’s Tumultuous Dynamics

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(01:05:04)

• Key Takeaway: Rilo Kiley’s music, particularly songs like ‘Bulletproof’ and ‘Papillon,’ reflects the tumultuous real-life romantic relationship and subsequent breakup between vocalists Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett, echoing the dynamic of Fleetwood Mac.
• Summary: Rilo Kiley is described as having ‘perpetual, ill-advised, horny volatility,’ airing grievances through their music. Jenny Lewis stated that the end of the band was ’nigh the moment we first hooked up,’ citing a fight where she threw Blake Sennett’s Pink Floyd CD out the window. Songs like ‘Bulletproof’ chart the death and resurrection of their relationship, giving the band distinct Fleetwood Mac energy.

Rilo Kiley’s Musical Evolution

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(01:17:17)

• Key Takeaway: Rilo Kiley’s early work, such as ‘Pictures of Success’ and ‘A Better Son/Daughter,’ balanced delicate, controlled musicianship with vicious, emotionally raw lyrics, achieving ecstatic universality.
• Summary: ‘Pictures of Success’ showcases hypnotic bass lines and pristine guitar harmonics alongside Lewis’s deceptively soft voice, emphasizing both beauty and alarm. ‘A Better Son/Daughter’ is called a generation-defining anthem sounding like a ‘panic attack led by a marching band,’ achieving universality through intensely personal lyrics. The band’s sound was characterized by ‘immaculately structured mess’ and Lewis’s powerful, strategic use of swearing.

Paramore’s Early Career and Contract

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(00:32:11)

• Key Takeaway: Paramore was contractually signed as a solo act under Haley Williams’s name to Atlantic Records, which she resisted in favor of maintaining the ‘us against the world’ identity of a band.
• Summary: Haley Williams wanted the camaraderie of bands like The Temptations or Spice Girls, leading to Paramore being emphatically a band despite the contract. The debut album All We Know Is Falling immediately featured internal strife, with the opening song ‘All We Know’ addressing the departure of their bassist before recording. The band’s early sound was influenced by heavier acts like Deftones, but ‘Pressure’ accidentally steered them toward emo bops.

Riot! and Misery Business Mastery

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(00:53:14)

• Key Takeaway: The album Riot! represents an enormous, immediate leap in quality for Paramore, featuring ‘That’s What You Get’ as their best song, which successfully transcends standard arena rock formulas.
• Summary: ‘That’s What You Get’ utilizes an elite AABA chorus structure and features lyrics about unforgiving relationship dynamics, including the controversial line ‘Once a whore you’re nothing more.’ Haley Williams admitted the song was written about a high school crush on guitarist Josh Farro, though she made herself sound stronger than she felt. The song’s structure and vocal performance demonstrate a mastery of form that transcends typical teenage melodrama.

Haley Williams’s Vocal Prowess

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(00:37:06)

• Key Takeaway: Haley Williams’s vocal performance on her solo track ‘Inordinary’ reveals a quiet, delicate power that contrasts sharply with Paramore’s bombast, demonstrating her ability to convey profound emotional weight through near-whispers.
• Summary: Williams’s solo work, like the quiet ‘Inordinary,’ shows a stillness and delicacy that is shocking compared to her usual energetic stage presence. The four words ‘she said, Don’t worry’ are highlighted for containing a wounded hitch in her voice, sounding simultaneously like a soothing mother and a worried child. This quiet power is contrasted with the loud, chaotic energy Paramore is known for, proving her range.

Misery Business Singability

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(01:16:54)

• Key Takeaway: “Misery Business” is deceptively difficult to sing due to dense verses and high chorus notes.
• Summary: The song contains a large volume of words in the verses, followed by challenging swooping high notes in the chorus. This difficulty makes attempting it at karaoke a violation of the social contract, as the belting sections cannot be easily faked. Even powerful singers are ‘cooked’ when attempting the chorus’s required vocal range.

Car Sing-along vs. Karaoke

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(01:17:58)

• Key Takeaway: The propulsion and group dynamic make “Misery Business” ideal for car sing-alongs where vocal failure is covered by others.
• Summary: The song’s tempo naturally tracks with driving, making it suitable for a moving vehicle. Unlike karaoke, the car setting allows for mutual understanding that perfect execution is unnecessary. Hayley Williams’s powerful vocals provide cover, enabling a collective scream without judgment.

Song’s Controversial Arc

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(01:19:04)

• Key Takeaway: Paramore’s temporary removal of “Misery Business” stemmed from a critique of one line’s perceived anti-feminist implication, which was deemed a well-meaning overreaction.
• Summary: The band phased out the song based on criticism regarding the narrator calling another woman a ‘whore,’ a sentiment the band sought to distance themselves from. The song is now back in the setlist, with Hayley Williams often skipping the controversial line or playfully admonishing the audience if they sing it. This situation is paralleled with Taylor Swift’s lyric change in “Better Than Revenge.”

Artistic Evolution vs. Past

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(01:21:21)

• Key Takeaway: Artists should evolve and reconsider past work by tweaking lyrics, but completely excising entire eras of history is a disservice to fans.
• Summary: Changing specific lines that no longer represent an artist’s current self is an acceptable compromise for long careers. Erasing entire periods of an artist’s history constitutes a level of revisionism that feels like rewriting history. Art, especially early art, is allowed to be messy, and there is room for apology and growth without complete self-distance.

Band Drama and Music

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(01:22:53)

• Key Takeaway: External band drama, like lineup changes and romances, neither significantly enhances nor distracts from the music for dedicated listeners.
• Summary: For some listeners, Paramore’s history of drama provides an entry point into the music, often tied to internet subcultures and ‘Easter eggs.’ However, the core enjoyment of the music remains intact regardless of decoding personal lives. The appeal of deep-diving into hidden meanings is acknowledged as an attractive concept for many fans.

Best Album Debate

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(01:24:58)

• Key Takeaway: The inability to agree on Paramore’s best album, with After Laughter being a personal favorite for one speaker, highlights the band’s diverse appeal.
• Summary: The speaker favors After Laughter as a reunion and departure album, appreciating its synth-pop sound and exploration of adult anxiety. This contrasts with others who might favor Brand New Eyes, reinforcing the idea that there is a Paramore album for every sensibility. “The Only Exception” is noted as an anomaly on Brand New Eyes, which the lead singer may not favor.

Warped Tour Context

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(01:26:39)

• Key Takeaway: Paramore’s early success on the Warped Tour occurred within a frequently traumatic and ugly ‘boys’ club’ rock environment.
• Summary: The environment of the Warped Tour at that time was described as fundamentally problematic, particularly concerning how female artists like Hayley Williams were treated. The ability of Paramore to sustain and reinvent themselves after that era is considered a significant achievement. The era was characterized by extreme fan behavior, including rushing to be vomited on by The Used’s lead singer.

Hayley Williams Solo Work

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(01:29:27)

• Key Takeaway: Hayley Williams’s solo albums, especially Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, establish her as a great vocal shapeshifter distinct from Paramore’s presentation.
• Summary: While Paramore treats her vocal as a front-and-center special effect, her solo work involves significant layering and modification, showcasing influences like Fiona Apple and Caroline Policek. Williams’s desire to remain in a band despite having diverse musical ideas for solo projects is highly valued. Her ability to manifest her career goals on her own terms solidifies her status as an icon.