Song of the Week #11: "It's Not Living (If It's Not With You)" by The 1975
Song of the Week #11 is "It's Not Living (If It's Not With You)" by The 1975. For a long time, I thought this was a love song. In my defense, there were several factors that misled me towards this incorrect conclusion. For starters, the song is on an album entitled A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships (2018). Additionally, the title of the song—"It's Not Living (If It's Not With You)"—gives the impression that it is about a person. To top it all off, the song sounds happy . If you fail to pay close attention to the lyrics (as I did), you might think it is one of the most upbeat songs on the entire album, if not the most upbeat-sounding song in The 1975's entire discography. It is all a clever deception. The song is about drugs. Specifically, "It's Not Living (If It's Not With You)" is about the former heroin addiction of The 1975's lead vocalist, Matty Healy, who co-wrote the song with fellow band members George Dan...