They say that breaking up is hard to do.

But they never tell you that the humiliation, of being broken up with, might scar you for life.

Sometimes I remember, in brief flashback, that time I collapsed from brokenhearted-ness on the public sidewalk at night and it started to rain.

Anyone else relate? Oh, it’s just me? Alright, another one….

Okay, well what about that time you went to the bank with your family and split your pants getting out of the car?

Just me again, huh.

I think, because of my history filled with humiliation, I can’t be too embarrassed anymore or I just expect it at regular intervals. Sometimes I wonder if it’s better to be distant from people to avoid getting close enough to get burned. Not the greatest plan, but it’s part of what makes me really feel songs like “Bulletproof” by La Roux — that, and the fact that it’s just good music.

“Bulletproof” is a song from La Roux, the self-proclaimed, even-split duo, made up of Eleanor Kate Jackson (Elly) and Ben Langmaid (co-writer and co-producer).

I’m glad I heard the song first without the music video because (though entertaining and cool) the music has an energy and a motion that reaches beyond the slow strut and geometric visuals of the video.

The song was released in 2009 to chart-topping and critical success in the UK and peaked within the top 10 in the US a year later. I, however, downloaded the song this year as a free mp3 from Amazon’s website.

Something about the 30 second snippet caught me. I realize now, that it was the snappy 80s-esque synth and thumping bass that I love so much. Yes, I geek-out over 80s music. As such, La Roux  and I were meant to meet, one day, in nerd-tastic harmony. This being the 2000s and no longer the 1980s, I do realize that more than a Casio and big dreams made this neo-80s dance club hit. I suppose this is where Langmaid deserves due credit for helping pump life into this track, making it stand out from the run-of-the-mill dance/world club music I hear nowadays.

So the name of the group, La Roux, is a gender-bender of French proportions, mixing “La,” a feminine article, and “roux,” the masculine version of the word, “red.” Singer, Elly, says the name means “the red-haired one,” in reference to herself. The choice to mix the gender of the name is a nod to Elly’s androgynous looks. The world goes gaga over David Bowie, but I see Youtube comments dogging Elly’s appearance? Whatever. Conventional beauty is so over-rated.

In an interview by Last.fm, Elly talks about the meaning behind the lyrics saying that Bulletproof is about “wanting to rectify a flaw in yourself. A weak part of yourself that keeps letting yourself be used…Letting yourself be treated badly by whoever or whatever.” She sees the application of the song as broad, And I agree with her that the words and the feel of the song can promote a general sort of encouragement.

Have I made mistakes in the past? Yes.

Have I been utterly embarrassed and made to look pitiful by those mistakes? Yep, I think so. But ya know what? Ob-la-dee, ob-la-da… it made me the nerd that I am today, and I embrace that part of me. But this time, baby, I’ll be bulletproof!

So, La Roux, I may be late to jump on the bandwagon, but I’m with you now. And after hearing “I’m Not Your Toy” I think I’m becoming a bona fide fan.

FAVORITE LYRICS from Bulletproof:

“Do, do, do your dirty words come out to play when you are hurt?
There’s certain things that should be left unsaid.”

I had to learn that lesson the hard way. :S

~TNJ

ps. Don’t you wish you could be bulletproof?