Used | 3 to 5 BOPS

Used: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 50 (2023), features musical BOPS courtesy of Gotye, Jake Shears, Joshua Bassett, Queens of the Stone Age, and SZA.

Ah, you know what time it is! It’s 3 to 5 BOPS time – WOO! On 3 to 5 BOPS, it’s all about brevity and sweetness… for the most part! There’s a theme/topic, 3, 4, or 5 songs, and a blurb – two paragraphs or less.  3 to 5 BOPS, hence, is a mini playlist that shouldn’t take much time to consume.  In the X edition of 3 to 5 BOPS (2023), we select songs that are associated with USED in some form or fashion. The BOPS arrive courtesy of 🎙 Gotye, 🎙 Jake Shears, 🎙 Joshua Bassett, 🎙 Queens of the Stone Age, and 🎙 SZA. Okay, let’s get into it!

via GIPHY

1. Jake Shears, “I Used To Be In Love” 

💿 Last Man Dancing • 🏷 Boys Keep Swinging Inc / Mute Artists Ltd. • 🗓 2023 

“I used to be in love / Now I’m out dancing / Like a better man / In white satin gloves.” WOO! Hard to believe that 🎙 Jake Shears is in his mid 40s 🤯 (the handsome, talented man doesn’t seem to age 😍). More importantly, his voice remains utterly exceptional post-Scissor Sisters 💪 🤩. 🎵 “I Used To Be In Love” marks the third single from his sophomore album, 💿 Last Man Dancing. “I Used To Be In Love” runs an optimal three-and-a-half minutes. The production by 🎛️ Le Chev and Boys Noise is lit 🔥.  The groove is everything, sure to make you dance your booty off.  Beyond the groove, the disco and house cues up the ante giving the record simultaneously a modern and throwback feel.  The instrumental is amazing, but the true star of the show is Shears who sounds potent as ever.  He sings authentically, clearly, and expressively – you buy what he’s selling! Jake sounds particularly effective during the chorus, where his vocals are harmonized, in all their glory. Even though love has exited the building, those dancing shoes look and sound pretty damn good on him 💪.  

Appears in 🔻:  

• Awesome Songs: May 2023   

2. SZA, “Used” (Ft. Don Toliver) 

💿 SOS • 🏷 Top Dawg Entertainment / RCA • 📅 2022

“Niggas love to break my focus, bitch, I’m Obi Wan,” 🎙 SZA asserts in the second verse of 🎵 “Used”. WOO! Prior to that bullet, the 🏆 Grammy-winning R&B singer/songwriter, sings: “Yes, I’ve been used to being used like this / Ain’t no difference, I’m immortalized in my thoughts / Praise to the Most High for protection / Over my most prized possessions.” 🙌 There it is! In this two-and-a-half-minute joint, SZA is assisted by rapper 🎙 Don Toliver. Expectedly, Toliver provides quite the vibe in the melodic chorus: “Need you once, girl, once, girl / We’re goin’ out the way / I feel like it’s over / Something callin’ to get closer.” Of course, SZA is the surefire vibe herself – her tone is gorgeous. Like many songs from her 2022 sophomore album, 💿 SOS, “Used” is tuneful, even if you must peek at the lyrics for clarification.

3. Queens of the Stone Age, “The Way You Used to Do” 

💿 Villains • 🏷 Matador • 📅 2017 

“But it doesn’t matter now / Just come and love me how / Like the way you used to do.” 🎙 Queens of the Stone Age dropped the ambitious, energetic gem 🎵 “The Way You Used to Do” in 2017 (💿 Villains). “The Way You Used to Do” is produced by revered English producer, 🎛 Mark Ronson. An unlikely ‘marriage’ between 🎙 Josh Homme and Ronson, “Way” is a refreshing record. It combines the grit of rock music and the fun, groove of vintage pop and soul. Distorted guitars depict the utmost devilishness, yet it’s radiant if ungodly ear candy to the listener’s ear. From the jump, it sounds venomous 🐍.  The first thing that stands out is the grittiness of the guitars.  The distortion is amplified to the nth degree, depicting utmost devilishness. Adding to the diabolical tone is the groove, intact with the gift of syncopation. The lyrics match the darkness of the music, at least to some extent even though love is a theme.  In the first verse, Homme sings, “When I first met her, she was seventeen / …Jump like an arsonist to a perfect match / Burned alive.” He masterfully compares his love to a person with a bad reputation – an arsonist.  In the first pre-chorus, he goes on to assert the power of that love, following up in the chorus (excerpted at the top). In the second verse, he continues to speak about the power of love, asking, “Is love mental disease or lucky fever dream?” He adds, “Gave birth to monsters who will terrorize normalcy.” This is about forming a family, and Homme exaggerates.  Are his children or all children monsters? Even if they are normal, doesn’t ‘normal’ change with each generation?  Once more, the chorus seems to shrug off any introspection about evil. What a song!  

Appears in 🔻:  

• 100 Best Songs of 2017 
• 15 Marvelous Songs That Lead the WAY (2022) 

4. Joshua Bassett, “Used to It” 

💿 Sad Songs in a Hotel Room (EP) • 🏷 Warner • 📅 2022

🎙 Joshua Bassett has plenty of issues plaguing him throughout the course of his 2022 EP, 💿 Sad Songs in a Hotel Room.  The song 🎵 “Used to It” is no exception: “I’m not surprised you didn’t call / When I almost died, you didn’t care at all…” Oh, snap 🫰! This very personal line references Bassett’s health issues that he’s opened up about and cites an ex who didn’t even check on him.  Ultimately, in “Used To It,” he describes the miscues of his ex, yet seems to assert he was used to being treated the way he was, and this person also had a way to make him forget their wrongs.  “I blame it on us bein’ kids,” he sings in the chorus, adding, “I guess you had me convinced / It’s my mind that’s playin’ tricks.” Beyond the theme, the production (Bassett and 🎛 Davis Naish) is a pro. I love the robust nature of the bass line, particularly during the bridge section.  This is a strong melodic statement, executed marvelously by Bassett.

5. Gotye, “Somebody That I Used to Know” (Ft. Kimbra) 

💿 Making Mirrors • 🏷 Samples ‘N’ Seconds / Universal Republic • 📅 2011 

“But you didn’t have to cut me off / Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing / And I don’t even need your love / But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough.” 🎙 Gotye won 🏆 two Grammys for his quirky, incredibly compelling record, 🎵 “Somebody That I Used to Know” (💿 Making Mirrors). “Somebody That I Used to Know,” featuring 🎙 Kimbra, excelled because it was different than everything else released at the time; distinct. A Billboard Hot 100 no. 1 hit (8 weeks, baby), it won the prestigious Record of the Year as well as Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The chorus is the centerpiece: “No, you didn’t have to stoop so low / Have your friends collect your records and then change your number / I guess that I don’t need that though / Now you’re just somebody that I used to know.” 

Appears in 🔻:  

• 15 Songs Where SOMEBODY Is in the Title (2018) 

Used: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 50 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Boys Keep Swinging Inc / Mute Artists Ltd., Matador, Samples ‘N’ Seconds / Universal Republic, Top Dawg Entertainment / RCA; Ryan McGuire from Pixabay]