Released: 2014
“Talking Body” by Tove Lo is a sensual anthem of sorts, a celebration of being wildly in love and physically drawn to someone. The lyrics revel in the intoxication of a passionate relationship, capturing both its physicality and emotional depth, with a splash of playful hedonism thrown into the mix.
The song opens with ‘Hey’—a simple, colloquial greeting that sets the conversational tone. From the first verse, Tove Lo paints a vivid picture of lovers tangled in bed, with lines like ‘The feeling of your skin locked in my head.’ The reference of ‘smoke, smoke me broke’ is a metaphorical allusion to the intoxicating, addictive nature of their relationship, a wanton surrender to desire. She doesn’t shy away from expressing her longing and yearning for her lover, even if it ends up leaving her emotionally bankrupt.
The chorus is unapologetically bold: ‘Now if we’re talking body/ You got a perfect one/ So put it on me.’ Here, Tove Lo admires her lover’s beauty while expressing her physical attraction, which is underscored by a cheeky pledge: ‘If you love me right/ We fuck for life.’ This promise gives equal importance to love and lust, groundbreaking in its explicit discourse about women’s desire in popular music.
In the second verse, ‘Lips, lips I kiss/ Bite me while I taste your fingertips’ encapsulates the burning passion she carries for her significant other. Her repeated request to ‘stay in bed’ and ‘day drunk into the night’ is a call for an endless, intoxicating escapade of love and lust, revisiting the theme of utter infatuation and unswerving passion.
The bridge puts forward a more playful proposition, ‘Our baby making bodies we just use for fun/ Bodies/ Let’s use them up ’til every little piece is gone,’ interweaving the biological reason of coupling with a heady indulgence in pleasure.
Throughout “Talking Body,” Tove Lo seamlessly merges strong, raw sensuality with deep emotional honesty. It’s not just lust she’s after, but a love characterized by mutual caring – ‘Wanna keep you here/ ‘Cause you dry my tears.’ This confessional approach to her lyrics, alongside her unapologetic embrace of female sexuality, sets Tove Lo apart in the pop music pantheon.
