Song of the Month: Metric, Lost Kitten

Recently I was talking to someone about how much I enjoy the dichotomy of songs that sound light and fun, but which have very dark lyrics. This is something of a specialty of my favourite band, and never have Metric taken it to such an extreme as in Lost Kitten from the Synthetica album.

This is a sugar-sweet, bouncy, bubblegum pop song… with some of the most depressing lyrics you’ll ever hear.

I don’t know if Metric has even explained the meaning behind the song. My interpretation has always been that it’s sung from the perspective of a man who’s fallen in love with a substance-abusing sex worker. She’s too lost in her self-destruction for them to ever be together, but he can’t let her go, so he’s become her enabler.

I’ve heard other interpretations that are far less sympathetic to the viewpoint character, however.