For My Sunday Song #363, we are tackling Morgan’s Choice song #3 with SZA’s “Ghost in the Machine” which features it girl Phoebe Bridgers. The song was released on December 9, 2022 and is off SZA’s 2022 album ‘SOS’. The song cracked the Top 40 going to #40 and I am sure my daughter found the song on TikTok like so many of the songs she listens to every day.
The song is about the digital age and how we are losing our humanity due to being wired in all the time. For SZA, it is longing for that human connection that we can’t get through our devices. She wants to love and get hurt and basically live. For Phoebe, that Ghost in the machine is the long, lonely days in airports and hotels being far away from the people you love. People are using social media to connect with people, but you aren’t your true self this way. You can’t really look in to another’s eyes and see who they really are and connect to their soul. It is a wonderful truth that it would be nice if we’d wake up and realize that we are losing ourselves thanks to technology.
Musically, this isn’t my normal cup of tea, but it really is a great song. There is a lot electronica in the song as most everything is done through a keyboard or programmed through a computer which I find interesting considering the topic of the song. The singing is soft, gentle and filled with loneliness. There is a great groove to it as well and has a modern R&B vibe along with an indie sound. It is multiple genres rolled in to one. The music is sullen and dripping with sadness as the person feels lost. It isn’t a happy song at all, but it works.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 