Most of us harboured romantic notions of codependent relationships like that of Bonnie and Clyde, where the couple operates as one another’s accomplices in crime, robbing little gas stations and stores alike while driving off into the sunset.
No? At least, we have witnessed this romance on TV. What would happen if this romance was the subject of a song?
The band “The 1975” tackles this toxic predicament of a relationship in their song “Robbers”, which was released as the sixth single from their self-titled album.
The love ballad “Robbers” is about a destructive relationship. The pair does not realise the harm they do to one another since they are too preoccupied with each other. The title itself alludes to the way the lovers are robbing each other of their joys and opportunities in this world. They are too mired in their destructive relationship to be able to go on and develop in love.
Regarding the song, frontman of “The 1975”, Matty Healy stated the following.
“‘Robbers’ was originally inspired by my love of the Quentin Tarantino film True Romance, the story of an Elvis-obsessed loner who falls in love and marries a prostitute. In the movie, the couple run away to California after killing her pimp and stealing his drugs to start a new life financed by a once in a lifetime drug deal. It’s the sentiment behind the film that appeals to me, the hopelessly romantic notion that two people can meet and instantly fall in love, an escape story where love is the highest law and conquers all against the odds.”
He goes on to say, “Characters like Bonnie and Clyde always appealed to me as a teenager – couples so intoxicated with one another that they fear nothing in the pursuit of the realisation of each other, actions fueled by blind unconditional love. ‘Robbers’ is an ode to those relationships. The type of relationship all humans long for. All or nothing. This video is about when love makes two people feel they are the centre of the universe.”
In short, the narrative revolves around a couple who rob a store. As easy as that.
Upon closer inspection, the recurring themes are balaclavas, firearms, and strong drugs, all of which are connected to emotional detachment and violence. They do not know a lot about one another, despite their closeness. No matter how much time they spend together, how many drugs they do, or how many crimes they commit, they will always look up to each other while never truly getting closer.
As a line in the song goes, “Said one more line, will I know you?”, real intimacy is rarely attained in a fragile existence.
Overall, to put it mildly, the music is highly visual. It depicts the relationship as being like that of a person’s relationship with drugs: you cannot live with them, you cannot live without them. It is not just about passionate love; it is also about addiction and the lengths people would go to satisfy it. It is about intense, seductive, and addictive love.