Songs of the Decade: “Maps” (2003)

Photo courtesy of amazon.com

It had been a scorching weekend in the California desert and Day 3 of the Coachella Music Festival was no exception. After spending two days exposed to the elements, we made Sunday more of a respite, passing more of our time in the shelter of shade and massive water misters than camped out in front of stages. However, the day wasn’t a complete throwaway. When we could, we gathered our resolve and made the occasional foray into the frying pan. Late that afternoon, we found ourselves front and center for the visual and aural spectacle that is the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Backed by a massive inflatable eyeball the New York band was up to its usual antics, with Karen O, decked out in polka-dotted leggings and IKEA home decor, playing the ringleader.

As they came to the close of their 50-minute set, we knew what was coming, but Karen O decided to announce it anyways. Grinning after a particularly messy swig of Heineken, she peered through her Dorothy Hamill bangs at the crowd and declared, “This is a song about love.”

With the sun setting, it all seemed so cliché. A lot of songs are about love, or claim to be. How could this one, “Maps,” created by three art rockers known more for their noise than their emotional capacities, be any different?

In the song, Karen O lays it all on the line to stop her love (Liars’ frontman Angus Andrew) from leaving. “My Angus Please Stay” is transformed into the cryptic acronym, “Maps,” which O wails over and over again as she swoons and pleas for him not to go.

“Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaps, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaps.”

At it’s core the song is so simple. The lyrics are no more than one or two words and a haunting chorus, while Nick Zinner and Brian Chase are left to their own noisy, feedback-laced means as the lead singer gathers herself in the intervals. Yet it’s so stirring, so powerful that it just reaches another level of intimacy and genuineness. Karen O is naked, unwilling to risk the “what if’s” and “what could have been’s.” With no other options, she exposes herself and forces her hand in a last ditch attempt to make him stay and places her heart at the whims of his decision. She’s vulnerable and there’s no reason to hide it. There’s no faking this.