“Phoenix”, the latest song by New York City-based songwriter Kat Quinn, is very clearly about a relationship gone wrong. Yet rather than opt for straightforward declarations for her former beloved, Quinn opts for the language of simile, crafting some droll and striking comparisons that both underscore and euphemize the harm done by the relationship. “Your love saved me like a broken raft / And I clung steady like I wanted to sink fast,” she sings in one of the song’s funnier couplets. There are also some dark observations: “Your eyes are cozy like a kitchen knife / And I wish I hadn’t cut myself so many times.” These lyrics form a distinctive take on the breakup song; Quinn’s unique perspective reveals her to be a songwriter with a perceptive pen.
Quinn tells PopMatters about the song, “I wrote ‘Phoenix’ after a moment when someone said something to me and I felt like I could see the words falling in slow motion and then they just exploded like a bomb. The next morning I woke up and felt like I was still cautiously looking around, checking out the damage. It was St. Patrick’s Day, and I ended up just sitting in my room, dressed in green, writing this song. It was definitely the most productive I’ve ever been on St. Paddy’s.. that’s for sure.”
Quinn’s most recent release, Kind of Brave EP, can be streamed below (as well as purchased through iTunes):