5SOS - "She Looks So Perfect"

(Only watch the above video if you don't mind seeing people dance around in their underwear - an alternative is the lyric video below)

Album: 5 Seconds of Summer (also She Looks So Perfect EP)
Released: February 2014 (single)
Writers: Jake Sinclair, Ashton Irwin, Michael Clifford

The first time I heard "She Looks So Perfect" (I'll call it SLSP for short) was also the first time I watched the music video, which was late one night my last semester of college. I was up doing work for a class, and I went on YouTube to look for music to listen to while I worked. I had exhausted my usual playlists, and I wanted something I hadn't heard before. Then somehow, I stumbled across this music video.

The video was kind of edgy but kind of goofy, too, and I liked that. After watching it once, I wasn't exactly hooked, but I was definitely intrigued. I wanted to listen to it again, so I did. And then I did again. And again. And then I bought the EP. And then I went back and found as much of their other music as I could find. I honestly can't remember another time I've fallen in love with a band so quickly.

I thought I'd be tired of hearing SLSP by now, but I'm not. It's been a year since it was released, and I've found new things I love about it almost every time I've listened to it or watched the video. I am now convinced that this is a perfect song.

That first guitar chord, the "hey"s, Luke's voice (hearing him sing for the first time was honestly a life-changing experience--and I'm sorry to say I'm not really exaggerating), the bass drop into the chorus, the rush I still get when the chorus comes in, POWER CHORDS FOREVER, Michael's high harmonies and Calum's falsetto in the second verse, those guitar lines that punctuate the end of every chorus, that octave jump, Ashton going crazy on the drums at the end...I love everything about this song.

And the lyrics--half of them don't even make sense, but who cares? Why's she wearing his underwear? (Note: Calum would later address this in an interview, when he admitted that it was weird but "kinda hot") Why would you say "simmer down" in a song? (Note: in what was probably one of the lamest jokes of all time, Luke told fans to "simmer down" before an acoustic outdoor performance of this song) Why did they make a mixtape straight out of '94 when only one band member was even alive then? Was the mixtape really just Green Day's Dookie? Whatever. This song has gotten a good deal of criticism for its vapid lyrics that are vague enough so any girl can imagine herself as the eponymous "she," but it's also gotten praise as a "girl worship" anthem and a really, really fun song.

You can't listen to this song and doubt their sincerity. You may doubt their credibility as a pop-punk band, but they've got the sentiment down. The unashamed infatuation with this girl, the disregard of what everyone else says, the desire to run away with her (complete with a reference to "this deadbeat town"), the wild promises only a teenager in love could make, all sold with big harmonies, power chords, and underwear.

Would you wanna run away too? 'Cause all I really want is you.