Much to my own annoyance I'm quite fond of Closer by Chainsmokers featuring Halsey. I know in my bones that it is a terrible pop song, full of vapid make believe that the girl who dumped you might think "oh crap, I'm an idiot for letting him go" when she see's you at a party years later. Accept when it comes on the radio I can't switch it off, instead I'm paralysed as my body starts nodding it's head and tapping it's foot to the beat, because for all its faults Closer is a good pop song, for 2016 anyway.
So while my body was betraying me, my mind started to try and make sense of thislapse of judgment: why the hell do I like this? The answer is quite simple: songs told from the point of view of two lovers, or former lovers, with two singers casting themselves in each role is inherently imtersting. If pop music is about romance then this type of song is like being a fly on the wall of that romance.
So instead of the wish fullfillment of Closer, let's bring the pain of an actual break-up with Nothing Better by Postal Service. This song, compared to Closer, misn't just better, it's better because pain is more interesting, and a lot more relatable to listeners than the happy ending Closer's trying to peddle.
Nothing Better casts Death Cab's Ben Gibbard in the role of the dumpee: who in his pain embelishes the broken relationship as this great love story that shouldn't come to an end. Contrasting with Closer, Gibbard's object of affection doesn't stay an object as Jen Wood stops the song dead by bringing a hard reality to Gibbard's romanticism. It's a refreshing take on the male/female duet. Most of the time it's R&B crooning, each person flirting with what could be. Nothing Better goes further by stripping away the fantasy, saying that it doesn't always work out.
