‘I'm not yours, I'm mine.
I tell you every time, you're walking a fine, fine line.’
Lyrics: Genius
“Slacks”, an intricate 2014 single by St South (Perth soultronica/electro-folk singer-songwriter Olivia Gavranich), compels multiple listens. Over a minimalist guitar-driven melody and pleasantly lush beats (which are occasionally accompanied with background percussion noises), she delivers poetic stream-of-consciousness lines that juxtapose independence and vulnerability via breathtakingly delicate vocals:
‘Your fakers are fine, but your water ain't wine,
So stop feeding me, 'a little more time'.
Your shit's a mess, I'm not yours to undress,
I'm leaving this love for the last time.
I'm not yours, I'm mine.
You've got the means to caress, but weak you leave me a mess.
One touch is enough, your hands, a little too rough.
Will I ever be enough?
I'm not yours, I'm mine’.
The song’s title does not play a significant role as an extended metaphor, partly due to the song’s lack of a traditional verse+ chorus structure. It is mentioned in two lines: ‘Soft slacks at night, I'm wearing 'em tight’ and ‘We fall the fader to black, release the ropes and feel the slack’.
But the rhythm and cadence of the song arrests your attention; you hold on the each line, trying to grasp all the layers of emotional complexity being established. When pain becomes this poeticised, you cannot help but develop empathy for St South’s relationship woes – while admiring her fragile yet firm assertion of independence and self-worth. Poetic melancholy and introspection has probably never been this empowering.
