Richardine Bartee
T
he opening line to K.I.D’s new track, “Happy When I Cry,” is sadly a truth for many people around the world. I know because I’ve been on the brink of it, and I have friends and family who are still suffering as a result. According to an article on Huffington Post’s website, “Nearly 60 percent of all young women have experienced abuse.” Men are often abused, too, believe it or not. Society calls them “wusses.” They aren’t considered to be macho. “Roughly 40 percent of the victims of severe physical violence were men,” according to Yahoo.
From a personal perspective, I understand how the heart and the mind will play on your emotional intelligence. Yearning for a falsehood of a relationship, or the assurance of being with anyone, you think you can endure the pain. Your strength starts to work against your mind, making you weak for intimacy. You don’t want your relationship to fail, so you fight for it even though it’s unhealthy. In fact, your mind starts to tell you that it feels good. Have you ever been so numb that you’re happy to feel an emotion? Even if it’s sorrow? I have.
What’s great, on the marketing end, for the K.I.D song is that it fucks with your head. And it’s why the do sardonic so well. There’s a red baby dancing. It’s a track with production that makes you want to sway. On the contrary, it also sucks a shitload of mental energy. You’re thinking more than you should; Asking yourself ‘Should I like this?’ You want to like the song. The message isn’t a healthy one, but it’s reality and comical in a sick, sad way.
“The dancing baby felt like a great representation of the lyric. On one hand, you have this entity dancing merrily, but one might also associate infancy with vulnerability and ‘crying,’” said the duo.
Kara Lane and Bobby Lo are well aware of what they’re doing. It’s all about embracing and learning from pain. Personally, I don’t think I’ll watch or listen to it more than I have to write this article. But I do appreciate the genius. My head hurts. Watch the lyric video for “Happy When I Cry” below.
