To Keep Our Lives Going

Stereolab “Brakhage”

There are a lot of things happening in “Brakhage” but the center of the song is just two chords, strummed in a steady and relaxing pattern through all the rhythmic and melodic changes. As with “Metronomic Underground,” there’s a suggestion of objects moving in an unconscious synchronicity through a physical space. I closely associate the sound of this with commuter trains and hub spaces, moving walkways and airports. The tone isn’t tense or agitated, it’s more a sense of calm and order. It’s turning your mind off and going on autopilot as you navigate your way from point A to point B.

You follow the pulse of Tim Gane’s guitar until there’s finally a deviation of the pattern in a break sequence a little over 4 minutes in, and you get a different two chord pattern for a few seconds before clicking back into the original sequence. There is a feeling of low-key relief in that switch-up, like you’ve just arrived at a destination only to get back to moving through corridors on your way to someplace else.

Laetitia Sadier’s lyrics reinforce the commuter interpretation by repeating a mantra – “we need so damn many things to keep our stupid lives going” – that spells out the motivation of keeping oneself in this loop of passive behavior. The tone isn’t angry or dismissive, just self-aware and clued in to the absurdity of it all. It’s the awareness of how fragile needs make us, and how much we risk by stepping outside of this system.

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