Over and Over

Repetition can be such comforting melancholy. That strange limbo where going through the motions remains preferable to taking a leap is the space where “Over and Over” lives. It’s a canon in a major key, because we often shield ourselves with positivity as we hide sorrow amid our routines, but the bass line in the piece betrays our discomfort. I’m enamored with the way looping melodies become slightly askew when overlapping in a canon, and the melody becomes blurry, like blinking back tears. The simple text is written from the perspective of one individual to another, but when sung en masse in a choir, it’s as though every person who’s ever experienced a relationship become rote joins together to commiserate. The bass, when played on a synth, adds high frequencies as the song progresses, emulating a spirit setting itself free. Like a cathartic power ballad that you’d belt along with from a rainy driveway, consider “Over and Over” a musical inoculation to future heartbreak.

– Jennifer Lucy Cook