The Birthday Party

## Music video

**"The Birthday Party"** is a song by British pop rock band The 1975. The song is the fourth single from the band's fourth studio album, *Notes on a Conditional Form*. The single was released on 19 February 2020.

## Background

*"It was the first thing that I wrote for this album that I knew was great. And it was the first thing that we got excited about. Inherently, excitement equals projection, [so it was originally going to be the first single]. And then we went off on tour and I wrote ‘People.’ And we were like, ‘Right, well. If we don’t start with this, where are we going to put it?’"*
Released on February 19, 2020, the song was premiered on Zane Lowe’s Apple Music Beats1 radio show New Music Daily.

Promotion prior to the track’s release was carried out by mindshower, a site to which the band directed fans and was marketed as a “digital detox.”

The music video, which was also released on February 19, 2020, fully introduces mindshower as a computerized rehabilitation center, in which a digitalized version of Matty explores the world within. This may symbolize one’s momentary enjoyment of the internet and the usage of technology.

“The Birthday Party” merchandise has been available at the band’s 2020 UK tour shows. Matty also posted a picture on his Instagram featuring the band’s name and track’s title.

## Lyrics

Hello

There's a place

I've been going

There's a place I've been going

Now I'm clean

It would seem

Let's go somewhere I'll be seen

As sad as it seems

I seen Greg and he was like

"I seen your friends at the birthday party

They were kinda fucked up before it even started

They were gonna go to the Pinegrove show

They didn't know about all the weird stuff

So they just left it" (So they just left it)

I was wasted (I was wasted)

And cold

And minding my business

And I seen the girls and they were all like

"Do you wanna come and get fucked up?"

Listen, I got myself a missus, says there can't be any kissing

"No, don't be a fridge, you better wise up, kid

It's all Adderall now, it doesn't make you wanna do it"

"This ain't going well"

I thought that I was stuck in Hell

In a boring conversation with a girl called Mel

About her friend in Cincinnati called Matty as well

You pulled away when I went in for the kiss

No, it wasn't a diss

You put the tap on to cover up the sound of your piss

After four years, don't you think I'm over all this?

"That's rich from a man who can't shit in a hotel room

He's gotta share for a bit"

You make a little hobby out of going to the lobby

To get things that they don't have

Does it go through ya when I'm talking to ya?

You know that I could sue ya if we're married

And you fuck up again

Impress myself with stealth and bad health

And my wealth and progressive causes

Then drink your kombucha and buy an Ed Ruscha

Surely, it's a print 'cause I'm not made of it

Look, the fucking state of it

I came pretty late to it

We can still be mates 'cause it's only a picture

All your friends

In one place

Oh, we're a scene

Whatever that means

I depend

On my friends

To stay clean

As sad as it seems

As sad as it seems (Alright)

As sad as it seems (Come on)

## Personnel

* **Published by:** Good Soldier Songs
* **Produced by:** George Daniel and Matthew Healy
* **Drums:** George Daniel
* **Vibraphone:** George Daniel
* **Piano:** George Daniel and Matthew Healy
* **Vocals:** Matthew Healy
* **Banjo:** Matthew Healy
* **Guitar:** Adam Hann
* **Bass:** Ross MacDonald
* **Saxophone:** John Waugh
* **Trumpet:** Rashawn Ross
* **Flugelhorn:** Rashawn Ross
* **Trombone:** Lemar Guillary
* **Tenor and alto saxophone:** Bob Reynolds
* **Mixed by:** Mike Crossey
* **Mastered by:** Robin Schmidt
* **Engineered by:** Jonathan Gilmore

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/TwitterMusic/status/1263896575862099969
2. ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/notes-on-a-conditional-form/1473599936