Natalie Imbruglia - Big Mistake

Published Thursday, December 16, 2004 by Abby | E-mail this post

You've forgotten how it started/ Close your eyes/ Think of all the bubbles of the love we made.

Angst!
L'oreal-sponsored, American gloss teen TV show, over-analytical PG-friendly angst, to be precise! Well whoop-de-do.

But in the days before my ill-advised foray into nu-metal, baggy-trouser-wearing, skaterboy-dating territory, this was the most I knew of anger in music. I was trapped in the in-between pre-teen years, you see; yet to feel the vibration of heavy bass echo through my chest as I lounged in a tangle of bodies at some suburban house party. The days of passing lollipops from mouth to mouth in the sweet haze of second hand dope smoke were still before me. I hadn't seen in the New Year kissing an unsuitable teen to the refrain of 'Shinobi vs Dragon Ninja', or been stunned into silence by the string arrangement in the Reanimation remix of 'Crawling'.

Ah, naivety.

So the power and anguish of Natalie's mournful wail was a revelation to me. Such heartbroken cries, such bitter contempt! Such a large amount of pain from such a little body! But of course: the world is nothing but a cruel and bitter place, full of other people's limitations and your own stupid pride. I was young, I would learn.

The way she casually dispenses the polite verse platitudes, rage held back the way only knowing it would ruin you forever to reveal your true feelings can maintain. And then, oh the gritted teeth bridge and final chorus breakdown: vitriol in screamed, slamming-door fashion. Sweet schadenfreude.

Because people are nothing if not a disappointment.