Song #42: The Cardigans - I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer (off SuperExtraGravity - 2006)
This song is about all of my worst emotional fears combined - addiction, stagnation and feeling miserable because your significant other (used in the true sociological sense, therefore not necessarily referring to a boyfriend or girlfriend) is much more accomplished. Nina’s relationship is a power struggle, and she’s not winning.
She sings “I’m wasting my life / you’re changing the world” so easily that it almost frightens me, yet it also just shows that it’s easy to accept those power dynamics as unchanging. I know I talk about power dynamics in song lyrics a lot, but this is a clearly defined case of depression (in her) and indifference (in him). So why stay? she mentions “the good times, and the bad times we know we’ll have.” This is the most pathetic toast I’ve ever heard.
The line that really gets to me is “You’re foul in clear conditions / but you’re handsome in the fog.” What an amazing lyric. She’s not making change because it’s just easier to drink until her life seems tolerable. He probably hates her drinking, which makes her feel even more inferior. The cycle of guilt continues, but she realizes two things - she might need her wine (and hey, if you’re going to drink, you might as well drink the good stuff), but for both of their sakes he NEEDS to be nicer.
I like reading into pop songs (that’s actually a pretty apt tagline for this blog…)
