For this reflection, I am choosing to write about a song by The 1975 called Chocolate. It is an extremely catchy and upbeat song that I’ve been really loving, but only recently given thought to what the lyrics really mean. The song constantly is referring to “chocolate” and it is definitely a reference to some kind of drug. I looked up if chocolate was slang for any drugs and it is slang for marijuana, opium and amphetamine. I’m using my detective abilities and saying that they were probably referring to marijuana in their use of the word chocolate. The song is about a bunch of kids who are running from the police, going where nobody goes, smelling like “chocolate”, and they have all claimed that they are “never gonna quit it”. They also describe “guns being under their petticoats”, and gun is another reference to drugs. So, this song is about a bunch of these reckless rascals smoking and running from the cops in a nutshell.

The song is very, very upbeat and I often find myself dancing to it while driving. The singer of the band is from the UK and has a very heavy accent so it’s very hard to understand what he is really singing (I know I didn’t really know the true lyrics until I looked them up). So between the upbeat feel and the accent, it is very difficult to pick up on all the drug references and true meaning of the song. I think that the song isn’t supposed to have some dark meaning though. The lyrics, even though they are dealing with drugs, sound pretty harmless. None of these kids really seem like they are truly harming themselves or getting into real trouble. I watched an interview with the band and they were saying that they wrote the song to express their own history with drugs. They grew up in a small town where kids hung around and smoked pot and the police chased after them because that was the only crime they really were experiencing. And after I watched that interview and listened to the song, the meaning and intentions behind the song really clicked. Even the beat almost seems like you could run to it, so I imagine this song playing as the kids are running and hiding from the local police and maybe even their parents.

The 1975 is a very new band with only one album under their belt, but they have already gotten so popular. They have a great sound, and I’m always drawn to bands that the lead singer has a heavy accent in. I love the sound and quality of their voices. If you have yet to check out their music, I would recommend it. A lot of their music has a very upbeat, excited sound like this tune, and you can almost never understand what he’s saying.

I would recommend this song to anyone and, like I previously stated, it’s a great driving song to jam to on those fun commutes to Stony Brook.

Lyrics: http://www.metrolyrics.com/chocolate-lyrics-the-1975.html