The Way Things Go song & mv review

First of all, isn’t her name “Beabadoobee” just such a nice artist name? It already sets the tone for her songs and let’s you know what kind of *cough* vibe *cough* you’re in for.

Okay, now onto the review of the song The Way Things Go (released on Apple July 11th 2023):

The song’s title sets the tone of the song. A shrug to a part of life. Possibly cheerful with a hint of sadness. The song is labeled “alternative” and if you’ve heard one of her songs before, you’d know you’d most likely be getting a soft voice over the soft & mostly used guitar (the go to instrument).

The song begins with a swirly mixture of a harp and what one may think the Northern Lights sound like. Before going into the guitar to set her voice up with the lines

And there’s so much left to say

I guess I’m just the bigger guy

These words tell you all you need to know. She knows there’s a bigger story, but there’s no use in telling it or dwelling on the past.

The same chord progression is used throughout the song, with more emphasis on the other instruments and her voice to tell you “hey, we’re now at the chorus.”

Speaking of the chorus, it’s later when you realize she somewhat started the song with it (if you count that as a full chorus).

The line:

Oh I guess that’s just the way things go

links the whole song together, as all of the verses/parts end with it. A soft acknowledgment to how she can’t remember her old love that well, but hey, that’s just how it is. You move on.

Personal feelings:

love the idea of having soft jabs or not even jabs but little calls to what happened like when she said

Didn’t think you’d ever stoop so low

Getting with the only girl you know

But the song never felt like a sad or angry song. It just felt like a “hey, that sucked, but…life goes on” thing. A nice reminder that “that’s just the way things go” and you'll live after a breakup.

Loved her voice of course. Not the biggest fan of a certain word being used, but that’s not for me to say I suppose. The other lyrics worked, and left no room for judgement or second guessing as they were pretty to the point. My favorite was the ending and how she sang/repeated

I don’t mind

The entire song is 3:08, and didn’t overstay its welcome, nor did it go too soon.

Now onto the music video/personal thoughts:

Whomever directed (it was Jack Erland according to my “research”) & choreographed the music video did a wonderful job. The ballet dancers were also lovely. The person who worked on wardrobe was great too.

Having Beabadoobee in a black tutu while the rest of the dancers/actors wore white (save for one person in a black tux who did 2 cool flips before handing them drinks) was a great choice as she both stood out and fit right into her settings. She looked like the cool person just somewhat interacting with her settings, but otherwise found everything so typical.

The set design of the one room used for the whole video was really pretty. There are flowers, random antiques, and the most non serious painting was being worked on by the person Beabadoobee took a drink with.

My favorite bits: her singing about the train passing the house and moving a toy train by a house, the dancers dancing/spinning around her as she sang about how much she “don’t mind.”

The video has to be my favorite part of the two. It made me want to create something simple yet elegant.

Anywho: the video gets a 10/10 from me.

Thank you for reading this. I’m trying to get better at describing songs and mvs as I’m really into them both. I

Peace