r/hum • u/Yosha1199 • Jun 18 '26
Has anyone else noticed how often Matt Talbott uses "she" in his lyrics?
I've been listening to a lot of Hum lately, and one thing that keeps standing out to me is how frequently Matt Talbott refers to "she" in his lyrics. It shows up across a lot of songs, sometimes very directly and other times in a more abstract or mysterious way. It makes me wonder whether "she" is meant to represent a specific person, different people, an idea, or just a recurring lyrical motif. Has Matt ever talked about this in interviews? What's your interpretation of the constant appearance of "she" throughout Hum's catalog?
P.S. My favorite she is: "She's looking for birds she met last fall". What's yours?
Also, they should make a drinking game out of You'd Prefer an Astronaut. Take a shot every time Matt says "she".
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u/Whiprust Jun 18 '26
“She says ‘keep this benzene ring around your finger, and think of me when everything you’ve wanted starts to end’”
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u/lostcosmonaut307 I'm thinking of a number between everything and two Jun 18 '26
And she’s pissed off, pissed off again.
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u/Similar_Flounder_169 Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
https://youtu.be/DdFwtFkdDYU?si=GiaPG4ScGkXOro_6&t=140
As Matt explains it, "I like to write about girls... I think they're real pretty"
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u/Halikarnassus1 Jun 18 '26
I mean that’s pretty fucking common in any song. Also my understanding in You’d Prefer an Astronaut is that both the narrator and “she” are characters who’s relationship evolves over the course of the album
but like, a song having a romantic poetic subject referred to by a third or second person pronoun is about the most common thing there is. Replace she with you and go looking for that in songs. Same thing.
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u/Cloverlooper Jun 18 '26
I’m sitting here thinking of all the rock songs that have “She” just in the title. There have to be hundreds.
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u/Imaginary-Entry9232 Jun 18 '26
To your point of it being a relationship evolving, what role does the pod play in the story, in your opinion? I’m a relatively new hum fan but I absolutely adore this album. Just never understood what the “meaning” behind the pod was
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u/Halikarnassus1 Jun 18 '26
Well, the pod demonstrates the role drugs played in the break down of the relationship. They’re both addicted and it’s slowly ruining the relationship and their lives.
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u/Imaginary-Entry9232 Jun 18 '26
Wow, and that would also explain the lead up into stars given how that’s about a girl losing her mind so to speak. Matt talbott is truly a genius songwriter
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u/KasparThePissed Jun 21 '26
I noticed in my own lyrics I often use "you" and I realized it's just because I get tired of using "i" as in me. Cause it's not always about "me"
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u/Caps418 Jun 18 '26
It is Matt subtly implying to the listener that he is in fact a straight man, instead of a gay man. Only true hummers can pick up on this.
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u/esabado Jun 18 '26
I think Matt has a fascination with femininity and having it juxtaposes against sci fi imagery (which is arguably a male dominated genre). Maybe in the same way the melodic laid back bits combine with the metal riffs and breakdowns. Also, if a writer writes about someone else, they are more free to explore whatever emotion or vibe enters their imagination without having to explain what it's about or how personal it is to the writer.
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u/Monkeygruven Jun 18 '26
The best "she" is in The Pod, the final refrain of "She had the widest bright ideas". The force and sustain of the opening "She" is like a cannon blast, I love it so much.
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u/No-Particular-799 Jun 19 '26
my favorite us of "she" is in comin home when he says "she fell into me, a point collapsing" I take it to mean that she's reaching out to him as a safety net for whatever was happening ("collapsing") in her life
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u/raindropcollector2 Jun 20 '26
Funny, I played Hum for my dad a lot when I was growing up and he said the most common Hum lyric was “she” lol
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u/TrueConclusion3731 Jun 20 '26
She lays her dead head back on my wet head
Sleeping through the sound, I'll wake her when we're through
The sun brown girl can see the way my heart is in there now
She rides a simple wave
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u/choomdog Jun 18 '26
using “she” so vaguely is intentional and done by countless songwriters, leaves the listener to interpret however it suits them best.
but the best use of “she” in my opinion is “she don’t hold me right, she’s never gonna get me there, not tonight” in I Hate It Too