Dating : Afterthought

Although, my hopes and dreams towards love dimmed last year(kindly, press F in the chat right now), there’s still this special album that helped me the most last year, and the album was ‘Nectar’ by the talented Joji. Previously scheduled for a June 2020 release, the album finally saw its light on the 25th of September 2020. Where do i start, Joji have been one of my favourite artist when I really wanted to get in my feels, and it did, even outdid it on some aspects from his previous releases (BALLADS 1 & In Tongues), where in ‘Nectar’, Joji is more upfront and honest in his tracks with the central theme around; lost love, regrets, and hopelessness, very fitting for my situation that year. Honestly, I can’t find any tracks I dislike on this album, there are many honourable tracks on this album that’s filled with Joji’s flair with his strong vocals combined with this almost “hauntingly beautiful” melodies across the album, that definitely can relate to you if you need to reflect on that feeling of loneliness and regrets. (Honourable tracks: Ew, Gimme love, Sanctuary, Like You Do.) But there’s this one standout track that still gives me the chills whenever i listened to it, the 13th track titled “Afterthought”.

Afterthought

On Afterthought, Joji collaborated with NZ based musician, BENEE on this chill but affirming track that tells this contrast perspective of a finished relationship. Wrapped in this beautiful, calming piano melody and beat sequence that complemented nicely to the story and ambience of the track. This song really felt like it found me, the lyrics will guaranteed to cut the deepest end of your heart and this song can transport you to the moment of your life where you say goodbye to your most memorable past lover, that feeling of regret and different scenarios that should’ve happen between you and them suddenly popped up in your mind, it’s a very honest song, really. It’s about what each others are feeling about the fallout of their relationship, and this track somehow shows us that , sometimes we wish we can really tell what we truly feel to the people we’re not ready to say goodbye to, not caring about ego, dignity, none of that, just pure heartfelt honesty about what we truly feel.

But just like the song, reality came around and put us into the ground again because frequently those things wouldn’t happen, those thoughts will rather go in the dark and would never see the light of day, often so we’re trapped in this “paradise” that we made ourselves, that feeling of security knowing that there’s someone out there looking out for you, that sense of warmth you want to feel after a long day, wanting to talk to them, but it’s all over , you’re alone again in your room, realizing that it’s all over now and it’s going to take a long time before you capture those feelings again with someone. On this song they wanted to show how after a failed dead-locked relationship, and blinded by that sense of “paradise” we built ourselves, we hope that at least they thought of us when the world seems bleak and unresolvable, to me this kind of “doomed” hope is intoxicating and not healthy, the real “Afterthought” of a failed relationship actually comes in at the outro of the song.

The Real “Afterthought”

I don’t wanna forget about you
I don’t wanna forget about you, oh
I don’t wanna forget about you
I don’t wanna think about it
Think about it

This 54 seconds outro is a pure bliss , Joji brilliantly captured the reality of putting in thoughts of a lost love and how we usually face it, all of those thoughts just like the song narrates it; did they ever think about us?, all the regrets and , the hows and whys on your failed relationship, along with the sequential beat of the song. Then, the track slowly fades out to this calming piano melody and mostly ambient silence. (*slow clapping) this describes well after the series of ongoing thoughts and honestly, more insecurities, how in the end our mind left us with the most important thought after a breakup with someone who you truly love: we actually, never want to forget about them. The decision is made, but the feelings are always going to be there.

Because, we can never unloved someone special that we poured our heart into, that feeling and the thoughts you gathered when you felt alone is them, you can tell them how you are really feeling but more likely it’s going to make it way worse given the condition, your ego, and whole other things that we deemed demoralizing or unethical. So, all we do is: we cloud those thoughts about them with whole other things such as work, and possibly a new relationship so we can numb the thoughts and feelings towards them. Just like the contrast on the outro of the song started with BENEE’s bright voice that sounded honest and comes straight from the heart and strikingly shadowed by Joji’s voice and message about burying those hurtful thoughts, to end the song.

So, that’s my review and interpretation of the song “Afterthought” by Joji, and how it ultimately broadening my perspective towards failed relationships, this is a beautifully crafted track and the outro that made me want to listen to this song non-stop, you can give it a listen and tell me what do you feel after listening to this song.