Lets Talk About…

Betty Who

I’m sure we all saw that youtube video with the Home Depot flash mob wedding proposal. In it, a man proposes to his longtime boyfriend with their entire families participating in the middle of a Home Depot to the song “Somebody Loves You.” It went viral, made everyone cry and inspired a ton of subsequent flash mob proposals on youtube. At the time, I was working for a radio show about love and dating. We contacted the married couple and interviewed them about the scenario, and recapped the video live on the air.

Aside from that song, I hadn’t heard of Betty Who before, and I slept on her music until my roommate told me about her second album “The Valley” years later. “It’s one of this year’s best.” He insisted. “I can’t stop listening to it.”

I figured I’d check her out, and I did exactly enough research (not much) to learn a couple of her songs and determine that she was worth more time and attention of mine. Around that time, she just so happened to be touring. I had apparently missed her LA concert by just a few days, but luckily, she was playing about an hour south in Orange County that weekend. I jumped on it and bought a ticket on stubhub, committing to the drive and forfeiting my weekend evening on something of a chance.

I wasn’t totally sure what to expect, but I’m always open to new music to get into. I was shocked at what I found. I hadn’t seen that much effort exerted in a concert since Robyn back in 2011, and the energy was very similar: sad, strong and direct. She danced her ass off and belted out her lyrics. The crowd was small but ferocious, and it became clear that she was one of those artists who people either don’t know, or are obsessed with. There’s no in-between with Betty Who. The lingering question after the fact was, “why isn’t she a bigger deal?”

After that point, I stayed loyal and have gone to as many concerts of hers as I could, dragging along friends or a date, trying desperately to share what I found in her and give everyone the same rewarding experience of listening to her music. I was lucky enough to run into her on two separate occasions at other artists’ concerts. She’s incredibly gracious, and matched or surpassed my own enthusiasm about the interaction on both occasions. She seemed just as glad to meet me as I was to meet her. In fact, the first time we met, I told her “I hate bugging public figures, but I’d be really mad at myself if I didn’t tell you how important your music is to me.” She wasted no time calling one of her friends over to meet me and say “Hey can you take a picture of Aaron and I?”

One of her best, in my opinions, is “Pretend You’re Missing Me.” In it, she’s pleading with a former lover who she’s clearly not over and hoping that they can at least let her feel like she’s not the only stuck on the memory of the relationship.

“I’m in my bed and I’m still sleeping in your t-shirt
I’ll pretend you’re missing me.
I’m not on your mind
But when you hear our song, at least pretend you’re missing me“

In “High Society,” Betty’s on the right side of a relationship, and loving every moment of it. She feels like she’s at the top of the world and, despite what reality would insist, she feels like a million bucks with her partner.

“Won’t you carry me away after endless ballroom dreams?
With you, starting every day we’ll be high society
We’ll drink Chardonnay through the day ’cause we say so
A silk lapel suits you well, baby you know…”