The hilariously chaotic new season of The Traitors made me reflect on the celebrity version, and my personal favourite contestant, singer and songwriter Cat Burns. I remember being excited to see her on the line-up as she’s made my Spotify Wrapped top 10 multiple times now, and I liked the idea that a stint in the castle would enhance her fame.
It was interesting to witness her in a reality TV show given the highly personal nature of her songs. Naturally, everyone interprets her lyrics according to their own experiences, but her songs in particular manage to spell out the way personal relationships affect her, while at the same time aiming for universal relatability.When interviewed, she is candid in explaining that her best music arises from her worst days. It was interesting, therefore, to watch her on The Traitors so poker-faced.
What I like about Burn’s lyrics is that they are not subtle. They outline typical student and young adult experiences without quite reaching the manic candour of Lily Allen. Rather than cloaking the song’s meaning in flowery language (which other similar pop artists fall prey to, sorry Taylor Swift) it feels like crystallised thoughts come straight out of her head.
Burn’s fame originated from her track ‘go’, which narrates her rushing over to a guy’s ’uni hall’ to find out he “f*cked up on a night out” – it starts blunt and no-nonsense and devolves into a really quite sad section about her concerns about meeting someone new. She has an equally candid song on the same album, ‘people pleaser’ in which she essentially self-therapises about her tendency to form opinions based on what others want to hear. It serves as a kind of wake up call for anyone who acts in the same way, as she is so clear with what that means for her: “When you say something’s wrong, I just want to make it better”.
A common theme in her music is finding comfort in the things you still have after loss. The songs come across as if she’s trying to tell herself and her listeners that it will be ok. Naturally, this is not unique – songs in general are more likely to deal with pain than joy, and Cat Burn’s ‘indie pop’ genre is crowded with sadder lyrics (look at Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving, for instance). Her music stands out because she pairs raw depictions of her own emotions with straightforward advice, as if she’s reflected on where she faced challenges and wants to share how she overcame them with those in need.
I love the song ‘live more & love more’ – basically an exhortation to do whatever you want, since no one really cares, with the lyrics “if there’s something you want to do, just do it, don’t let your head stop your heart from moving”. It also makes a point about how much we all learn from others: “Maybe speak less and listen more.”. As the winner of Keble’s Biggest Yapper award, this is a personal favourite piece of advice.
A more recent dimension to her musical voice has been the embrace of her queer identity. Her most recent album, How to Be Human, includes a range of releases reflecting on queerness and grief, choosing to collate songs on the challenge of coming out with those about the passing of her grandfather. Again, the lyric choice is hardly subtle, with one titled ‘GIRLS!’ – I’m sure you can guess its themes. Like her earlier tracks, the songs speak directly to those who need it. This album was released shortly after her Traitors experience was televised, meaning her personal experience was given a particularly large platform. Interviewed at the time, Burns mentioned the increased opportunities for queer representation that social media, which she sees as a relatively safe place for self-expression, provides.
The light-hearted tone of ‘GIRLS!’ is a counterweight to less hopeful tracks like ‘today’, depicting her first attempts to get back to regular life after a period of struggling to leave home. She tackles grief by appreciating the connections that helped her through its initial sharpness, again in a song with the obvious title ‘All This Love’, in her usual stream-of-consciousness style – “been going out more, I’ve been seeing friends more” and “lately I’ve been crying more”. It feels like a much more subtle, refreshing version of Taylor Swift’s ‘I Can Do It With a Broken Heart’.
A great thing about the stories her music tells is they’re intended to make her audience feel seen, and feel good. Interviewed on Jamie Laing’s podcast Great Company , she spoke about the messages and shows of support from her recent album from others becoming comfortable with their queerness.
Her music brings a definite sense of community, speaking directly to the listener as a kind of advice figure. So many mini-scenarios that she describes – anxiety at a social event, heartbreak, the difficulty of staying in touch with friends – are without doubt relatable to students.
I think Cat Burns is a great recommendation for this period in life, the university experience, because she doesn’t beat around the bush: her straightforward approach to explaining her emotions is revitalising. Music has long been heralded as a way to process emotions. Without veering into cliché, she reminds us to be kind, to ourselves and others. Amongst Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift, and other overplayed pop ‘icons’, Cat Burns stands out because of her ability to outline her emotions in real depth. Listen if you like indie pop, if you need a reality check, or if you love The Traitors.
