Life got complicated. Then it doubled down. While any given passing year will have provided a person with broadened perspective, 2020 leveled up everyone’s self-reflection. ‘Can I grapple with shifting societal paradigms?’ Or, ‘Where do I stand now?’ For instance, a working mother minus reliable childcare, may have wondered whether schools’ virtual curriculum banished her from the labor force.
In CHRVCHES’ world, namely that of frontwoman Lauren Mayberry, the pandemic afforded her the opportunity to take stock of how she’s been treated by men historically.
“Be successful but only in the way we want you to be. Speak up for yourself but not so loudly that you steal men’s thunder. Be attractive but only for the benefit of men, and certainly don’t be vain. Strive to be The Hot Sad Girl but don’t actually be sad in a way that’s inconvenient for anyone. Be smart but not smart enough to ask for more than what you’re being given.”
-lauren mayberry
Isolated as a band between Glasgow and Los Angeles, CHRVCHES persevered through the creative process. Relying on audio-sharing software and video communication, they therapeutically channeled gobsmacking memories into a brand-new batch of electropop music.
Mayberry commented on how this track developed during the process.
“He Said She Said is my way of reckoning with things I’ve accepted that I know I shouldn’t have. Things I pretended weren’t damaging to me. It was the first song we wrote when we started back up, and the opening line (…) was the first lyric that came out. All the verse lines are tongue-in-cheek or paraphrased versions of things that have actually been said to me by men in my life…”
-lauren mayberry
The video contained metaphors crafted synergistically by CHVRCHES and director Scott Kiernan. The revolving door represented feeling trapped in an oppressive relationship. That the door was within the confines of a photo developing lab though, hinted at how the agitation concretely awoke Mayberry to this abuse she committed to escaping.
See below if you can spot all the symbols!
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