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“Bizarre Love Triangle” – New Order
(Words/music: Bernard Albrecht, Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris, available on Brotherhood, Qwest 1986)

Pop music rarely treks into the gray area between “I love you” and “I hate you,” and even then it’s usually in the “I hate that I love you so much” vein.  “Bizarre Love Triangle” sits squarely in the middle, with its protagonist feeling both the pull of love and hate.  He acknowledges his confusion, yet he’s closed himself off to outside advice.  Instead, he’s firmly inside his own head, offering a reaction to every thought and a con to every pro he considers.  Perhaps because he’s so wrapped up in his emotional quandary, the narrator tells a vague story.  It’s hard to tell where he stands with this mysterious second person; immediately, I assumed this was a long-time love who started to make him more frustrated than euphoric and he’s trying to decide whether to reconcile or find someone new.  However, this might be a case of lusting over someone who’s already involved and feeling guilty about it.  Either way, our narrator feels heartbroken and frozen by love.

The narrator’s vague situation does two things.  First, it makes the song relatable to people in a variety of situations.  Even if we haven’t been in a “love triangle,” most of us know what it’s like to have a crush on someone who won’t reciprocate the feelings.  “Bizarre Love Triangle” is seductively catchy, and relatability will finish the job that wonderful synth arpeggio starts.  However, the vagueness helps bring out the duality in the lyrics, especially in the chorus.  “Falling” could either be a falling down (as in weakening) or swooning, depending on the narrator’s perspective.  It also suggests a “pray/prey” pun, with the narrator either praying to be noticed or preying on his fallen former love.  Ultimately, it makes the words the narrator wants to hear but can’t say either “I love you” if he’s the “other man,” or “we’re through” if he’s secretly hoping to end things but can’t drum up the courage to do it.  It makes it hard to root for the guy without knowing what he wants (and I’d argue that he doesn’t know what he wants either), but with such a wonderful track pulsing behind it, it’s easy enough to get lost in the melody and leave this guy alone to deal with his emotional baggage.

More on New Order: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm