This year Armenia is sending Brunette with a song that’s … well, I am not sure it’s a song. It’s more like a jumble of words thrown into three minutes:
The first part is an ethereal murmur of wishes that seem poetic in their quality, with the specificity of the activity that Brunette wants to engage in and….
…yup. She’s plagiarised them. All those sweet nothing about wanting to find someone to kiss her face and drink smoothies with? ALL LIES.
And once we get from the plagiarised bit of the song, we then get to the interesting bit – the furious anger of a woman in pain, a woman who suffers panic attacks, a woman who is stuck on this idea of a future lover that keeps getting interrupted by the realities of her own life.
Do I think plagiarism is good? No. Quite frankly, I’m surprised that this hasn’t been a bigger deal in the Eurovision community or from the EBU. I’d be interested to see what lawyers are saying about fair use and/or parody.
But I am intrigued by the song’s structure, and how it’s an interesting metaphor for people with autism. The first part – the plagiarised part – is all sweet and cute and involves Brunette expressing desires that she literally stole from other people. This is Brunette masking – this is Brunette trying to be the ideal version of herself to attract a future lover, with socially-acceptable wants like cute bookstore visits.
When the music shifts, however, and we move to the lyrics that aren’t (as of yet) proven to be plagiarised, we get the real Brunette. The unmasked Brunette. The Brunette that is drowning in panic attacks and is in pain and can’t seem to express a coherent thought without being interrupted by anxiety. She still wants a future lover – wants one so badly – but realises the impossiblity of it. In her mind, who’s going to want a future lover that’s so disconnected and in the type of pain that can’t be soothed by companionship?
I’m not saying that Brunette is autistic, or neurodivergent. But the metaphor is clear to me, as someone who is autistic. For many autistic people, getting to know others is a point of anxiety, and also a point of self-esteem – who’d want to be with a person who suffers panic attacks all the time? (Turns out, a lot of people! It gets better, kids!)
Is the song any good? I haven’t decided! There are a lot of things going on in it, including plagiarism. I think this one might be a wildcard on the night.
dudepoints.fun 