Released: 2015
“Hypnotic” by Zella Day is a dreamy pop anthem that paints a vivid picture of being drawn into a irresistible, near spell-binding love. It’s an intense exploration of desire; a passionate ride that kicks off from the front line, leaving the speaker deeply entranced.
The opening lines reveal a determined character with a headstrong mentality (“I wanna be on the front line, knotted up suit ties”). This isn’t your average fragile love-struck individual, but someone tough, maybe even hardened. This sets the stage for the impending magnetic pull from the subject of her passion. The phrase “knotted up suit ties” likely symbolizes the conventional norms and patterns she’s challenging in her pursuit of this ardent connection. It feels rebellious, punching up against the square and the ordinary.
Verbiage like “Wearin’ your vintage t-shirt” and “Tie ribbons on your top hat” suggest an intimate familiarity between the speaker and the subject of her affection. These verses create an image of two people sharing not just clothes, but experiences – moments that feel intimate, yet infused with a tinge of nostalgia, elevating the connection beyond the mere physical. It begins to feel hypnotic.
In the chorus, Day embodies the song’s title – “Hypnotic, takin’ over me” – revealing the consuming, almost enchanting impact this love has on her. It’s so potent that it infiltrates her sleep and shifts her reality (“You got me talkin’ in my sleep”). It’s important to note here how Day uses the term ‘hypnotic,’ not just as a title, but as a descriptor, as a mood that thematically threads through the song.
Then she dips into geography, painting an image of the Pacific Ocean – vast, beautiful, and mysterious. It’s as if she’s equating the depth of her feelings to that of the Pacific Ocean. A comparison so grand that it’s again, utterly spellbinding.
What’s particularly striking as a recurrent motif in the song is the magnetic force behind the relationship. It’s the insurmountable pull, the irresistible attraction that she keeps coming back to: “Magnetic everything about you/You really got me now.” There’s a sense of surrender here that shows how deeply she’s fallen under this spell.
In conclusion, “Hypnotic” by Zella Day transmits the power and bewitchment of love – willfully intoxicating and disarmingly vulnerable. It’s about diving headfirst into an experience that is at the same time thrilling and terrifying. Like the Pacific Ocean she references, love is a deep, unexplored abyss that she isn’t afraid to plunge herself into. It’s heady and intense, and oh so hypnotic.
