Zayn & Taylor Swift - I Don't Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)

I don't really subscribe to the whole moral outrage thing when it comes to sex anymore. I think it's a really toxic way of thinking that ultimately leads to slut shaming and a lack of proper education about sex, among other things, because people are so fearful to approach the topic. It's a bit ridiculous really, especially when outrage is often directed at things purely catered towards adults.

However, I can't help but feel uneasy whenever I see or hear about the 'Fifty Shades' books and films. I will admit I haven't read any of the books or watched the first film, but my perception is that they're highly problematic. I have no issues with BDSM or people who who are into it, despite it not being appealing to me personally. But when people who engage in such practices don't think the plot accurately represents BDSM and instead looks more like abuse, a violent relationship and even non-consensual sexual activities, you know you have a problem. It worries me that women are being duped into the Fifty Shades trilogy when it's got such a problematic plot, especially when you consider domestic violence rates in Australia.

I mention all this because I feel it's important to the context of this track. This was an instant hit, with the movie tie-in playing a significant part in that. Despite showing the darker side of sex and relationships, while also purporting to be about the often unexplored topic of BDSM, it's a rather vanilla song. You'd think the movies would have darker songs promoting it, but instead the first movie had "Love Me Like You Do" as its big smash. Even when getting The Weeknd in to help, who is no stranger to the darker side of sex, the result is a more romantic ballad. It makes me think that people (mainly women) are being duped into being excited for these problematic movies and the associated books with these accessible pop songs which don't seem to represent the movie at all. But perhaps I'm missing the context of where the songs are played in the movie (if at all)?

So what makes this song so bad? Zayn's falsetto is just a bizarre fit and I'm struggling to think of where it would fit in the context of the movie based on what knowledge I have. I don't mind it personally but what the hell is it doing there? Taylor just sounds uninterested and they sound awful when singing together. The production is something that I don't notice so much when I hear it on the radio (which is pretty much the only place I ever hear it), but listening to it now it really is shoddy. I'm annoyed that the name power of both of them + the movie tie-in has made this a hit.

If anything this track has worsened my opinion of these movies, which I already had a low opinion of anyway. I suppose I shouldn't expect much from what is basically a glorified Twilight fanfiction. The existence of this is interesting for one thing though, I'm struggling to think of a big ARIA hit that has had such a middling response from aus-charters. Which is pleasing.