Change Shapes - Lauren Mayberry
In the chorus, Mayberry tells of how she changes ‘shape’ until she gets what she wants, saying ‘what else is a girl supposed to do?’, this theme of women commodifying and profiting off of their bodies/looks and ‘using’ it to get what they want is a hot topic amongst many. It also identifies, to me, the ways women often have many different ‘personalities’ or ‘roles’ within a our lives and we have to adapt our entire persona for each of these ‘roles’ and we knowingly or not, do this every single day. The feminist stance held by Mayberry shines through beautifully as she sings ‘it’s your game, now, you’re mad that I learned the rules’, which summarises well the fact that this social structure was created by and upheld by men and there is now discomfort amongst many men who object to seeing women harnessing this structure to further their livelihood or career on purpose. Though they would deny such an opinion, I’m sure! The final line of the chorus ‘I change shapes, but you never do’ can be understood from a few different perspectives. It could be that it is fairly common for women to have to continuously change their appearance to keep up with newer trends on a much more regular basis than men do. Though it may also have a deeper meaning to it in the sense that societally, women have to change themselves to further their careers/livelihood in ways in which men never have to.
Being a woman, for the most part, means ‘changing shape’ in many different ways. The constant battle with keeping up with fashion and beauty trends, the way we as woman have to change ourselves to fit into all of the different roles that we play in society. We change our ‘shapes’ from girl, woman, mother, sister, friend, lover, colleague, employer, online presence etc, in so many ways other than our hair, makeup and fashion sense - though those change with these roles too! I would argue that men do not have to do this as much, if at all, within society and yet it is or has been expected of women to do this.
The upbeat and dance-y melody of the song allow the lyrics to sparkle, without coming off as preachy or as an overtly “feminist” song, which the song is most definitely not attempting to be (despite my feminist analysis of the lyrics). Lauren Mayberry is a very important voice in female British music, I am really excited to see what more is to come from her as she embarks on this solo adventure.
Lauren Mayberry is a Scottish singer-songwriter, best known as 1/3rd of Chvrches. ‘Change Shapes’ is the latest single from her solo debut. Though you would be mistaken for thinking this song is a bubble-gum pop hit from the upbeat melody, lyrically the song discusses serious feminist themes, which is a common thread throughout Mayberry’s work.
The song opens with the line ‘it’s exhausting, tryin’ so hard all the time’ and goes on to describe how the protagonist feels she ‘chained’ to the performative upkeep of changing herself for every situation she is in. Mayberry solidifies this with the line ‘Guess I’m quite the actress, no one knows I am a liar’ and beautifully summarise the plight she is facing with the use of ‘I’m a body for hire’, which sets the scene perfectly for the chorus. The beat of the song speeds up slightly during the chorus of the song, the rhythmic beating brings to the minds eye a packed dance floor and the crowd bopping along to the music.
