Wine and...Music: DEDICATED by Carly Rae Jepsen (2019) with Anas Abdulhak - Part 1

Today's guest is poet and comics writer, Anas Abdulhak. Anas has written Elutheromania, Objects in the Mirror, and Etheres. We actually featured ETHERES elsewhere on our Substack! a video + a written Q&A with Anas, go search that out. Anas is currently hard at work on the unSEEN/unHEARD Anthology, a comic anthology with stories from new voices from the disability and neurodivergent communities. We mention in the podcast that *maybe* submissions might still be open when these episodes drop, but alas, they did close on June 30th. But that means the work is now underway!

Follow Anas on:
Twitter
Instagram
GlobalComix
Website

For additional bonus content, interactive chats, polls, and the UNCUT version of this episode, join us on our Substack at: https://wineand.substack.com

Anas' Choice: DEDICATED by Carly Rae Jepsen. DEDICATED is CRJs 4th Studio Album, after EMOTION, which we covered with screenwriter Mark Palermo in a previous episode. So if you'd like to hear more about her career leading up to DEDICTED, go listen to that ep!

After EMOTION, CRJ wanted to do a "light disco" album, having deep-dove into ABBA's back catalogue. The album's working title was "Songs to Clean Your House To". But ultimately she went another direction, wrote 200+ songs, and finally ended with the 15-track album we know today.

THE WINES (and/or Not-Wines)
Coming in PART 2 tomorrow!

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 2:53 Special Guest Anas Abdulhak
• 14:04 Carly Rae Jepsen's DEDICATED (a brief-ish history, with demo tracks!)
• 33:48 Our Respective Histories with the Album
• 43:54 Track 1 - Julien
• 48:33 Track 2 - No Drug Like Me
• 55:09 Track 3 - Now That I've Found You
• 1:00:26 To Be Contuned...!

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;34;18
Unknown
He's Dave and I'm down. We have opinions on just about everything. Sometimes they're on point and sometimes they go down better. The last one. Join us. This is the wine podcast. Welcome, everybody, to wine and the show where we pair wine with movies, TV, music, books, comics, and maybe one day we'll pair it with. I don't know, pets, you know, kittens, puppies, snakes, lizards, goldfish, clownfish, parrots, exotic pets.

00;00;34;25 - 00;00;53;19
Unknown
If you live in Florida, you're going to have a lot of exotic pets. So hey, our Floridian listeners, what kind of exotic pets do you have? Do you have armadillos? Do you have, what's the animal? That's Cerebus the aardvarks. If you have aardvarks, if you have kangaroos, I'm sure Floridians have kangaroos. I'm probably making that up. They probably don't have any kangaroos, but they're Floridians.

00;00;53;20 - 00;01;14;01
Unknown
I don't put it past them. So whatever your exotic pets are, though, you can pair a wing with that exotic pet. So please tell us whatever pet you have. What kind of wine would you pair with it? You know, I work, for a winery on the weekends, and we recently did a pet painting weekend event where they would send us a photo of their pet.

00;01;14;08 - 00;01;30;02
Unknown
We would print out a paint by numbers version of that photo, and then they would come sip wine while painting their pet. But we did not pair wines with their pet. And we should have. We should have asked them, hey, give us the adjectives of your pet, give us the tasting notes of your pet, and then we could pair with that.

00;01;30;02 - 00;01;47;11
Unknown
So, you know we should do that one of these days. But pairing wine with pets actually sounds kind of overly complicated. So for today, we are sticking to our guns and we are simply pairing wine with music. And we will talk about that in just a moment. But first, if you like what you hear, please make sure to hit that follow or subscribe button.

00;01;47;11 - 00;02;07;17
Unknown
It does help the podcast grow and reach new listeners. And if you love us, then please leave a five star review. Not three, not four, not even 4.5. The stupid algorithm dings us for anything less than five. We didn't design the thing. We know it's stupid and anti-democratic, but just so you know that if you do leave us less than five, you will be giving the show a ding.

00;02;07;17 - 00;02;31;22
Unknown
So do with that what you will. But once again, five stars. Leave that review on Apple iTunes or any other platform that allows reviews. And if you're on your phone, you can also send us a quote unquote text. You'll find a clickable link for that beginning, of the description below this episode on whatever platform you're listening to this on, it doesn't work as an active link on every platform I have noticed, but it does on most.

00;02;31;26 - 00;02;47;28
Unknown
So if you see that and it is a link, click on that which opens up your text app and send us a direct message via that which shows up in our BuzzFeed inbox and does not show us your full phone number. Never fear, it only shows us your final four digits. Kind of like how a credit card shows on a receipt.

00;02;48;04 - 00;03;14;16
Unknown
It's just right a right here, right now. Quick and easy way to send us a quick note. So for today, we are joined by special guest Innes Abdul Hick, writer of the comics illusion Romania, objects in the mirror and A theories all poetry driven one shots which Dallas and myself have absolutely adored. We featured a theories on a previous episode of our legacy, the wine and comics pairing show.

00;03;14;22 - 00;03;39;24
Unknown
Go search that on our YouTube channel, and also find our written Q&A with Innes on our Substack that is wine and substack.com. that Substack is also where you will find uncut versions of these episodes if you become a paid subscriber. As well as being able to interact with us in interactive chats, interactive polls, maybe even watch parties in the near future, we haven't done anything yet, but that we are planning to in the near future.

00;03;40;12 - 00;04;09;27
Unknown
and additionally, bonus pairings that will be written up there on the Substack all, accessible. A little bit of that content will be free for all, and then a lot of it will be for paid support only. since those three poetry driven one shots announce has since released the first issues of the comic books Porn and Kill Your Boyfriend, and is now represented by the Zanten Literary Agency, where he has his first illustrated novel in the works.

00;04;09;27 - 00;04;35;01
Unknown
And that's. I could be wrong about that, actually. Please. Come on, say hello. Welcome to wine and and tell us, what are you working on today? Hello. Hello. Thank you so much for having me. I've been dying to get on the show, and I'm. I'm very pleased to be here. I'm working on a bunch of stuff right now, but most, like Pressingly, I'm co editing an anthology called unseen.

00;04;35;01 - 00;04;54;22
Unknown
Unheard. for disabled creators and creators who are in our diverse right. We're doing an anthology for those kind of stories. And really, like, want to uplift that community, which, you know, we all identify as part of. So yeah, that's what I've been working on. We have open submissions. So if you'd like to share your story, we're open until June 31st.

00;04;54;28 - 00;05;17;20
Unknown
I'm not sure when exactly this is dropping, but, you know, we might extend the deadline. Okay. Fantastic. Okay. But June 31st, this. Yeah, this episode will probably drop early July, so it'll be a little if it if it extends, I will make sure to. Yeah. Leave a note at the beginning of this episode saying, hey, by the way, this this has been extended.

00;05;17;20 - 00;05;37;25
Unknown
I will double check with you before this drops. and we were fact checking. Okay. And we'll have a is this a is this a new anthology, or is this, series? It's it's a one shot anthology. We're we're aiming small, just like 64 pages. And we're hoping to just get some fresh new voices that we haven't really heard from.

00;05;37;27 - 00;05;58;02
Unknown
And, you know, give them a platform and pay them to, you know, not a lot, but we're doing what we can. Yeah. Fantastic. years ago, when Dave and I had the agency, I started a little side project because of my background in autism and my sort of familiar connections, the Autism Comic Book Project. And it was basically, sort of an anthology, kind of.

00;05;58;02 - 00;06;17;14
Unknown
We paired, people who suffered or experienced autism in various ways, with comic book, creators and writers. and it's amazing. Yeah, some great stuff came out of that. And so I'm excited about this next I going to yeah. Going to check that out once we, once we, get out of here, feel free to submit if you'd like.

00;06;17;17 - 00;06;37;09
Unknown
I mean, we'd love to hear your story. Yep. Dallas. That was like, come on, man, come on, man. June 31st. Go go go. Where are you in the world, by the way? On us now, if you don't mind, I am currently in Cyprus. Cyprus? Lucky man. Yeah, I don't know. How hot is it there right now? I'm.

00;06;37;12 - 00;06;59;16
Unknown
It's unbearable. Exactly. I've lived a year in the Gulf and y. Yeah, it was not this hot. Oh, yeah. Climate change is real, folks. It's real firsthand. It's real guys. It's real. Well, you know, I, I read a novel a couple of years back that all it was, it was from the early 20th or maybe even late 19th century, I can't remember.

00;06;59;21 - 00;07;24;28
Unknown
It was called South Wind. it was all about life on the Grecian Isles, and it was like they couldn't stop talking about how fucking hot it was then, you know, like during the summer. Like it was just like it was all this late. It was like lazy Southern American living in that way of like. No, like everyone was sitting still and just feeling the warm breezes and like it was they talked.

00;07;24;28 - 00;07;51;17
Unknown
The novel was kind of boring, actually, but I'm glad I read it. It was like very a piece of its time. and I, I've never been to Greece myself. I've only been to Italy. That's as close as I've ever gone. And Italy in the summer is like that shocked me how fucking hot it got. And it's just like, oh, like you to leave your air conditioned, hotel and the moment you stepped outside your shirt, just clung to you and it was like sweat.

00;07;51;21 - 00;08;15;03
Unknown
Instantly. It was like, Holy shit. I, I am Syria born and raised. So like, I've lived in the Mediterranean my whole life. And I'm like, if I'm telling you, it's fricking hot here, that means something because I can tolerate heat like I grew up in this, right? Humidity and this heavy, it's it's like hard to breathe. Yeah. So and that's.

00;08;15;03 - 00;08;33;22
Unknown
Are you getting a SMS messages? Are you, are you a wine drinker or are you. You're a fan of some of the Cypriot wines. The, Well, I think it's a marvelous, the casino mob or what's the other group? Yeah, I am very much a casual when it comes to wines. I'm definitely not, well versed.

00;08;33;24 - 00;08;53;25
Unknown
I do enjoy, you know, a couple a glass of wine here and there, but I usually stick to my budget, which is, you know, off the shelf. Right? Right. Well, but you're you're local. They're, So my favorite. Yeah, I bought I bought my first retsina, the other week. I still haven't opened it. I don't know if you've ever had seen it before.

00;08;53;26 - 00;09;15;02
Unknown
If you even heard of it, but it's a very, very Greek thing. Pretty much no one else on the planet does it. And a retsina is a white wine with pine resin added to it. Maybe. I don't know about that. I don't know about that. I haven't opened it yet. I as I told Dallas, I've heard about it, I've always wanted to buy one.

00;09;15;08 - 00;09;39;20
Unknown
I went to my local one of the local quote unquote local wine shops. It's called Canal Wines. And they're, they import a lot of wonder, like they have a huge selection. and they finally had a retsina and I was like, oh shit, I have to. But as I told Dallas, I am both looking forward to opening it and totally not looking forward to opening it at in equal measure at the same time, because I'm a little terrified of it.

00;09;39;20 - 00;10;07;04
Unknown
I'm like, know? It's definitely an experience. It's definitely an experience. My my closest like phase to becoming a wine head was, like right after I got my very first big boy job and I was making, you know, a decent income. I found this wine place where you could go in, have like a, you know, a wine tasting, several different, wines and have cheese and, you know, olives.

00;10;07;06 - 00;10;24;22
Unknown
And I went there and I freaking loved it. It was so much fun. I was like, you know what? I'm going to make this a weekly thing every week. That's how it starts. You know? That's it. Yeah. And then I got the bill and I was like, yeah, that's how it is. That's how it ends. It's just.

00;10;24;25 - 00;10;44;27
Unknown
Like, I just dropped a $150 off on this thing. Yeah, maybe. Yeah. Maybe not a weekly. Yeah. And 150 is getting off kind of right in when it comes to the one. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. Unfortunately it's, I mean weekly that, that, that is, that is kind of nuts. Like, you have to either be able to go somewhere and literally be so good.

00;10;44;27 - 00;11;04;10
Unknown
You're like, I'm getting a glass of wine, right? Right. And I'm sitting down getting a glass of wine and then or a flight and I'm going home. I'm a member of of a place here in L.A. that, like, you get a free glass of wine or flight every week as a member. So it's like, okay. And then you like a subscription box sort of, sort of.

00;11;04;14 - 00;11;26;28
Unknown
So it's only it's only twice a year. You have to, you, you commit to six bottles twice a year to that, you know, new releases that come out in the spring, in the fall, which pays for itself if you're going there every week and getting a glass or a flight for free. and then you get a certain percentage like 15 or 20% off everything else you buy, including those bottles.

00;11;26;28 - 00;11;44;14
Unknown
So I'm like, becoming a member is important. But then you get into the problem that you're like, you want to try so much shit and you're such a wine head that you have to. It's like, what do they call it? Subscription? streamer Hopscotching right now, right? The where you can't afford to be, a subscriber to all streamers all the time.

00;11;44;21 - 00;12;03;22
Unknown
So you have to pick and choose like that show just dropped over here. I'm going to do that for a month, but then I have to cancel that and go to this other place. And now watch this thing. Yeah, that sounds so painful. So glad I meant piracy. Yes, it's a problem. I have some services. Yeah, I'm.

00;12;03;24 - 00;12;20;26
Unknown
I'm subscribed to because, you know, out of convenience. But usually, like I have, I watch so much TV, by the way, like I'm a TV head. That's all right. What are you watching now? What are your favorites? What are you watching now? So, okay, lately I've been loving the new Doctor Who. okay. Yeah. I'm a huge Doctor Who fan.

00;12;20;27 - 00;12;42;06
Unknown
Yeah. did you see the, the maestro episode? Did you see maestro? Yes. Of course. Oh my God, yeah. Monsoon was wonderful. And let us see was, Yeah, I, I'm loving the three body problem. That show kind of sent me on the books, and now I'm like, on the second novel and loving the series. Fascinating.

00;12;42;09 - 00;13;02;01
Unknown
We already have. the first book is is it? We're going to have it featured on this podcast where, it's our it's going to be our second novel, our first novel. We're recording next week, and then Three-Body problem comes right after C I, I don't like the three body problem, but. Oh, oh, as much as I like the dark forest.

00;13;02;03 - 00;13;23;26
Unknown
Okay. Oh, huge jump in quality. Gotcha. Like, interesting. Okay, after I finished the book, I went online. I was like, looking at some reviews, looking at some of the scores, and I was like, wow, nobody shares my point of view, which is like I had complaints about the sort of writing style. And then when I jumped at the second book, it was like everything I had thought about was fixed.

00;13;23;28 - 00;13;39;18
Unknown
I was like, oh, I'm loving this. Like I'm hooked now. Beautiful. All right. Well, we've got I've got the whole trilogy behind me on this bookshelf over here. I've never read this, so I will be tuning in. Yeah. To hear your thoughts. Yeah, yeah. And we're not going to watch the TV show until we've read the book. So the books come first, and then.

00;13;39;18 - 00;13;56;14
Unknown
Then we will hit those. the TV episodes. We're going to start our first TV, which also begins next week, is severance is the show that we're going to, Oh, yeah. I love that show. Yeah. Dallas. Dallas I love it. So he's like, we're doing this. And I'm like, fine, I love it too. Yeah, I'm pretty. I'm pretty hard to play.

00;13;56;17 - 00;14;26;24
Unknown
And that one got me that one. Yeah. Me. It's like, okay, all right. All right. Well yeah. But yeah let's, let's let's get focused because we're already almost, 15 minutes in and we are actually here to talk about a music album. we are here to talk about Carly Rae Jepsen's fourth studio album, dedicated. Now, this is, the album that came right after emotion, which is an album that we've already done an episode on.

00;14;26;24 - 00;14;56;00
Unknown
It's already, we're recording this days before that actually drops to the public. but by the time you're hearing this, you will have all heard it. If you haven't heard it, go look that episode up. It will be wine and Music Emotion by Carly Rae Jepsen. Go fight! And that was with screenwriter Mark Palermo. so, I don't want to go too deep into the history of Carly Rae Jepsen up to emotion, because we did cover that in that episode.

00;14;56;03 - 00;15;30;07
Unknown
I will simply say that, you know, dedicated is a proper. It is the follow up. she did do, of course, a motion side B, but those are B-sides that went with the emotion album. so this was her next big recording, basically. You know, a motion dropped in 2015. The recording of this album began in 2016, after a motion Carly Rae wanted to do a quote unquote light disco album, having, Deep dove into ABBA's back catalog.

00;15;30;10 - 00;15;54;07
Unknown
That's what she was most inspired by. The album's working title was, Songs to Clean Your House to, But ultimately she was advised not to limit herself that way, and she decided ultimately she agreed with that. She kind of spent a year doing nothing but the disco songs. and it was going very slowly because she kept trying to get inspired explicitly to create songs in that style.

00;15;54;14 - 00;16;14;19
Unknown
Julian is the one light disco song to remain on the final album, and honestly, I fully hear that in that track. We will talk about that track explicitly here in a moment. But when I heard that this was meant to be like disco, a lot of words for this album that I was struggling with when I was taking notes while listening to it is, I was like, it's light, it's airy, it's weird.

00;16;14;20 - 00;16;36;14
Unknown
Like there's some sort of weird, airy buoyancy to this album isn't a part of her other albums. And when I heard that this all stemmed from a light disco album, I was like, oh, that makes sense. I hear that 100% now that said, let me go ahead. This is the I have a, a clip of the disco version of Jillian, of Jillian of Julian.

00;16;37;06 - 00;16;58;07
Unknown
that, I know, sorry, Jillian is a very long term ex of mine. we were together for 11 years. That was a Freudian slip. but but we're still very close. Which, actually, now that I think about it, an amicable breakup is a big part of the history of this album. So maybe that was a Freudian slip on multiple levels.

00;16;58;07 - 00;17;15;10
Unknown
There you go. I'm talking about you connected you you didn't know you connect because that was a very amicable breakup for me as well. But let me play a quick this is a very short clip. This is all that, remains of the disco version of join. It's like 13 seconds long. Let me go ahead and play this for everybody right now.

00;17;15;12 - 00;17;42;01
Unknown
And, the world that you and me could make it be. Back to the end. Yeah. That's it. Oh, I much prefer that one. Oh my God. Yeah, I kind of do, too. I kind of do too. I like, listen this the, the the I don't, I never hope for all the back catalog to be like that's, you know, very hurtful.

00;17;42;01 - 00;17;54;14
Unknown
Yes. Yeah. That like the disco album I do I wish it the like I desire. Yeah. Absolutely. I, I, I have good news for you. it has.

00;17;54;16 - 00;18;10;19
Unknown
And I have other clips. I have more clips I'm going to play for you here and a us. So this actually leaked on Carly Rae's own, member. She had like a members website or something like that where all these tracks came from. and I believe so all of this has been kind of, sort of officially released to the world.

00;18;11;05 - 00;18;39;25
Unknown
and I will, I will we'll talk offline after this episode because I there's another clip. I'm going to play a song called Disco Sweat, which was the sort of the first main out, track on the album. I'm just going to play, a clip of it, but the verse lyrics of this song, you're going to it might be familiar for anyone who's a Carly Rae fan, because they show up again on the song Shooting Star from the 2022 Loneliest Time album.

00;18;40;16 - 00;19;15;03
Unknown
so. And she reincorporate these lyrics. But let me play this disco sweat for everybody right here. Somebody told me that the night star. It's better to keep the lights on. Somebody told me so. For if I play the lights. Will you give me, Disco. You wanna do what you want. If you wanna be I just do what you don't want.

00;19;15;05 - 00;19;39;26
Unknown
You wanna do what you wanna. Disco. What's so great? Wow. Yeah. So these are all plainly, like, not finished, finished versions of the songs, right? You know, they're almost right. So it's like they're not the best vote. They're not like they didn't keep doing takes until they found the best vocal. They didn't do the takes until they found the best take of anything.

00;19;39;26 - 00;20;02;07
Unknown
These are predominantly demos that are like 60 to 70% finished kind of a thing. but these tracks do exist. And they were in, in whatever form she left them in, they exist. Now. Another fun thing about this album, we there was, emotion originally was an album that had the working title eternal Summer. And we talk about this on the emotion episodes.

00;20;02;08 - 00;20;19;21
Unknown
Go look that up again. And I know I played the clip of eternal Summer, because eternal Summer actually first came from an indie rock album she tried to do after kiss that was also abandoned. And then she was like, okay, never mind, that's not what I want to do. But she tried to then put eternal Summer into the emotion album.

00;20;19;21 - 00;20;35;04
Unknown
She thought that was even going to be. The theme of the album was kind of her life in LA and being lost in this eternal summer and kind of getting lost in that feeling where time sort of stands still. Because if you come from anywhere that is in LA, la is that culture shock of like the Postcard City?

00;20;35;04 - 00;20;55;20
Unknown
It is, right? There aren't seasons. Fuck, I'm I've lost my bearings because I, we don't have seasons. and that takes a little while to adapt to. And then we have very subtle seasons that become seasons over. After a number of years, you start to feel that there are actual seasons, but man, that takes a little while. It takes like five years or something like that before you actually start feeling that.

00;20;55;20 - 00;21;15;16
Unknown
But I found it fascinating. She still did not let go of eternal Summer for dedicated. She kept trying to shoehorn it in to this album, and she made it, a disco version of eternal Summer as well. So I'm going to play you first. That, the clip of eternal Summer as it existed for the emotional album.

00;21;15;16 - 00;21;34;05
Unknown
And then we're going to play a clip of how it changed for dedicated, and we're going to see that shift into this lighter airier weirdly quote unquote light disco version. She was going for it for this album. So first, here is the OG eternal Summer.

00;21;34;07 - 00;22;16;12
Unknown
Ooh. Hit me really fast. You need to pick one up pretty well. We were city. What? It hit me. I should be to come my way up, pick you up 21. Set you up and you up, up, up, up up up. Stability. And it feels like we have an eternal summer. And it feels like we have slept in utero slumber some longer.

00;22;16;19 - 00;22;33;23
Unknown
Smoke it. Oh, was it all right. So that was the OG version. And then this is what it came on while she was preparing the right disco slash dedicated album.

00;22;33;25 - 00;23;21;15
Unknown
Oh my gosh, it's me I me to pick the world a bit funny. What we what city what is it? Me that you need to find my way I think. But you are good. You are city. What up up up what up up time for the cheese. And it feels like we haven't been eaten all summer. And it seems like we have slipped into your slumber.

00;23;21;17 - 00;23;51;09
Unknown
Like the moon to me. So a big difference. Big difference. Yeah. The second one. The second one. Definitely. She leaned into the breezy California vibe, which is, you know, a very distinct kind of thing. Whenever you whenever you come across a song that's associated with Southern California, Los Angeles, it will always have this breezy, easy sound because everyone imagines themselves riding down Sunset Boulevard towards the beach in a convertible.

00;23;51;15 - 00;24;14;15
Unknown
Although I will say because her first take on it, I think, was that she was. It was heavier and it was more of a list rather than breezy. Right? She's like, but she was lost in that breeziness. So it was almost a, a darker, heavier thing for her at the time. And by the time she did this version, she's like, oh, right, this is California, this is Southern California.

00;24;14;15 - 00;24;35;08
Unknown
Just the waving in the breeze and just go, it's an eternal summer and very light. And then that tutu, tutu, tutu, tutu, like, you know, with that 80s back, like PT, like kind of background music that was going on versus the tone, the tone of the OG one, which was just it had that heavier thump anyway. And thus you were about to say something about this.

00;24;35;10 - 00;24;55;23
Unknown
I will say I like the original better, but I wanted to note how much better and how much better control she had over her voice. Like another year at school for that demo, right? Yes, she really has come into her own by just knowing the right tones for her voice. And I'm just like, really always blown away, especially on The Loneliest Time.

00;24;55;23 - 00;25;16;05
Unknown
It was very beautiful to hear that evolution sonically. Yes. 100 I will 100% agree with that. I do think you know that OG version was from that indie rock album where she was really pushing and straining her voice in ways she never had before. We played, a clip on the when, when this, when the episode for emotion finally drops and you listen to it.

00;25;16;05 - 00;25;31;18
Unknown
And as we play another clip of this 10,000 people where, I mean, she almost like screeches a little bit and you're like, whew! You're like, I mean, good on you, honey. But it's like she was still trying to figure out if she could do it and if it was going to work for her, and so on. The demos, it only kind of works, and not quite.

00;25;31;25 - 00;25;58;29
Unknown
Which isn't to say, again, people can find their way because the demos a demo, it's not a finished product. So it's you're trying a few things out and you're brave to put that demo out there to the world. but yeah, she did have to find her way a little bit. so during this time where she was recording this quote unquote like disco album, her relationship with photographer and music video director David Larkins ended, and she found herself single for the very first time, you know, in a quote unquote, long time.

00;25;58;29 - 00;26;20;19
Unknown
She was young. So, you know, it was like, I've been I haven't been single in, I don't know, a couple of years, something like that. And it's like, oh yeah, oh, honey, you know, it's like it gets it gets worse from here. But, at the time, you know, when you're in your 20s. And it's funny, whenever I talk to young people, too, it always is this way in your 20s, like, if you've been single for six months, you think it's an eternity.

00;26;20;23 - 00;26;45;02
Unknown
Yeah. It's like that is an era of my life. And you're like, I. Okay, I do remember that I'm not going to judge you because that that was true for me, too. so this was the same relationship that was already a bit strained during the making of emotion, with Carly having moved to the suburbs, but already kind of chomping at the bit to go back to the urban nightlife, and they're kind of having two different views of what life was going to be like.

00;26;45;08 - 00;27;07;28
Unknown
There are a number of unreleased tracks that never made either this album or the dedicated side B sequel, and fascinatingly, there is a song called dedicated that went through three different versions in 2017. and this was right at the beginning of the end of their relationship before, so she went through this dedicated and the dedicated song.

00;27;08;04 - 00;27;28;11
Unknown
I'm going to play, a clip of this for us as well. The dedicated song is all about kind of being on the side of the boy, and like, we can make this work and, like, just believe in me and this we can make it. We'll come back together and do this right. And this was, Yeah. So it was that was to make the album.

00;27;28;11 - 00;27;52;03
Unknown
Yeah, exactly. But the the album's called dedicated, which is fascinating. Right. And then this track did not make either dedicated or dedicated side B, it was just completely like, nope, that's not what these albums are actually about. But I think there is something going on with that word play of still calling it dedicated, which I'm going to, there's, there's kind of a theory I have with this album that I'm going to lay down as we go, track by track through this.

00;27;52;17 - 00;28;18;25
Unknown
but at the beginning, I think that was what she was trying to do with this album. She was processing that breakup or the dissolution of that relationship in 2017, while it was fresh and new and raw, it was still she was still making a lot of the songs. And if you listen to early versions of a couple of these songs, which we will the lyrics are very much in line with what this dedicated song was, where it's like it's mostly about her, you know, in emotion.

00;28;18;25 - 00;28;37;09
Unknown
There's a lot of these songs kind of like Call Me Maybe or like we talked of when we talked to Emotion. We talked about all these songs being about like, I'll be your fantasy, I'll be your dream girl, I'll be your like, just let it happen and I will prove it to you. And she was still a little stuck in that mode in 2017 where she's like, no, no, no, no, no.

00;28;37;09 - 00;28;56;01
Unknown
Trust me, I will make this relationship work for both of us. You don't have to do shit. And it's like, oh yes, I you we all know that mindset right at the beginning of of a relationship ending when especially when you're the one who wasn't quite, you weren't sure if you were ready to call it quits. But then the other person is sure, probably for the best.

00;28;56;01 - 00;29;29;21
Unknown
Probably. You're not having a fun time in that relationship either anymore, but they're they were the braver one to, you know, drop that hatchet and you're you're still struggling against that. So dedicated then in 2018 became a track titled Dedicated Slash Comeback. And it was 8.5 minutes long. Wow. And it was the entire dedicated song that morphs slowly into the comeback song from dedicated side B, and comeback that one.

00;29;29;21 - 00;29;57;05
Unknown
Yes. And that's fascinating, because comeback is what this album really becomes, more about, which is the lyrics of comeback are, you know, I was thinking of making a comeback back to me, meaning finding yourself and coming back to yourself rather than being dedicated to the other person and dedicated to the relationship. So it became a track that morphed from dedicated, where you are in that, in that mindset where you're like, I'm going to save this relationship.

00;29;57;10 - 00;30;15;16
Unknown
It's all going to like, trust me, I'm on your side. Boy two you know what? I was thinking of making a comeback. It's going to be about me now. And so it became this 8.5 minute journey in one single, essentially one single track, even though it really was two songs just tethered together by this slight little, middle section.

00;30;15;18 - 00;30;39;15
Unknown
And, that version is maybe, the 8.5 minute long version. It's maybe about 75% finished as well. It's very close to being a complete track, but some of the background stuff, you're like, ooh, they were going to produce this more if they decided to ever put it on anything. But they didn't. She decided only to go with come back and eject dead educated in all its many forms, from the finished two albums.

00;30;39;15 - 00;31;05;24
Unknown
But let me play you dedicated here and let's hear what that song was lyrically and sonically. for you now. Oh yeah, I'm for you now. And I'll say there's a way to show that I need to see you. And I'm writing for you all night I hear your world cry. I'm on your side, boy. I'm dedicating any time.

00;31;05;24 - 00;31;35;03
Unknown
It's all right I hear your world cry. I'm on your side, boy. I'm dedicating my name for you. But I'm sure your title is yours. Always on my mind, boy I'm dedicating. So hey, you're. I mean, it's again. It's such a pain to like I will I'm on your side I hear your war cry I'm like, what about your war cry, honey?

00;31;35;08 - 00;32;04;06
Unknown
It's. You know, it's so I will make this a pick me song for sure. Yes, yes. So you can see how the songs shift from 2017, when they're mostly about wanting to fix the relationship to somehow how to somehow convince the quote unquote boy that she's dedicated on his side to the 2018 versions and 2018 songs where she suddenly singing about finding herself and learning to be okay on her own comeback party for one, which, holy shit, party for one.

00;32;04;09 - 00;32;30;22
Unknown
The, music video for party for one was directed by the boyfriend. wow. So he had he had, don't budget for her. Yeah, yeah. So he was a music video director as well. And, you know, I didn't realize it was that amicable of a split where he was able to come back and literally make the video, direct the video about the song, where she's like, I'm getting independent of you, and I'm okay with it.

00;32;30;22 - 00;32;48;28
Unknown
That's what this song is about. And he directed that video, so and maybe that was a way to like, you know, cement this new relationship between the two of them where it's like, we both have to move on. So here we are moving on, and we're going to prove it by we're going to make this video. You made the song about becoming independent from me.

00;32;49;01 - 00;33;09;15
Unknown
I'm the one. I think he was the one that, you know, initially ended the like actually set it and ended the relationship. So yeah, that was the cementing of that. And then dedicated became this album where dedicated the song is poof gone. It's just like thrown out. It's ejected completely because it's like, that's not what this is about anymore.

00;33;09;17 - 00;33;43;09
Unknown
So why is the album still called dedicated? And we're going to talk about that as we keep going track by track and really what all these songs are and what they seem to do musically and lyrically. And there are a couple a handful of songs that are so specifically the lyrics are doing. They're kind of being two faced about something that I think is very clever, and I did not notice until these listeners preparing for this podcast just how interesting what this album was doing.

00;33;43;09 - 00;34;02;01
Unknown
I now think what it's doing. So let's talk about this. But before we go track by track A NAS, what is your history with Carly Rae and this album? Was it a motion that made you become a fan? Were you a fan even before? Please give us give us the deets before we, do a deep dive track by track.

00;34;02;03 - 00;34;25;19
Unknown
So I was introduced to Carly. I think as much as, you know, along with everybody else through Call Me Maybe, which was a huge hit even in Syria. so I was kind of like, interested in that song because it's very catchy and it's very bubblegum pop. And I was into that stuff. I downloaded her EP curiosity, which I still love to this day.

00;34;25;22 - 00;34;49;04
Unknown
And, you know, I was becoming becoming a fan. Yes. Dropped. And I was not a fan of kiss. Okay. I like maybe like three songs on there. And I was like, yeah, like, she tried. But then when emotion dropped, it was she was completely off my radar. I heard, I really like you. And I was like, oh, she's doing this again,

00;34;49;07 - 00;35;09;03
Unknown
Yeah, maybe not. But when the album dropped and everyone was hyping it up on Twitter, as one does on Twitter, I'm like, okay, let me see what this is about. And since then, I've been like a mega fan. Yeah. Okay. but like I will say, dedicated is hold a special place in my heart because it is the first era or album cycle that I was there for, right?

00;35;09;07 - 00;35;43;00
Unknown
So I was like in the trenches with the fan base, you know? Right. Right. When we heard this girl, we celebrated and we heard Jack Antonoff was involved, we cried and it was, you know, attorneys until we got this album. Cool. Dallas. same, similar thing. I was not a Carly Rae Jepsen fan, and, Dave was fairly persistent because I got into this brief moment about a year and a half ago where I was really into sort of, like curious bubblegum pop.

00;35;43;00 - 00;36;08;17
Unknown
And I made the mistake of sending Dave a song, and that ignited this almost. Oh, he's okay with this release? Hell, yeah. Yeah. And so he decided to, you know, abandon all fear of judgment and started sending me these, hyper pop songs. I still have the reverb. They're listed somewhere, but these hyperpop sort of songs.

00;36;08;20 - 00;36;33;11
Unknown
And at first, of course, I was like, okay, this is just nonsense. but then I started sort of digging into kind of the simple poetry of this sort of pop genre. I was like, all right, okay, if this is their artistic expression and, and so I get it. I definitely get it. I like when a person presents a body, a full body of work that is expressing something is on theme.

00;36;33;11 - 00;36;54;26
Unknown
There's something they're attempting to kind of communicate. Yeah. And she's definitely kind of done that with a few of her, albums. And I will say the first thing that really, made me kind of abandon my judgment was this most recent album. I think she does a cover with, a song with, Rufus Wainwright. Yes.

00;36;54;26 - 00;37;12;19
Unknown
That's actually the, the second two most recent. She she's released yet another one since then. Another. She's. Yeah, yeah. Her output is kind of insane, but this one a year. About one a year. Yeah. These days it's, Yeah. That's impressive. That's it. We're eating so good. Yes. I mean, I will say, I will say it's not quite one a year.

00;37;12;19 - 00;37;32;16
Unknown
What she does is every there's a year in between. she's basically been doing double albums ever since. Emotion. Right. So she did a motion and then a motion side B where like the B sides and then with dedicated, fun fact for everyone listening, we are going to do a part two with us with dedicated side B in just a couple weeks after this.

00;37;32;27 - 00;37;53;03
Unknown
but I'm going to treat dedicated side. Okay. Stop. No, no, stop. Write dedicated side B is its own album because it is full. It's 12 songs long, so it's not a 7 or 8 song thing, like, like the emotion. Side B was a registered as an EP rather than an LP. Yeah, and dedicated side B is a full LP.

00;37;53;05 - 00;38;22;23
Unknown
What she did with her recent then output. And once again there was like a year, a gap. And then she released The Loneliest Time, and then the next year released The Loveliest Time. And that became so it's once again, I think the other half of what normally would have been a double album. Right. so I think dedicated and, and these latest two really technically deep down are double albums and that were released as two individual albums one year apart.

00;38;23;04 - 00;38;42;28
Unknown
and that seems to be her shtick these days, which, frankly, I love. I'm really into any tune. Yeah, but but that's that. I'm us. Just so you know, that's going to be our last Carly Rae Jepsen for a while. That next step. Well, there's like there's only, there's only, there's only, there's only four more albums to go.

00;38;42;28 - 00;38;55;16
Unknown
And then we're called. Nobody called God. Okay. They called them maybe no Carly Rae, but how about, like, Charli XCX? Yeah. Oh, okay.

00;38;55;19 - 00;39;20;09
Unknown
Know she's. I find Carly Rae. It is. And I say okay. So I mean, you know, it's like sorry small tangent, but like, you know, Charli's most recent album that just came out this past week is now rated 95 on Metacritic. Oh, well, one of the ten most like highest reviewed albums of all time. Interesting. Oh I so I just I've never really listened to, to that artist.

00;39;20;12 - 00;39;39;07
Unknown
Okay. Yeah. I will have to like that for you on to hear, because I think you will definitely appreciate her artistry. Possibly. Possibly. my mind is open. My mind is like, okay, I know, I know. Okay. Yeah. what was that about? She said she's the greatest new voice in pop. Is that what said unique? One of the most unique voices, you know?

00;39;39;12 - 00;40;00;00
Unknown
Okay, so, and I'm sure I've heard songs from her if she's that popular, like, almost, but I don't know which they are, like, because I'm just unaware of her as an artist. She has her mainstream, like, you know, call me maybes, and she has the more underground runaway with me. So. Okay. There's also like levels, of course, in the quality and, performance.

00;40;00;06 - 00;40;20;05
Unknown
Well, I mean, again, Carly Rae had to do that kiss thing to become popular. And I think that's the thing that I've been really exactly liking about modern day pop acts is that they have that one album that, yes, is not for anyone like us because it's it, but it's the one that gave them the clout to then go do what they wanted to do afterwards.

00;40;20;05 - 00;40;39;10
Unknown
The teenage dream, right? Yeah. The fame monster, right? Yeah. It's one foot in pop in that super contemporary, super, exactly what it is, pop. But then also one foot in, like, but let's also play around a little bit more. And now the studio is going to let me because I'm big enough that they're like, okay. Yeah, exactly.

00;40;39;10 - 00;40;58;07
Unknown
Yeah. You do it. Okay. so for me, the one thing I'll say, I've already said my background back on the emotion episode, which is emotion was my first as well. I'd heard Call Me maybe wasn't for me. I'd never listened to the kiss album. I had, I did not do that. Excuse me? Until I went backwards.

00;40;58;09 - 00;41;18;12
Unknown
I don't even think I did it after emotion. I might have or I might have tried listening to kiss when emotion dropped and I became a fan, and I think I only got a couple songs in and I was like, yeah, I'm good. I'm like, I'll just keep listening to emotion. I don't think I need this. so when dedicated dropped, I had an open mind.

00;41;18;15 - 00;41;39;09
Unknown
I didn't know what to expect. I knew that she was already on record in interviews saying she did not want this to be emotion part two. So this was going to be different. This was going to have some different sounds and whatnot. That said, to this day, dedicated is still one of my least favorite Carly Rae Jepsen albums after kiss.

00;41;40;14 - 00;42;05;24
Unknown
so, but, that that is what your top three. So I'll, I'll get there. I'll get there. but I will say that that is still a huge gap between kiss and this. So it's not a it's not a close second. It's a distant second. It's far from. Yes. Okay. So it just happens that I like all her other albums, including her debut album better than dedicated.

00;42;05;26 - 00;42;27;19
Unknown
So I actually love her debut album, I think, I don't know how much you've listened to it. A nice I don't know if you even have spent much time on it. I have once, and it wasn't for me. Okay. I it was for me. It's like a perfect album for me. I usually define perfect albums in the terms of like, there's no song that I want to skip, right?

00;42;27;19 - 00;42;50;21
Unknown
So as an album, it's a perfect album. and that is an ambition. Is that for me? Yeah. And see, there's like 1 or 2 I want to skip on emotion. There's none on her debut album. there's none on The Loneliest Time, which I think might be my top number one of hers right now. and but there's actually quite a few on dedicated that I'm always tempted to skip.

00;42;51;24 - 00;43;13;17
Unknown
which has lessened a little bit while listening to it over and over preparing for this podcast is a couple that were holdouts for me that I've come around to a little bit. and then the album is a whole, again, I have a thesis about this album that is really cool. That makes me appreciate it a lot more as a thematic, construct.

00;43;13;23 - 00;43;35;29
Unknown
But nevertheless, this'll break up the light disco, this weird, airy, it, yeah, it this weird, eerie, ghostly ness of the album really keeps me at an arm's length compared to her other non kiss albums, to where there is something that keeps me from really loving this at the same level that I love her other non kiss albums.

00;43;36;04 - 00;43;55;11
Unknown
That said, I listened like when this came out I was disappointed but I still listened to it and I listened to it multiple times and I actually love side B a lot. and side B was definitely much preferred. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Compared to this one. So. Well, well yeah. Go ahead. We'll cover it. Yeah. So let's go in.

00;43;55;13 - 00;44;21;28
Unknown
Let's jump right into track number one Juliana. So I will start on this one. I will just say, the reason this album I think was, is so hard for me to like is it is the first three songs are skippable for me. They're the ones that make it hard for me, where it's only later in the album that it really starts to cohere for me and I'm like, ooh, now I'm into it and I don't want to skip any of these songs.

00;44;21;28 - 00;45;04;09
Unknown
But the first three songs on your album, all being skippable, is like, damn that, that's tough. but I forever want to like Julian and I, I respect the I think it's well-performed. I think it's for all recorded elements to the music or even like for her. Very interesting and different. And I'm like, good on you and it's well done, but it's just too goddamn mellow and too breathy, airy and, I even before I knew the history of her wanting to make a quote unquote like disco album, I even wrote down the note mid-tempo disco beat kind of floats through the ear and mind, but never lands Leo in your home.

00;45;04;12 - 00;45;36;04
Unknown
You must put to the end. It was more than sense to the end, to the last band that I played. I feel like I am truly, Anyway, that's my take. on us. Okay, I will say Julian is probably my favorite song on this album. Go! yeah. I went party for one drop. That was the first single I was I was not really fully on board.

00;45;36;10 - 00;46;02;26
Unknown
Okay. But then she dropped Julian as a promotional single and I like, distinctly, vividly remember the first listen that I did. And I was like walking. I put it in my headphones and I got goosebumps. So Julian from me is up there. I love that, so lucky. It's almost experimental for her. As you said, I agree it's very upside her like, repertoire, but I just think it it's what I love about that kid.

00;46;02;29 - 00;46;34;29
Unknown
Like the whole album is that it feels like puppy love, like the honeymoon phase. But at the same time, it's about the disillusionment of that. I think Julian is a great opener for that kind of record. I agree, I do think Julian does this really, the song itself isn't necessarily my favorite by far. but I think it does a great job of the onboarding to this album because there's a lot of, sort of cognitive or thematic kind of dissonance.

00;46;35;23 - 00;46;57;27
Unknown
the song itself, the album itself lends to sort of mirroring the anxiety of the disillusionment of a relationship. And I think that's kind of the big takeaway from this album. It is it is just an anxious album. and I think Julian does a really good job of kind of setting the tone, for, the album itself.

00;46;57;27 - 00;47;18;01
Unknown
So I agree. I will say also for Julian that, you know, first songs on albums are often statements like you want to say, like, this is what you're getting from this album, right? You don't want and it's it's good for that as well. Because of all the songs on this album, it is the most unlike anything she had done before.

00;47;18;03 - 00;47;44;19
Unknown
And I think that was the statement to be made where it's like, this is what, this is what this album is. Please, right. There will be elements of my previous albums in here mixed up. You know, in other songs, don't you know, you'll find some of that. But this is what we're getting here, and it's not as much for me as like, emotion or even the albums that came after, but I give it 100% credit and kudos for doing something different and honestly doing it well.

00;47;44;19 - 00;48;18;26
Unknown
It just never connects fully for me. There's something about it that just stays. It's sort of the two breezy. It's sort of the, amuse, amuse Bush. It sort of just gives you, a lovely little sort of taste that kind of peaks things for you. And it does kind of intrigue you, even though it leaves you unsatisfied in terms of, you know, dissatisfied, in terms of the, completely of someone for me, like the first three opening songs on the album are sort of like a, like a sugar rush.

00;48;19;02 - 00;48;36;15
Unknown
Okay. And then you feel that sense afterwards, right? Like when you're when the sugar stops rushing through your head, right? And you're like, then you get more introspective. And so, like, that's why I appreciate the, the opening tracks on this album a lot more than. Okay, okay, let's do that. Yeah, I'll go ahead. And on that note, so no drug like me.

00;48;36;15 - 00;48;58;11
Unknown
Track number two. continuing that sugar rush, this is, you know, no drug like me. And the song that's going to follow after it. Yeah. These are the two that feel the most, hits. Radio single style. Julian was a was a fascinating choice for a single. Again, a good idea in terms of, like, you're getting something different.

00;48;58;11 - 00;49;25;08
Unknown
Here you go. You know, don't don't come at me. but for no drug like me, I love the chorus. I hate the verses. The verses just seem so weird. It's again this weird, like winnowing. Like they're just, The mellow, chill coldness from Julian continues. it's got that floaty, airy quality, that continues. There's, a lot.

00;49;25;16 - 00;49;39;08
Unknown
There's even a line I can see you spinning around in your head. There's a little ghost of us, a little history of us in there. I can see you spinning around in your head.

00;49;39;10 - 00;49;46;24
Unknown
A little to me on a Sunday in.

00;49;46;26 - 00;50;24;07
Unknown
You know we finally got you to say. But say. Why would we risk it for shine and love? You stop me, I love you I'm still so intoxicated. Love your eyes all the way. Say song and down. And that you make love and affection for you. And you make me tell me the truth. When your love is wrong.

00;50;24;10 - 00;50;55;23
Unknown
Your heart you know, And it's again this weird sort of detachment from everything. And like, everything's a phantom and a ghost and, like. And again, it's a lost relationship. Right? Then she's processing all of this and kind of coming to terms with that. But yeah, it's one of the reasons why these first three tracks, it's like there's that element of this is going to be a pop single and then this, this wispy ness to the whole thing where I'm just like, oh my God, I don't think I like either.

00;50;55;29 - 00;51;15;17
Unknown
Like it's two hit single and two wispy at the same time, which is why these three tracks are so hard for me. But go ahead. A nice, take, take it from there for you. I will say they're not as powerful as some of her other singles that she's dropped, especially the ones from emotion. I enjoy them for what they are.

00;51;15;17 - 00;51;36;00
Unknown
I feel like they are, lyrically and sonically very right for that era in time. Maybe I'm projecting, but I feel like I was in a similar kind of era. you know, to me that that time. Right. I was in a new relationship and it was my first, like, serious, long term moving in together relationship. Oh, yeah.

00;51;36;01 - 00;52;01;22
Unknown
And I was slowly getting disillusioned that little did I know, it was actually monogamy that I had a problem with. Anywho, I'm expecting a comic book in the future. Addressing that. yeah, yeah, I was gonna say you has a comic called Kill Your Boyfriend, but it's not about that. So, Exactly. Yeah. Not inspired by the same person.

00;52;01;28 - 00;52;22;12
Unknown
So ever, I promise. Right. but, yeah, I feel like I was stealing a lot of the same emotions. Okay. Newly in love. The honeymoon phase. But at the same time, realizing that maybe this honeymoon honeymoon phase ends for a reason. And then I start slowly getting to see the person behind the facade. I see that, and, I think with this song, that was.

00;52;22;17 - 00;52;46;23
Unknown
No. What's the title? No drug like me. Yeah. like me. And I think our central metaphor, of course, is, is you know, intoxication, the drug. And these sort of waning of that intoxication and that gray area between sobriety and intoxication, when things are a little sort of perfect mixture of both where you're starting to realize that, oh, okay.

00;52;46;23 - 00;53;08;26
Unknown
This is not the peak intoxication that it was five minutes ago. And now I need to figure out where my exit is. And, I think this song gives you kind of more going back to that term earlier, that kind of dissonance in an odd way. right. Sort of the disillusionment. So, yeah. again, another great first or second note for an album.

00;53;09;03 - 00;53;30;11
Unknown
My third note for an album. that is clearly about, sort of the anxiety of a transitioning relationship. So and on that note, it is the second track on the album, just Like Emotion was the second track on the emotion album, and they're both about that, being a dream girl of something like that intoxication, that fantasy.

00;53;30;11 - 00;53;50;15
Unknown
Right. And I it's interesting that, you know, two of the tracks where she talks the most about fantasy and being a fantasy and being in a dream like they are both the second track on on both albums. So, I don't know what that that's actually not something that I don't. You can't help but contrast that to emotion.

00;53;50;17 - 00;54;10;24
Unknown
And I feel like going into this contrasting it's emotion, it's definitely giving it like a, like a, like down. Yes. okay. Got. Yes. Yes. So do you, do you find yourself doing that with a lot of her work, on us? Because I think because she, her output is and really is an impressive output because one note tidbit here, she wrote 200 songs for this out.

00;54;10;25 - 00;54;38;21
Unknown
Yes, she did, she did for about as well, almost for emotion. Like, that's a that's crazy. so do you find yourself as a stand as a fan comparing her work to previous work as they are released and us, I take them as a double package of dark side and side B as a complete unit. And then I, you know, expect something completely different or like a bit different next time.

00;54;38;27 - 00;54;59;10
Unknown
Okay. Always that core, quintessential Carly Rae Jepsen isms and okay. Music, right? That's what keeps me coming back. Like The Loneliest Time is probably my least favorite, but it's still a very good album. But even that album, I still come back to and then listen to it, because I just love the way she writes her melodies, her hooks.

00;54;59;22 - 00;55;31;17
Unknown
it's it's all very. It is expert pop. It is. She is she is an expert. Excellently crafted writer, for sure. Yeah. Yes. Yep. All right. So track number three. Now that I found you, don't give it up. Don't lay your hands. La la la la la la. Be my baby. Now that I stand you I want it all know there's nothing like the feeling better now that I found you.

00;55;31;19 - 00;55;35;27
Unknown
It's me.

00;55;36;08 - 00;55;57;13
Unknown
this one for me. So it's much poppier than the first two, but still has that little bit of a cold feeling. Now, I will say this is one track that I've started to come a little bit around on, just because I think this is the first track where it really she starts to do that in that quote unquote interesting thing, which is the song is called Now That I Found You.

00;55;57;15 - 00;56;19;00
Unknown
Right. And it is if you listen to the lyrics, though, they're weird. They are weirdly two faced about it, like it's like a double edged sword that she's saying, or not a double edged sword, but it's like she can't make up her mind. She's saying that it's not actually that great. she's like, I guess I'm feeling all right now that I found you.

00;56;19;07 - 00;56;38;15
Unknown
But she's like, but now that I found you, let's do this. And it's like, wait, what? And if you really look at the lyrics carefully, they're saying that this is not the best. This is not amazing love. This is not something that is entirely fulfilling, that she is struggling with this person and this relationship. But you know what?

00;56;38;17 - 00;57;00;17
Unknown
Now that I found you, let's do this anyway. And I never noticed that there's an element like the lyrics are missing conviction and but she's forcing it to happen anyway. There's this, I think it's, there's a thematic and sonic connection to real Love, the official last track of this album, which we'll get to when we get there.

00;57;01;07 - 00;57;20;23
Unknown
but it does something these two songs do the same thing where they're talking about almost like settling for the person you found, or settling for real love and calling it real love. It's all you want, so you might as well. Maybe it's this, you know, this thing that you have which doesn't feel like real love, but fuck it, let's go with it.

00;57;20;23 - 00;57;39;26
Unknown
I think. I think maybe this is real love and I need it. And for this, there's something similar where she's like this, this isn't amazing. But you know what? Now that I found you, let's do it anyway. So I, I don't know, did anyone else pick up on that at any point listening to the song? I saw something.

00;57;39;29 - 00;57;59;10
Unknown
Yeah, similar. Sort of. Kind of. Okay. Yeah, go for it. Go for it in us. Go ahead. Dallas. Okay. for me, this song, if you just look at the very first verse, like when she opens and she's saying, like, now that I've found you, I can't let you go. I'll build my world around you. Even though you don't need me.

00;57;59;12 - 00;58;19;16
Unknown
Right. So for me, just like Julian, it feels like someone who's lovestruck and is chasing after this fantasy of what I, you know, perfect love. Real love looks like, but throughout the album's going to do it, you continuing tracks you kind of like are disillusioned with that. And she kind of like, wakes up to the reality of that.

00;58;19;18 - 00;58;46;17
Unknown
And that's why I think like it works so well as an album opener and something about it. How about how it's very anthemic? The chorus is like very anthemic. It feels like it's so it sort of feels like a battle cry, you know? It's turning into this relationship and I really love that one. yeah. Yeah, I think something similar, she clearly is sort of finding herself.

00;58;46;17 - 00;59;10;04
Unknown
She does this in, emotions as in the emotional album as well, with one of the songs. I can't remember which one, but she basically drops her character in the middle of a relationship and is sort of realizing, its parameters and in real time in the song. And she does that very good, perspective, when dropping, you know, the character in the middle of a moment.

00;59;11;02 - 00;59;35;26
Unknown
and I don't know if it's necessarily disillusion, man, but I think she has sort of resigned to the fact that this is the thing I think I wanted. So we're just going to go full steam ahead and see where it goes. so yeah, that's but I also think she's torn herself almost in the song, like, while, like whoever's singing that, whatever part of her is singing the song, whichever version of her is singing the song, because the lyrics are, how do we get this far?

00;59;35;26 - 00;59;55;14
Unknown
It came without a warning. And in the night time you tell me your whole life. You and me get to real. But all I feel is all right. My heart's a secret. But I think I'm coming alive. Yeah, I think I'm coming alive with you. And it's. It's that weird double thing where she's like, oh, this isn't, I'm coming a lot.

00;59;55;16 - 01;00;14;18
Unknown
It's almost like she's convincing herself she's coming alive with this person, right? Versus actually coming alive with them. But the lyrics are kind of subtle that way. Like, if you just listen to the song and then the, the, propulsion and bumpiness of the song makes it just feel like we're doing this is happening. And it's I found you and it's real love.

01;00;14;25 - 01;00;38;15
Unknown
And you're like, oh, wait, if you listen to the lyrics, you're like, I don't think it is. And that's kind of awesome. Like, it's subtle to the point where I certainly never noticed it until now. Thank you so much for listening, everybody. We will be back tomorrow for part two of Carly Rae Jepsen's dedicated album, where we cover tracks five through 15.

01;00;38;15 - 01;00;55;20
Unknown
Believe it or not, in the same amount of time that we covered today, but we won't be going through all the backstory, so we will get right to the rest of the album. And then of course, what you all really come here for the wine pairings and we got some doozies, some great evolutions from where we were with emotion, where Carly Rae Jepsen went as an artist.

01;00;55;20 - 01;01;19;24
Unknown
With this album, we go with the wines compared to what we paired the last time. And of course, special guest Innes Abdul Hayek will be with us once again. So come join us. And in the interim, you have 24 hours for part two drops. Listen to some Carly Rae Jepsen specially dedicated album Chao for now. We will be back tomorrow with another one in the entertainment for your entertainment.

01;01;19;26 - 01;01;25;02
Unknown
But.

01;01;25;05 - 01;01;37;25
Unknown
The of the brand.

01;01;37;28 - 01;01;41;04
Unknown
For the benefit.

01;01;41;06 - 01;01;44;22
Unknown
Of.

01;01;44;24 - 01;01;52;02
Unknown
Us.