If you haven’t heard “Work from Home” by Fifth Harmony, you need to stop everything about your life and just LISTEN.
Then listen again.
In four days when you have come out of the stupor and been reborn in the light of The Fifth, please message me so that I know you’re okay. You may be inspired to start a career in construction, but this will pass.
The video is below: be warned, it’s uncomfortable to watch at work. Not NSFW. But like, kind of.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GL9JoH4Sws
Prior to “Work from Home” I didn’t even really know who Fifth Harmony was. I confused them easily with pretty much every other popstar that is relevant right now. I have literally become my mother, who once referred to Christina Aguillera as Christina Ag-a-gag-me.
Fifth Harmony? Is that that the band with Ariana Grande? Or is she in that group Demi Lovato?
Then, when I was in Ireland for my first trip – the trip that sadly evolved into such exciting events as me doing a photoshoot with a milkshake:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BCdt0ztmsHm/?taken-by=teddhawks
My coworker sent me “Work from Home” and it literally set my ears on fire. The Crowne Plaza I was staying in had to shut down, evacuate, call in the fire department JUST FOR MY EARS.
I probably listened to the song 100 times the rest of the week and it fell into rotation on my Winter 2016 Spotify Playlist.
But, the song then just kind of disappeared from my memory. It’s like when you have a mad crush on someone for a week and then 3 weeks later see them post on Facebook and are like, “Oh, yeah, that was a thing.”
But fate wasn’t going to let me forget The Fifth like that. She knew better.
A week before I was supposed to go on a trip with a big group of my friends to Mexico, one of the guys from the trip messaged me and says, “Tedd, I saw you listening to Fifth Harmony on my Spotify feed. This song is EVERYTHING!” We vowed then and there to make the Mexico trip about The Fifth as much as possible.
When we got to Mexico, it was no-holds-barred Fifth Harmony appreciation. Every bar we went to it, it was requested. When my friend and I were allowed to select music “Work from Home” was played roughly every hour on the hour. The entire last day was a celebration of “Work from Home” someone even took a video, which was made into a gif of us dancing to it by the pool.
“Work from Home” evolved from a mindless dance song to a song that meant pools, sun, dancing, and summer. Hearing “Work from Home” is literally the equivalent of 3-minute spring break for me now, a sonic junket to Puerto Vallarta.
Had it not been for the symbiosis of Mexico and The Fifth, I probably wouldn’t have thought much more about the song. I mean, it’s catchy and fun, but now it’s so much more. This merge of music and emotion have only occurred a few other times in my life.
The Fall Out Boy Winter – Folie a Deux came out the fall/winter I came back from Korea. I don’t know if an album has ever captured more emotion for me. What’s weird about Fall Out Boy is that I literally have no idea what they say in any of the songs. I have listened to Folie maybe 300 times and have no idea what any of the verses are. But something about the driving rhythms and angst was everything to me when I was 23 and starting on the road to my adult life. “(Coffee is for Closers)” might be the song of my twenties. I don’t know what it’s about but the chorus sounds angry and hopeless but full of energy, which is pretty much how I would describe 22-27.
Taylor Swift – Yes, there is more to my Taylor love than “Shake It Off.” I bought Speak Now when it came out and was driving several hours to my friend’s place in St. Louis. The song “Mean” came on and I was like.. uncomfortably emotional. I realize saying “Mean” was emotionally resonant to me is the equivalent of a foodie saying a Klondike Bar is the best ice cream one can buy, but “Mean” like TORE. ME. APART. I probably listened to it an hour straight – there were tears, there was laughing. I was a menopausal woman for that hour. The song hit at the perfect time when I was coming out and dealing with that and trying to be comfortable in my own skin, and the blah de blah. That is why I’m ride or die Taylor. Do I think she may be a Cylon with a heart made of gold bullion frozen in carbonite? Like, I wouldn’t be surprised if that revelation was made. Let’s just say it wouldn’t be a twist ending. But I support Taylor and the eventual army she will use to overthrow the US government.
I know – at this point you may be thinking – Tedd, growing up in the middle of a cornfield, how did you develop such refined music taste? And I’d say to you that my dad loved Huey Lewis and my mom’s first iTunes download (in June of 2011) was “Hey, Santa” by Carnie Wilson.
Good taste is just genetic.
But thanks to the Mexico/Fifth Harmony connection, I literally, cannot get enough. I’m regularly on their Spotify page. I listened to their next 2 singles just as many times as “Work from Home.” Their newest single “Write on Me” prior to Mexico-gate would have just been a poppy ballad, but now I’m like “It’s about writing and I’m a kind of writer, so I LIKE GET IT.” I am actively waiting for them to come to Chicago on tour so that I can sit with the moms in the bleachers and do my sledgehammer dance to “Work from Home.”
I feel because Beyonce’s Lemonade came out last month that that should also be mentioned since this post is about music. I really liked Lemonade. It’s amazing.
But…
And I’ve never admitted this to anyone, but…
I’m a Becky. I was born a Becky. I will die a Becky. When my man cheats on my rather than turn my pain into a visual album, I will more than likely pull a Kelly Clarkson and Since U Been Gone is apartment. It’s who I am.
It’s why The Fifth speaks to me. It’s why Taylor speaks to me. And let’s face it, the world needs us Beckys. Who else is going to have all that flexibility to work from home?