by Katherine Cheung
Amid the chaos of adolescence, Katherine discovers how music becomes both a refuge and a reckoning in her search for self-understanding.
When Mitski released her seventh album, The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We, in 2023, I was 14, with too much energy, passion, drive and not enough emotional intelligence to know where to direct it when I first heard it. Still, somehow, this 32-year-old woman, who was unknown to me before that time, had released music that resonated with my soul.
The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We is a gorgeous, refined and cathartic album. Mitski tells her feelings of being hurt whilst simultaneously blessing all her fans with an ear-gasm. The anxiety and turmoil of teenage angst that I had never been able to describe are expressed beautifully through her lyrics, making me feel that I’m not alone.
The first track of the album, Bug Like an Angel, is one of my favourites. The first few lines: “There’s a bug like an angel stuck to the bottom of my glass, with a little bit left as I got older. I learned I’m a drinker. Sometimes a drink feels like family” perfectly reflect the singer being aware of her family’s alcoholism and being trapped in the same cycle.
The bug has the smallest amount of life left in it, but it still has the willpower and courage to go on. In Mitski’s words, the bug is “like an angel” because after drinking the final drops of the alcohol, the speaker looks through the glass and sees this crushed insect shining through.
I keep coming back to this song whenever I’m at my lowest, because every time the music comes to an end, I start to smile as I’m reminded that there’s life beyond the pain within. I think there are often times when people hit rock bottom and don’t have the motivation to go on. I know I’ve had a lot of those moments, and they just need some validation to keep going.
The song I Don’t Like My Mind is about a girl who’s haunted by the past. The lines “I get sick and throw up, and there’s another memory that gets stuck, inside the walls of my skull, waiting for its turn to talk. And it may be a few years, but you can bet it’s there, waiting still for me to be left alone in a room full of things that I’ve done,” echoes the feeling of needing a constant distraction for the unpleasant memories that just will not leave.
Sometimes, I’d forget the happy memories I want to keep and remember all the bad things I want to forget. I think the worst part of it all is being the only one who’s crying over the bad memory when everyone else has clearly forgotten. It’s embarrassing to be the only one who remembers. The way Mitski can personify memory and emotion has always captivated me. Listening to this song, I’ve never felt more seen. I’d felt like it wasn’t just me who was going crazy.
And yet even with that glimmer of hope, Mitski doesn’t shy away from confronting the darker corners of the mind. In the song My Love Mine All Mine, Mitski sings about her journey towards reclaiming the idea of love for herself. She sings about how love is the only thing that belongs to her.
“Nothing in the world belongs to me, but my love, mine, all mine, all mine,” was a gut-punch of a lyric. Mitski’s message of nothing being free in this world but her own capability and choice to love, that no matter what, her love will always be hers and only hers to give, was extremely empowering.
In a world where sometimes, everyone, your family and even your friends can make you feel like the loneliest person in the world, it’s nice to have this song as a reminder of how, at the end of the day, you still have you. Everything around us is materialistic, and you can always lose your physical wealth. In the end, all you really have is your love, and it’s an intangible thing that you can’t ever pass on. Why not save some love for yourself?
Sometimes, it’s nice to have someone on your side.
Mitski’s tone, intensity and alarmingly vulnerable lyrics make her music incredibly powerful to listen to. Her complicated emotions haunt her, just as they have haunted her throughout her life. I think that is why teenagers are so obsessed with her music.
To me, adolescence can be an incredibly confusing time. The journey to self-discovery often feels like navigating a maze of uncertainties. Mitski’s albums, which explore feelings of sadness, depression, shame, anxiety and most importantly, the alienation of adolescence, make her music extremely relatable to us. Her raw, vulnerable, painfully honest and relatable lyrics resonate with listeners. These feelings we share, which can be difficult to put into words, make me feel less alone in my struggles. She doesn’t sugarcoat negativity, and the listening experience feels a lot more real. She speaks to everyone’s soul, telling us: I get it. I’ve been there too. And sometimes, it’s nice to have someone on your side. ■
Katherine Cheung, 16, is from HKFYG Lee Shau Kee College. Passionate about music, writing, and most importantly, art, she strives to express deep emotions through her artworks.