"No control over the feed you see, feeding humanity to the machinery
Not only selling ads, they’re selling you and me
And slowly hacking our psychology”
"I Put a Spell on You" from the social dilemma
This Time It All Started With…
a Netflix documentary called “the social dilemma”. This documentary is all about the human impact of social networking and features interviews with various tech experts who created platforms like Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
During the height of Lockdown, the only posts I would see on my feed would be either about the #BlackLivesMatter protests, “innocent” prisoners being executed or Trump. All American news and all negative. This drove me insane.
So insane that I deleted my social media.
And then I watched “the social dilemma” on Netflix and I hated social media even more!
Now I didn’t exactly hear this version of Nina Simone’s “I Put a Spell on You” in the documentary. I actually discovered it on one of my Spotify “Release Radar” playlists.
You probably are familiar with Miss Simone’s version of this jazz standard. The strings in the intro, her rough but smooth voice and the piano riffs.
Miss Simone sings about a spell she can cast on her love interest.
Brandi Carlile and Renée Elise Goldsberry took that idea of “putting a spell on someone” to make them fall in love with you and twisted it to show how social media has tricked us.
The first verse (sung by Brandi) is exactly like the original. It’s only in the chorus where Renée Elise Goldsberry switches the story line up and exposes the human impact of social media.
The song touches on how one click can drag you down the rabbit hole. Whether that is because you posted one picture downing a beer 10 years ago and now can’t get a job because of that or whether it is because the algorithm figured out how to keep you on the platform for hours on hours.
Social media is toxic.
The algorithms have developed so much by now, that if you google one topic you’ll start getting ads for said topic.
If you only like videos of dogs on TikTok, you will only start seeing videos of dogs on you “for you page” because TikTok’s algorithm wants you to stay on the platform longer than you should. It puts a spell on you.
As a musician, I am pretty much forced into being on social media to promote my brand and my music. Yes, there are healthier ways to do it and I’m still trying to find them by trial and error (I’ll let you know when I find them).
But, if I could go back to the days of flip phones and no social media…I would.
Would you?
To listen to this song, click here.
Lyrics
[Verse 1: Brandi Carlile] I put a spell on you (Some kind of spell) Because you're mine (You're mine, you're mine) You better stop the things you do (Please stop) I tell ya, I ain't lying (Don't lie) I ain't lying You know I can't stand it You running around I can't stand it The way you put me down (Down, down)
[Chorus: Brandi Carlile] I put a spell on you Because you're mine Because you're mine [Verse 2: Renée Elise Goldsberry] Click click boom, down the rabbit hole Here we go, a whole generation living the Truman Show No control over the feed you see, feeding humanity to the machinery Not only selling ads, they're selling you and me And slowly hacking our psychology Tracking what we wanna see, who we wanna be Preying on our fragile vanity The symptoms of oppressive algorithms seen as schisms in society When we're giving into hidden rhythms written with the heartbeat of conspiracy (Conspiracy) They say to hell with us, they put a spell on us The greatest trick played on humanity Is the true price of free Our shared reality?
[Chorus: Brandi Carlile, Renée Elise Goldsberry, both] I put a spell on you Because you're mine I put a spell on you I put a spell on you 'Cause you're mine
Comentarios