Paramore's Heart Is Definitely In The Right Place

Holiday season 2014 is upon us. Need something designed to soothe on impact. You'll learn that Paramore has stepped in to play the part of Secret Santa. You can subject me to a lie detector test all you want but I swear the band responsible for the in your face "Misery Business" and, as I pointed out in a previous blog post, the juvenile taunt "Ain't It Fun" can take credit for "Hate To See Your Heart Break". It'll be the perfect relaxant on a par with hot cocoa stirred with a time treasured spoon. Hayley Williams turns in what has to be the most mature, self-assured performance of her band's career. She sells the chorus wonderfully. Not a trace of phoniness to be had. Joy Williams proves a worthy partner in adult contemporary excitement. As you'd hope for from a song displaying such thoughtfulness, the bass parts don't bowl over the rest of the immaculate arrangements. Jeremy Davis is heard from but his studio politeness is duly noted. I respect the slightly orchestral pathos sprinkled about judiciously. That's certainly not art for the sake of sounding or appearing book smart. What an add on does is tell the audience that "Hate To See Your Heart Break" swims the nettlesome love waters bravely and with a commitment to coming away with something conflict resolution related. From the first stanza to the last Hayley emphasizes compassion over conundrum. At the very start she does the intelligent thing by admitting "There is not a single word that could describe the hurt." She's employing modesty to convincing effect rather than blurt out that she wrote the book of love and knows every counter spell known to man that can cure even the most vicious strains of heartache. Joy and Hayley together to sing the title refrain? Magic sans the hat, rabbit, and wand. Simply put their gentle strokes ease chafed nerve endings. You learn that it's not impossible to learn how to get comfortable in your own skin. Hayley calls people who expect perfect movie script romance on the carpet. She knows that's at best a delusional construct. She can tell sometimes the bad among us get the good women. She's there to remind you that pain isn't exclusively negative. Au contraire. Those harsh sensations remind us hearts can heal. "Hate To See Your Heartbreak" gets you out of those wet clothes and into a cuddle worthy robe. As you can see in the video there's plenty of camaraderie to enjoy vicariously. The hugs at the end sum up the song better than I likely ever could. "How were you to know?" Hayley asks a gesture of concerned friendship. I trust she means how was her friend to know the dull knife's merciless edge would hurt so bad. Whatever the subtext "Hate To See Your Heart Break" affirms how reinvigorating love's warm embrace can be. In this instance we're not talking about amour gone sour. In fact it's sisterhood rounding into top form. Paramore wears its maturity well. Consider this heartbreak a lucky break if you appreciate romantic offerings from the heart instead of some playbook smothered in wronged damsel histrionics.