A Jim Carrey movie inspired one of Blossoms’ most beloved songs
Understandably, movies are a common source of inspiration for bands as they transport viewers to another world and allow the mind to run free. For Blossoms frontman Tom Ogden, all it took was one Jim Carrey movie to inspire one of the band’s most adored hits.
The film in question is the Michel Gondry movie, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. Carrey is usually seen through a comedic lens, but he pulled off his most dramatic role to date in this production. Carrey dipped his toes into the world of drama with Man on the Moon in 1998, which acted as a warm-up for Gondry’s film.
On-screen, Carrey put in the performance of his career in the heartbreaking science-fiction romance flick, which explored the ever-increasing influence of technology on the world. In the sombre film, Carrey expresses a range of acting which previously he’d never shown and proved he could be more than comedic relief.
Carrey once listed the film as one of the top three movies of his career and explained: “Michel [Gondry]is just a creative genius, I think, but people really haven’t discovered him on a mass level yet. He comes in every day with something that just kind of spins you around and makes you go, Wow, somebody’s thinking, man! Thank you! This is great! Somebody’s bringing something to the table.”
The film strongly affected Ogden, who used it as lyrical inspiration for Blossoms’ single ‘I Can’t Stand It’ along with the subsequent video. The retro synth-pop song was elected as the lead single from the Stockport group’s second album, Cool Like You, and showed a strong evolution from their first album.
“It’s melancholic and I love it,” Ogden said about the film to The Sun, according to SongFacts. The singer continued: “I was watching it and taking down the things they were saying in the film. So, a few of the lyrics are influenced from that.”
Meanwhile, in the press release for the video, Ogden said: “The video was inspired by the film Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind. I’m undergoing a procedure to erase memories of a former love. The video takes place in a surreal part of my mind, with the rest of the band as the doctors and surgeons.”
The influence of Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind in both the video and the lyrics of ‘I Can’t Stand It’ offer merely a subtle nod, which is expertly carried out by Blossoms. If you weren’t aware of the film inspiring their creation, you’d be none the wiser, but after reading Ogden’s comments, suddenly, the song takes on a whole new meaning.
