What turns a pop song into an anthem? Something that really doesn't need to be performed in mood for it to be successful- the context of which is no longer integral. I came across this video just Pixies surfing, and it caught my eye immediately. The grin on Frank's face when he comes up and the crowd screams. I'm not entirely sure this would have been a scene The Pixies would have enjoyed in their pre-breakup. But when you stop being an actual band, and you become Canon, everything is acceptable worship.
The original. Just a great pop song, a mindblowingly good song, but not an anthem by nature, not designed to be an anthem. Anthems like this take time to come into existence, take the love of many people, and the sustained adoration will turn a song not designed to be sung by crowds into just that.
The Pixies - Where is my Mind? - 1988
Placebo, however, releases intentional anthems; songs meant to be adored in crowds. They're simple songs. They have one sharp hook each; there's one little trick to each one. Every Me, Every You is one of my favorites.
Placebo - Every Me Every You - 1999
Somehow, this song makes me feel sharp and cool and cynical and hardcore and want to be more of each. None of which I am, and none of which anyone you want to be actually is. I'm told that at some point you grow out of wanting to be cool. I eagerly await that moment.
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