Love It If We Made It
"Love It If We Made It" is a song by English band the 1975 from their third studio album, A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships (2018). The song was written by Matty Healy, George Daniel, Adam Hann and Ross MacDonald, while the production was handled by the former two. It was released on 19 July 2018 by Dirty Hit and Polydor Records as the second single from the album. Daniel created the song's production in 2015, while Healy collected daily tabloid headlines from 2016 to 2018 to use as lyrics. They became too humorous, so he rewrote the song to summarize the volatile social and political events in that period, using Prince's "Sign o' the Times" as an inspiration.
"Love It If We Made It"
A mid-tempo electro-rock ballad, "Love It If We Made It" contains sophisti-pop melodies, harp-like arpeggios, disco riffs and staccato chords. The song also incorporates elements of synth-pop, power pop, funk and pop music. Thematically, it deals with the vices of modern humanity, hypocrisy and disinformation, while the lyrics reference multiple events such as the US national anthem protests, the death of Alan Kurdi, the death of Lil Peep, and the Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape, among others. Healy delivers the track in a stream of consciousness style using a mixture of shouting, screaming and rapping.
Upon release, "Love It If We Made It" received widespread acclaim from contemporary music critics, many of whom deemed it both an album highlight and the record's overall thesis statement. Praise was directed at the song's themes, lyrics, production and Healy's vocal delivery. The track was included on numerous critics year-end lists, and lauded as the best song of 2018 by several publications, including The New York Times and Pitchfork. It later won the 2019 Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song. It is generally considered among the best songs of the 2010s, a generational anthem and the millennial equivalent to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire", with several contemporary critics referring to the track as the 1975's greatest song.
Commercially, "Love It If We Made It" peaked at number ten on the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and number 33 on the UK Singles Chart, while also reaching the top 50 in Scotland, Ireland and Canada. The song was later certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Two music videos were released to accompany the track. The first, created in a vertical format, was released to Spotify on 12 August 2018. The second, directed by Adam Powell, was released on 15 October. The visual depicts the 1975 performing the song as neon-coloured silhouettes, interspersed with found footage-style clips of war and significant pop culture events from the 2010s. The video received positive reviews and was later nominated for Best Rock Video at the 2019 UK Music Video Awards and the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards.
Release and promotion[edit]
In early 2018, various billboards began emerging in major cities containing lyrics from "Love It If We Made It". One poster read "poison me daddy", which Tom Connick of NME called a "tongue-in-cheek reference to the all-or-nothing fan culture employed by modern audiences".[50] A second poster also emerged in the same fashion, reading "Rest In Peace Lil Peep", referencing the rapper's death in 2017. The billboards acted as a pilgrimage for the 1975's fanbase, with fans travelling to the billboards to take selfies.[50] On 6 July 2019, the band began mailing 1,500 care packages to random fans.[51] The packages contained a typewritten letter that quotes the opening lyrics of "Love It If We Made It", along with a sentence that mixes a partial quote from the Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape with a headline from the Daily Mirror, reading: "When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. 5 ways to save money as parents of three after the birth of the royal baby."[52] On 11 July, a press packet was mailed to media organizations containing a single piece of paper. The paper announced that "on 19 July the 1975 release 'Love It If We Made It'". The packet also contained the song's lyrics and the confirmation that it would serve as the second single from A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships. The band later confirmed the song's release on Twitter.[53] "Love It If We Made It" was officially released on 19 July 2018.[54]
Commercial performance[edit]
In the 1975's native United Kingdom, "Love It If We Made It" debuted and peaked at number 33 on the UK Singles Chart.[97] In Scotland, the song reached number 47.[98] It was later certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting sales of over 200,000 units.[99] Elsewhere in Europe, the song peaked at number 35 in Ireland.[100] In the United States, "Love It If We Made It" reached number 10 on the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart,[101] later ranking at numbers 86 and 47 on the chart's year-end edition for 2018 and 2019, respectively.[102][103] Additionally, it reached number 9 on the US Billboard Rock Airplay and number 36 on the chart's 2019 year-end edition.[104][105] Elsewhere, "Love It If We Made It" peaked at number 46 on the Billboard Canada Rock Songs chart.[106]
Music video[edit]
Background and release[edit]
In July 2018, the 1975 invited fans to apply to be featured in an upcoming music video being filmed in London.[107] On 22 July, Healy tweeted: "I just spent the whole day shooting a video with our fans and I just want to say that I couldn't be more proud. You are all so weird and beautiful. It was one of the best days of my life, thank you".[108] Two music videos were released in support of "Love It If We Made It". The first, a vertical video, was released on 12 August 2018 on Spotify following a brief teaser posted on the 1975's Instagram. It depicts the band members performing the song as neon-coloured silhouettes and contains bright, multicoloured lighting,[109][110] while lyrics from the song are shown at the top of the frame.[111] A second, full-length video was released on 15 October 2018.[112] It was directed by Adam Powell, with lighting and conceptual design by Tobias Rylander.[113] The visual expands upon the vertical version and features the same silhouette footage against coloured backdrops, interspersed with found footage-style clips of war, selfies, news headlines, heroes, villains, affected youth, calamities and social woes.[50][110][114]
Synopsis[edit]
The video, edited to appear glitchy, warped and poorly buffered, opens with a plastic bag silently floating through the sea. As the song begins, an image of Yiannopoulos flashes alongside lyrics, "Saying controversial things just for the hell of it". Clips of Americans fighting each other at a Black Friday sale are shown while Healy sings about white people's idolisation of melanin. This is immediately followed by footage captured on a cellphone showing Eric Gardner's death at the hands of the New York City Police Department. At the 43-second mark, lyrics referencing the increasing privatisation of the prison system are juxtaposed against footage of hooded individuals in orange jumpsuits.[50][112] As the singer remarks on the veracity of truth, footage from the Westboro Baptist Church–a Christian extremist group–briefly flashes on the screen. Next, Harvey Weinstein's image is displayed as Healy ruminates on the failures of the modern era, which Connick interpreted to be a reference to the Me Too movement.[50]
As the second verse begins, Healy takes a selfie against a billboard reading "Poison me daddy", referencing the song's promotional campaign, before displaying a video from the 2011 London riots. Next, as the singer describes a scene of drowned children on a beach, images of Alan Kurdi are shown before shifting to a billboard reading "Rest in Peace Lil Peep". Elsewhere, footage of the Grenfell tower fire is interspersed. A dance breakdown is performed during the second chorus recreating the dance scene from Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" (1987) music video, which the Dork editorial staff described as post-apocalyptic.[50][115] A multicultural montage of faces is shown after the breakdown, filmed during the band's video for "TooTimeTooTimeTooTime".[50][110][116]
In the bridge, lyrics referring to liberals and immigration are intercut with clips of Brett Kavanaugh. Then, a picture of Trump is shown alongside the lyrics "I moved on her like a bitch", followed by anti-Trump protesters calling for his impeachment. Next, the line "Thank you Kanye, very cool!" incorporates footage of West, while references to war are interspersed with clips from the September 11 attacks. As the video concludes, close up images of the 1975's fans are shown in rapid succession, with the last being a shot of Healy, ending with a "slide to power off" message from an iPhone screen.[50][117] The end credits feature a list of movements and organizations including Me Too, Black Lives Matter, UNICEF, Save the Children and It Gets Better, alongside a quote reading: "If I don't get to see the beauty of the end of culture / Then at least I've seen the culture of the end of reality."[118][119]
Reception[edit]
Connick deemed the video a "state of the union address for a fractured planet", calling it gripping and effortlessly stylish, noting it moves at an "incessant, scatter-brained pace".[50] Brooke Bajgrowicz of Billboard wrote that the visual's commentary on social issues and images were juxtaposed by the uplifting sound of "Love It If We Made It", highlighting the use of diverse faces to serve as "a reminder that the people affected by the world's mess are simply human, regardless of race, gender or ethnicity". Bajgrowicz also observed a political undertone in the video toward the end, represented by the footage of Trump, Kavanaugh and West, commenting that it references the former president's "creation of literal and metaphorical war".[117] Patrick Hosken of MTV News commended the "dazzling" and "staggeringly beautiful" video, specifically praising the synchronized dance sequence as "incredible" and writing that it serves to physicalize the song's angst.[119] Similarly, Dylan Haas of Euphoria Magazine also highlighted the dance sequence and compared it to Jackson.[116] "Love It If We Made It" later received a nomination for Best Rock Video at the 2019 UK Music Video Awards and Best Rock Video at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards.[120][121]
Twitter controversy[edit]
In May 2020, following the Murder of George Floyd, Healy tweeted in support of the Black Lives Matter movement condemning those tweeting All Lives Matter: "If you truly believe that ‘ALL LIVES MATTER’ you need to stop facilitating the end of black ones". In the same tweet he included a link to the 'Love It If We Made It' music video, on account of its relevant lyrical content towards racism and police brutality, which resulted to users accusing him of using the Black Lives Matter movement as an excuse to promote his music. Healy deleted the tweet and responded to the backlash in a subsequent tweet before deleting his account: “Sorry I did not link my song in that tweet to make it about me it’s just that the song is literally about this disgusting situation and speaks more eloquently than I can on Twitter".[122][123] Reflecting on the backlash two years later in 2022, Healy stated: "By that point, my reaction in the room to all that Twitter shit was like, ‘Oh fuck off! You know that I’m not using this as an opportunity to monetise the half-a-pence I get paid for a fucking YouTube play’. What I’m saying is, ‘Here’s something I’ve really thought about’, and all you’ve been asking for four days is ‘Say something about it!’ So I said, ‘Here’s what I think’". Healy argued that a song is more considered than a tweet, self-proclaiming himself as “the best writer in music on consumption within the internet”.[124]
Credits adapted from A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships album liner notes.[41]