Dissect - S10E3 - I THINK by Tyler, The Creator

Episode Date: November 1, 2022

Our season-long analysis of Tyler, The Creator's IGOR continues with its third track I THINK. Shop Season 10 merchandise here. Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. Host, EP, Writer: Cole Cuchna Writer: Camden Ostrander Audio Editor: Kevin Pooler Theme Music: Birocratic Recreations: Andrew Atwood Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Spotify, this is Dissect, long-form musical analysis broken into short digestible episodes. This is episode three of our season-long examination of Tyler the creator's Igor. I'm your host, Cole Kushner. Last time I dissect, we examined Igor's second track, Earthquake. There we heard Tyler's honest admission of emotional dependence on his beloved. The lack of communication and reciprocity from this person left Tyler lost, and he defaulted to blaming himself, desperate for this person not to leave. Earthquake then ended with a beautiful outro in which the song itself came crashing down,

leaving Tyler alone to repeat the refrain, don't leave. While in the background, we hear count up from the number one, with each number being said as many times as the number itself. Just as the outro for Igor's theme blended perfectly into the intro for Earthquake, the clever count at the end of Earthquake creates continuity into Igor's next track, the subject of our episode today, I Think. I think was produced by Tyler Accoma, with a vocal feature from Solange

and additional background vocals provided by Ryan Beattie, Anthony Evans, Amanda Brown, and Tiffany Stevenson. Like the numbers on Earthquake that preceded, I Think begins with the number four being stated four times, which effectively sets the tempo of the track and also implies that this track is for someone, just like Earthquake was. Given Tyler's well-note admiration of Farrell Williams,

This four-count introduction might also pay homage to Frell's trademark openings, which begin with four stuttered quarter notes in succession. Now, after the repeated fours, I think continues with a drum loop created from a sample of 1982's Git Down by Nigerian artist and producer Kono Tells. Tyler clips out a small snippet of the opening drum part, loops it, and increases the tempo a little. One notable feature of this loop is that it uses what's known as a four on the floor pattern, which means that the bass drum hits every quarter note downbeat, a defining feature of dancing. music. It's likely that the repeated four heard throughout the song is a clever nod to its

four on the floor pattern. Over this drum loop, we initially hear a few spotty bass notes played on a distorted synthesizer. We're now three tracks into Igor and all three feature distorted low-end synthesizers, maintaining the sonic continuity of the project. Eventually, a descending arpagiaeated core progression enters played on a clavinet. While subtle, the rhythmic syncopation of these chords is quite effective, three eighth notes followed by a triplet. These chords are much simpler than the harmonically complex chords were accustomed to hearing from Tyler. But it turns out there's a reason for this, as Tyler didn't actually write this progression himself. Rather, he sourced it from a 1982 song called Special Lady by Nigerian musician Bebe Measel.

As he just heard, Tyler not only used the chords from this song, but also interpolated its hook. Thus, we realized that the basis for the majority of I Think is a collage of two Nigerian songs from the year 1982. Here's Tyler talking about the Nigerian inspiration for I Think just before performing it live for the first time. So my dad's Nigerian supposedly. And Nigerian music, it's good. It's like, you got Chadeh. So much Nigerian rock, like punk and like psych soul like a witch. And like these other bands that just made really good shit that I'm into.

In the 70s, they made a lot of funk, a lot of dance. disco, Saracenal, and like, Malik Sabi, if I'm pronouncing the right, they used to take photos of all the young kids who go to these disco parties and dancing, dressed up and shit. And I wanted to live in that moment for a day, just in Dad's Club, Studio 54 and shit. So me, Salange, and Frank. We flew to Lake Como, Italy. And I was like, oh, I'll just record out there and shit. and I wanted to check out a lot of the dance clubs and shit out there, but I didn't.

But I did make this. In conversation with Rick Rubin, Tyler revealed more details about the compositional conception of the track. Super simple. It's the song that I interpolated where the guy's like, I think I'm falling in love. This time I think it's for real. And I was like, man, these chords are, he made these really bullshit pop chords that I would usually hate sound cool. So always had that in the back. on my head.

And then I found this drum loop. I was like, this is tight. It was only a second. So I kind of fucked with that to make it a full thing. And then I was like, ooh, that one melody that guy did, those chords were sick. So figured those chords and added them. And I was like, man, I also like his melody.

Fuck it. I'll just add it there just as a placement. And then the full song came by. Amazing. And just was like, I'll just keep it. Man, I wish you would call me by your name because I'm sorry. This is not apology. You are such a distraction.

While we covered Tyler's use of four as a rhythmic accent and vocal texture, we also hear the word skate repeated. It's yet another reinforcement of the travel motif on Igor, with Tyler once again emphasizing movement, and on this particular track, dancing. We think of Tyler's speech we heard moments ago, about how he wanted to capture the aura of nightclubs like Studio 54 in the 70s. It was during this time that roller skating discos were a staple of nightclub culture,

which might be a possible inspiration for the repeating skates. And then there's always the possibility that Tyler is referencing the skate video game series and the highly requested but as yet unreleased sequel, Skate 4. In 2015, Tyler tweeted at game developer EA, quote, Stop playing, man, we want skate four. Please, like please, I'm not one to bug, but it's only up from here. Stop playing with our emotions, unquote. Five years later in 20,

E.A. finally announced they are bringing skate four to life, to which Tyler tweeted his excitement. In any case, the repeating skates and fours end up functioning less as words and more like rhythmic accents and textures as Tyler enters to deliver the song's first verse. He states, I don't know where I'm going. Once again, the travel motif is continued here, but Tyler is lost or wandering. This confusion will embody the song, as Tyler does his best to find a groove amidst uncertainty. He then counters with something he does know, but I know what I'm showing, feelings, that's what I'm pouring. It's an apt continuation of earthquake, where we heard Tyler be completely honest about his feelings for the man who's shaken him

to his core. And while he may be shook to the point of losing his direction, the one thing Tyler does know is how he feels, and he continues to be relentless and showing those feelings. The word choice of pouring feels especially melancholic, as pouring is loaded with connotations of sad imagery, be it the pouring rain or pouring a drink. This is then juxtaposed with the more aggressive, what the fuck is your motive? Tyler is searching for clarity amidst confusion, interrogating his would-be lover for an explanation of all he's doing. Interestingly, this is shaping up to be a central part of the conflict in Igor's narrative. Tyler is trying his best to move with intention while he's dealing with someone who has no existential answer, no apparent motive,

or at the very least, is incapable of expressing one. Tyler then says, man, I wish he would call me. At first we think Tyler wants to be telephoned by the guy, another plea for communication. between the two. But then after a brief pause, Tyler continues, By Your Name, because I'm sorry. Here, Tyler makes reference to one of the more popular homoerotic love stories of the modern era, Call Me By Your Name, which was first a novel by Andrei Asimann and then was adapted into a film in 2017, which starred Army Hammer and Timothy Salome. Tyler's pause delivery of Call Me, By Your Name, splits the phrase into two. It's a clever use of enjabment to illustrate the separation between the two lovers central

in this coming of age story, where a young man named Elio falls in love with an older, more experienced man, Oliver. Ultimately, Oliver leaves and enters a marriage with a woman, leaving Elio heartbroken and weeping at the end of the story. It's an app reference for Tyler, as we'll see a similar dynamic play out in Igor's love triangle narrative. It's common in queer media to address the fear of a homosexual relationship susceptibility to one or both partners opting out for a more traditional heterosexual relationship. These fears and emotions are intensified due to society's persecution of queer people. That danger is often heightened when one is openly engaged in queer activity, and the myriad implications of choosing another direction are encased

in millions of complex layers of social stigma, perception, and history. Struggles such as bisexual erasure and wider homophobia are closely tied to these dynamics. Even if tangentially, Tyler's allusion to call me by her name is an important element in situating Igor within the history of queer media. Like Elio, Tyler has committed to being fully himself and going after all that he wants. And the part of the fear here is that, like Oliver, Tyler's love interest won't reach that same point of self-actualization or freedom. Call Me By Your Name also takes place in Italy. And as we heard Tyler explain earlier, much of I think was recorded while Tyler, Salange, and Frank Ocean were visiting Lake Como

in northern Italy. There's also a little dad joke tucked inside the line. If Tyler's name is sorry, as he says, because I'm sorry, then he's asking for the guy not to say his name, to not say sorry. At first, we might think Tyler's asking the guy not to apologize, perhaps as a precursor to telling him that things aren't going to work out between them. But then Tyler clarifies, this is not apology. It seems then that Tyler meant he's in a sorry or pitiful state, which makes sense given the general turmoil he's expressed so far. This frustration with this situation is reinforced with the next line. You are such a distraction. In other words, this guy is taking up too much of Tyler's

time and mental energy. Cleverly, this line is the only line in the verse that doesn't have a rhyme pair. It quite literally is a distraction to the otherwise consistent rhyme scheme, breaking the verse's continuity, and the same way this guy is breaking Tyler's general focus and concentration. You are such a distraction. That's with Tion. Fuck that. Okay, wait a minute. I drip that shit, I am on, or curiosity. There's a distinct shift during this section of the verse, as Tyler's delivery and confidence accelerate, accompanied by three new instruments that help accentuate this emotional switch. The distorted bass we heard briefly at the beginning of the track re-enters for real this time,

which includes a really cool, long, glissondo, or slide near the end of the part. There's also an odd, bouncy synth that dances around the main keyboard part. Finally, we hear aggressive staves from a brassy synth, which really helps give the track that late 70s to 80s feel. And it's here that we have to call out a resemblance of this part to Kanye West Stronger from Graduation, which features a similar synthesizer part, and whose chords are almost identical to the chords on strong. Now let me isolate the chords of

Stronger and now I can compare them to I Think. And now I Think. Fans of Tyler and Kanye also noticed the similarities between these tracks and created mashups of the two. I know I got to be right now because I can't get much stronger. Man, I've been waiting all night now. That's how long I've been on ya. Given that Tyler took the chords directly from Special Lady, it's likely the resemblance between stronger and I think is coincidental,

as both songs attempt to capture a retro nightclub scene, and both display an urgency in their need for another person, while simultaneously exuding confidence and swagger. And the latter is what we hear Tyler embody as he raps. That's what Tion, awe, fucking up my ambiance, pause, you drive me cuckoo and not car, because I want you like Leon Warr.

Tyler here refers to himself as T in the third person. contributing to his growing self-confidence after deciding not to apologize for his feelings. He then playfully uses the vehicle and travel motif, saying the guy drives him cuckoo, as in crazy, and not driven like a car. Tyler being driven crazy is both the anger we're seeing on the surface, as well as crazy in love. The simile, I Want You like Leon Warr, refers to legendary singer, songwriter, and producer, Leon War, best known for writing and producing hits for artists like Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, and Marvin Gay, including gay song, I Wanted.

want you. On the surface, Tyler's nod to I Want You works as a contextual reference to how Tyler feels in this romance, as I Want You is all about unrequited one-way love. Just listen to the lyrics of the first verse and how they relate perfectly to Tyler's current situation. Quote, I give you all the love I want in return, but half love is all I feel. It's too bad. It's just too sad. You don't want me now. But I'm going to change your mind, some way, somehow. The fact that Tyler attributed, I Want You to Leon Waar and not Marvin Gay, points to the fact that Tyler knows the history of this song, and more generally, the importance of Leon War in music history.

Tyler actually collaborated with War on his song, Ocaga, California, from 2015's Cherry Bottom. Excited about the feature on the day of its release, Tyler tweeted, quote, that's Leon War on the random parts of Ocaga, California. Listen to musical massage, the original version of Marvin Gay's I Want You album, unquote. What Tyler's referencing here is War's 1976 album Musical Massage and its interesting relationship with Marvin Gay's album, I Want You. Basically, the story goes that War was recording demo material

for his debut solo album with Motown Records after being a successful songwriter behind the scenes. One of these demos was the song, I Want You. A record executive heard the demo and thought it would be a good song for Marvin Gay. Gay then apparently heard the song and the rest of War's demos and worked out a deal to record most of this material for for his own album, which ended up being Gay's 1976 album, I Want You. And so War gave Marvin Gay the material for one of his greatest albums and was left to create another from scratch.

This became the album Musical Massage, which didn't receive much notice at the time of its release, forcing us to wonder what War's solar career could have been had he kept those songs he gave to Gay. Given this history, Anne Tyler's tweet confirming his knowledge of it, the line, I Want You Like Leon War gains depth, as is not only a pass at his love interest, but it also seems to use the song and album's backstory as a match to his current situation,

one in which Tyler is sacrificing himself, holding another aloft at the cost of his own self-worth. There's even the possibility that Tyler's saying, That's what Tion, is an allusion to Leon Warr's writing partner, T-boy Ross, who co-wrote, I Want You. As soon as Tee admits he wants this person, he immediately counters himself, as a chant of, fuck that, sounds as if from a modern Greek chorus, representing Tyler's internal battle with himself. He interacts with the chanting crowd saying,

Okay, say it again, and then, okay, wait a minute. It's a moment of musical theater. Tyler's talking to himself as he goes back and forth on what to say to this guy. Should he express his desire or play it cool? Tyler then wraps what it first sounds like, I dread that shit I am on, as if he hates this internal back and forth, dreading when he'll be forced to say something to this guy,

be it sweet or vindictive. But Tyler then completes the rhyme after a brief pause, revealing the full line, I dread that shit, I am Anwar. This is a reference to Tyler's friend, Anwar Carrots, who has dreadlocks. Anwar was involved in odd future since the early days, with Tyler famously shouting him out

in the opening stanza of 2011's Yonkers. Finally, I think's opening verse comes to the close with the line, Curiosity killed the feline, gone. Playing off the common phrase, Curiosity killed the cat, Tyler uses instead feline, a traditional symbol for a woman. This is the first direct reference to the guy's girlfriend on the album,

and it might be the case that curiosity here means that the girl has been asking the guy about Tyler and is suspicious of him, prompting the tension and the relationship. The line is also a bit of foreshadowing, as the idea of killing a feline and the use of the word gone will come up again on the song New Magic Wand, where Tyler fantasizes about murdering the woman as a solution to his problems. The use of the word curiosity might also refer to Tyler and the guy, since curiosity is often used in conversations about sexual exploration.

Perhaps Tyler is hoping that such curiosity will spell the end of the woman, and the guy will vote Igor, choosing him over her. After this first verse, I think, launches into its chorus. A chorus will dissect right after the break. Welcome back to dissect. Before the break, we reached the end of I think's first verse, where Tyler expressed his fantasy of the guy's girlfriend suddenly disappearing. Next we hear the first iteration of the song's chorus.

With the chorus, Tyler introduces a few new instruments to the mix. Most noticeable is a lead synthesizer, which plays a line that glides or skates over the surface of the track. Next we hear a subtle, bell-like synth accentuating this lead melody. Now, even though this synth is extremely subtle, it's one of those small details that really showcase Tyler's craft. When combined with the lead synth, listen to how these bells add elegance and class to the part. The last new instrument we hear during the chorus is a bouncing, syncopated synth bass, adding a bit of funk to the already danceable groove. Now, as we mentioned earlier, the melody and lyrics of I Thinks Hook are an interpolation

of the 1982 song Special Lady. Salonj joins Tyler in singing, I think I've fallen in love. This time I think it's for real. It conveys a near identical concept that we heard an earthquake. Tyler is falling and he thinks it's for real this time. We also notice some clever text painting here, as the music results. the words being sung. The chord progression features a descending baseline, where each note is lower than the one that comes before it. It's quite literally falling, just like Tyler. Of course, the dominant repeating phrase of the chorus is, I think, which is also the song's title, and at this early point in the narrative, it's no surprise Tyler chooses to underscore his uncertainty.

Infatuation doesn't always mean love, and it's often hard to distinguish between the two in the beginning stages, when our vision becomes blurred by the spell of physical attraction and our judgment, is compromised. Tyler can't tell if he's falling in love or plain falling. In interviews, Tyler often evades questions about his romantic life, but he did admit that he's vulnerable to infatuation in the same way he gets obsessed over a piece of clothing. Have you ever been in love? Because this is a big one for me. No, but I get really, it's like me with anything. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on a second. I guess, but I just, I'm like, it's like me with, uh, Green hats. Okay.

It's getting somewhere. I get very infatuated with things. So I'll say that. When profiled by Fantastic Man in 2018, writer Paul Flynn wrote the following, quote, During the day, there's only been one conversation

that Tyler shuts down. Over lunch, I asked if he has ever been in love. I don't want to talk about that, he says politely. It turns out he just doesn't want to give too much away right now. He says that's the next record, unquote. The record Tyler was hinting about here was Igor, and it seems Tyler would rather address love and romance in his art, where intense feelings can be articulated with sound, with music, with poetry, perhaps a more accurate representation than passing words in a formal interview.

The hook continues with Tyler asking over and over, how can I tell you? Like Tyler's wish of a call heard earlier, this continues the threat of difficulty and communication between these two, as Tyler frets over how to explain his love to his crush, how to communicate his feeling, in a way that will hopefully ensure reciprocation. In a brief post-chorus section, Solonage takes the lead and sings, I notice that you're there, but I'm always in your hair,

and you're always under my microscope. It appears she's voicing the relationship dynamic, Tyler being in the guy's hair, annoying him, while Tyler over-examines the guy's every action with microscopic detail, looking for any clue or hint about what he possibly could be thinking or feeling.

It's a dynamic that continues to develop Tyler's embodiment of the Igor archetype, as he feels like a subservient nuisance, a pestering stepchild looking for attention. Tyler then begins a tight terset, wrapping, Waste of bread, I need your attention. The play here is need being both need as a necessity and need as in the act of kneading dough to make bread. In this scenario, Tyler is the wasted bread if he doesn't receive attention from this guy, just as unneeded bread is a waste.

Tyler could also be playing with bread and dough as slang for money, evoking the common phrase, waste of money, or even waste of time, as time is money, as they say. He continues rapping, I'm off balance, I need some fixing. I'm off balance seems to impart comment on the syllabic scheme of the current lyrics, as the delivery of both attention and fixin

are stretched out over the bar lines, the rhythmically off balance, reflecting the imbalance of this relationship. The use of fixing continues the food wordplay as you fix yourself some food or add fixings to a dish. Fixing also works with off balance, as in a car or bikes alignment, with Tyler in need of a fix.

or a tune-up. Finally, Tyler completes the terset by articulating his dependency, saying, I'm your puppet, you are Jim Henson. Just as the line killed the feline gone foreshadows the upcoming song New Magic Wand. Here Tyler foreshadows track 8, puppet, where this dependency metaphor will be articulated further. Tyler references the visionary artist and puppeteer Jim Henson, famously known for creating the Muppets. The analogy here is clear. Tyler's every action is controlled by this guy. He feels like a goof, and he reveres this person in the same way Jim Henson is widely revered. There's an added tension to this part created by a rising synth line in the background,

with each note higher than the last, culminating into a sudden dropout of the music, leaving Tyler alone to stretch out the last syllable of Henson, almost as if he's being pushed and stretched uncontrollably by the puppeteer, completely off balance and falling. On the next rendition of the chorus, Tyler employs the background conversation ad-libs again, yelling at himself extensively. The two phrases most clear are, shut the fuck up, and you fucking bitch. Tyler's shit-talking himself seems to convey that all-too-familiar spiral of anxiety, when you want to say or express something, but you convince yourself it's dumb, that you're stupid,

and criticize yourself into inaction. As if striving to break free from this uncommunicative status, Tyler continues by calling out, Take him to the Bridge. While a bridge is the formal name of the middle section in a typical song structure, a bridge as an road structure works well with the travel motif of the album. And the way Tyler pronounces it, Take him to the Bridge, can also be heard, take him to the bridge. And when we think of the dance club scene Tyler envisioned for this song, we get the sense that he's created the bridge to dance with his beloved, leading us into one of Tyler's favorite parts of the entire album.

Musically, there's a few reasons this bridge is a standout moment on the album. First, there's a key change. The song up until this point was an E-flat minor. Generally speaking, minor keys are broody, and while the danceability of I think helps to obscure some of this darkness, there's an underlying melancholy to the track, which is why it works so well with Tyler's lyrics about uncertainty and anxiousness. But when we're taken to the bridge,

Tyler suddenly and without musical preparation, switches to the key of E-flat major. Major keys are generally brighter than minor keys, especially heard in contrast with each other. And that's what happens on, I think. For over two minutes, we hear nothing but a minor key, and thus we grow accustomed to the mood of this musical setting. And then, out of nowhere, Tyler hits us with a switch to major, and it feels like sunshine suddenly bursting through a cloudy sky.

Let me play through the song's minor chord progression a few times, and then switch to the major so you get a sense of this contrast. This contrast between minor and major is amplified by the first. that Tyler also begins to use much richer cords during this bridge. Remember, Tyler took the main chords for, I think, from Special Lady, unless they feel much more vanilla than the kinds of progressions we typically hear from Tyler. He himself even called them, quote, bullshit popcorn cords. That's because the chords are all standard three-note chords that belong in the key signature.

They're extremely predictable and simple. Nothing about them stands out. Tyler's bridge, however, uses a number of added note chords, and some of them are what are called borrowed cords, ones that actually don't belong in the key signature. Just listen to how beautifully rich and unpredictable these chords are, especially compared to the previous chord progression. The intricacies of the chord progression

combined with the key change are what makes this bridge such a magical moment, and the fact that it makes such a big impact without vocal parts speaks to just how well composed and executed this bridge section is. While the chords are certainly the star, perhaps my favorite detail in this section is the flutie synth noodling around in the background. It's another one of those details that really takes. the part to another level, showcasing Tyler's talents as not only composer, but a ranger, knowing exactly what instruments and textures to use and when. And to this point, Tyler keeps

the momentum and euphoria of the moment going by adding new instruments midway through the bridge, including a bouncy bass synth, a fuzzy mid-range synth, and a floating descending key line. In terms of the Igor narrative, the stunning bridge of I think feels like an attempt from Tyler to create a safe space to connect with his crush, directly asking, how can I tell you, repeat, throughout the song. Tyler's been agonizing about how to share his feelings, trying and failing to do so with words. But here in the bridge, music alone is used to express the emotions of the heart, the ones too intense or complicated or profound for words. Indeed, in the beauty and warmth and euphoria of this bridge, we feel wholeheartedly the true magnitude of Tyler's love. He created a moment

for them to share in joy and passion and dance. And it's a moment we're all privy to, as Tyler created a bridge that reached and connected with us all. From a meta view, this bridge is what Tyler has been trying to do his entire career with us, the listening public. He just wants to reach us with his ideas, his chords. As he tweeted a few days after the release of Igor, quote, Man, having random folks walk up to me telling me about the bridge on I think gives me so much joy. If you know me, I can be annoying with talks about bridges and progressions,

so I'm hyped, it's people who care, unquote. This third repetition of the chorus is noticeably louder and fuller than the past two iterations, which clues us in on Tyler's long-term vision and execution of the track. From a bird's eye view, I think is essentially one big build-up to this final chorus. To show you what I mean, let's compare the choruses back to back. Notice how subtle the vocals are on this first one, almost as if you have to lean in to hear them. In the second iteration, we hear a more dominant vocal by Solange, back by Tyler and Friends. Now compare this with the last version after the bridge.

where the choir of voices are considerably thicker and louder. Rather than copy and paste identical versions of the chorus, which is what most songs do, Tyler instead saw an opportunity to build not only the chorus itself dynamically, but use these increasingly louder versions to build the entire song dynamically. This is important to note since the final hook could have easily been overshadowed by the bridge that precedes it. By building the choruses the way he did, Tyler ensured that he followed the high of the bridge with an even higher high of the final unrestrained version of the the chorus, allowing it to function as the song's crescendo, its most explosive section

of the entire track. Now, following this, we get a brief outro section that rise to the high of the last chorus, incorporating yet another new synth lead while we hear adlips from a female vocalist in the background. Tyler actually identified these subtle vocal runs as perfect, tweeting, quote, The bridge and I think is out of this world, but I love the small runs and ad libs, specifically at three minutes and five seconds. The a-a-a-a's are just perfect.

As if Tyler hasn't impressed us enough in this song, he includes a gorgeous piano outro playing a brand new chord progression. Like both Igor's theme and earthquake, we once again hear Tyler contrasting the grimy synth with the rich clarity of the piano, creating the juxtaposition of beautiful and ugly that reflects his dichotomous feelings about this guy. And while it doesn't contain a key change like the bridge, this piano part does use the more sonically rich seventh chords, and thus sets itself apart from the more basic chords of the main progression. Despite this contrast of tone, if we isolate just the baseline of this new progression, we realize it resembles exactly the descending or falling intervals of the main progression. In music theory, a brief section of new material at the end of the piece is what's known as a coda,

Italian for tail. Often codas are used as a cum-down and exhale after the climax of a piece. It kind of reflects on the main body, allowing us to take in all we've experienced, creating a sense of balance. Tyler's coda accomplishes this masterfully. a beautiful, reflective bow tie that allows us to catch our collective breaths from all that joyous dancing, I think, inspires. Personally, it's one of my favorite passages of the entire album. Conclusions

In terms of Igor's narrative, I think solidifies the dynamic between Tyler and his love interests that began on earthquake. Tyler is shook, crazy in love, and being driven crazy by this love, as he grows increasingly irritated by his crush's lack of communication. He also feels anxiety in expressing his own feelings due to the fear of abandonment, that it would scare this guy away, perhaps because the guy is fearful too, fearful of his own feelings, fearful of deviating from heteronormativity. Indeed, in the beginning stages of romance, communication of feeling is very often required to ensure both parties are comfortable, and this relationship seems strained, complicated,

and paralyzed by uncommunicative masculinity. The way society makes it difficult for people, and in this way, men, to talk about their feelings, as suppression is generally seen as more stoic, smarter, and masculine. Still, through music, through art, Tyler offers a bridge, a literal connective space that is free from the anchors of masculinity and fear. As we heard Tyler say earlier, I think with an attempt to make a danceable space and to freeze this euphoric moment in time through music. With dance being among our freest movements, requiring the vulnerability of unrestrained spontaneity, it's also subject to judgment by those uncomfortable with such freedoms. As German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said, those who were

seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music. Thus the freedom required for dance and its vulnerability to judgment is the perfect analogy for the freedom required for the relationship between Tyler and this man to flourish. Tyler's offer of dance is an offer to his beloved to be free, to unshackle himself from the weight of expectation and the burden of societal pressures. It's an offer to hear the music together and move. This episode of Dysect was written by Camden Ostrander and Meek. If you enjoyed today's episode, please tell a friend about the new season or share on social media and tag at Dysect Podcast.

It really helps. Limited season 10 merchandise can be purchased at Dysectpodcast.com. Audio editing by Kevin Pooler, song recreations by Andrew Atwood, theme music by Birocratic. All right, thanks everyone. Talk to you next week.