Love and obsession

Young girls have weird ways of expressing they're in love with another person. In my case, I used to do so by giving them candy. This went unnoticed until I got called out by a couple guys in my third year of secondary school. They felt like I wasn't treating them the same way I treated this particular guy. And they were right because I had a crush on that particular guy I shared my chewing gum with. Of course they didn't know I did so from a sense of affection, I hope, but it did cause me to stop doing that as a way of conveying my puppy love. I think it's pretty endearing how young me didn't know how to show her emotions. Let us ignore the reason: I was raised in an unloving family. Sorry for making this post already seem so spleenful. Trust me, it won't be like that. This blog post was inspired by Toni Basil and Jun Togawa's music. If you're on TikTok you might've heard two sound bites from their music blow up over the years. I think the reason for this might be attributed to the rise of hyperfeminine fashion. 

Jun Togawa as Princess Reverse Jewel (1984)

Jun Togawa is a Japanese avant-garde artist. She is mostly known for her music career which was both solo and in different bands. In 1985 she released her song Suki Suki Daisuki (English: I like you, I like you, I love you). She wrote these lyrics snickering to herself because she thought they were extremely cloying: 

A rose-coloured love that popped up like a sudden mutation
A love so pure you could call it violent
A je t'aime so forceful that it's already been engraved into the Showa era 

Yet when she sang those words, be it during the recording or live, she sang them earnestly as if explaining her feelings straight from the heart. This is because she was actually happily in love for the very first time when writing the song. Before this she had been in love but the intensity of her emotions were never met by those of her partner's causing her to repress them. She felt this intense greed for love that would go beyond simple romance: "My engine had just started working normally." My love for this song stems from the fact that I can't really express my own feelings towards others properly but I do have them - and sometimes they're quite strong. It's something I think simple words cannot convey without being verbose causing me to act rather strange around my loved ones. It's actually not only this song by Jun Togawa that really clicks with me, because almost all of her music talks about girlhood in some way (and 'cause I'm just girl).

Toni Basil is internationally known for her hit song Mickey. In the pop music industry she can be defined as a one-hit wonder, but as an actress, dancer and choreographer she has definitely impressed many people more than once. Mickey is a cover of Kitty by the UK band Racey from 1979 (if only I'd watched that Top 10 songs you didn't know you were covers-video years ago). Toni Basil did add the "Oh Mickey, you're so fine" chant to it herself. My favorite line Toni Basil brought to life in the video is:

You take me by the heart when you take me by the hand

Funnily enough the cheerleader uniform she wears in the music video was her own head cheerleader uniform from her time at Las Vegas High School. That explains why her uniform is different from the other girls'. Even if Toni Basil didn't write the song herself she still conveys the sentiment of it perfectly with her music video. Her twirling and dancing around playfully with pom-pommed shoes and pigtailed hair really brings over the excitement and love she feels for whoever Mickey might be. This saccharine depiction of puppy love between high school sweethearts really stuck with me.

Cherry and Jenny

I love how both of these artists managed to portray the image of girls in love bordering obsession. It's something that we often forget when we grow up, but I feel like it also doesn't get represented in media nowadays anymore. Jenny by Studio Killers is a close contender with its sapphism centered lyricism. The Bechdel test is not completely to blame for this because female characters can still talk about love without mentioning a man (I don't have to explain all the reasons why). It's saddening that I haven't found anything simular yet but I will keep my eyes peeled since I need more like this in my life.

Thank you, and take care.