The Meaning Behind “Slow Disco” by St. Vincent, a Song Meant for Someone Else

At a glance, St. Vincent’s Masseduction finds the artist aiming for pop stardom. Leaving behind (mostly) the angular virtuosity and indie experiments of Annie Clark’s previous work. Yet a deeper dive reveals that Clark, who has recorded music under the St. Vincent name since 2006, is writing up close and deeply personal observations. Sometimes darkly so.

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Five albums into her career, Masseduction offered the most candid lyrics Clark had written. When asked about the words, she told Buzzfeed, “I told you more than I would tell my own mother.” What else could she say about the lyrics?

Perhaps the art-pop façade gives an added layer of protection against such confessional songwriting. But this, again, misses the point. The pop intention of Masseduction only invites a larger audience, thus exposing Clark even more. And the contradictions of Clark’s remoteness and obvious self-awareness are also noticeable in “Slow Disco”, one of the album’s most moving tracks.

About “Slow Disco”

The parallel lives in “Slow Disco” show the path taken and the one you should or wish to have taken. Each life haunts the other as Clark acknowledges she can’t wait to leave the current party.

I sway in place to a slow disco
And a glass for the saints
And a bar for the road.

Am I thinking what everybody’s thinking?
I’m so glad I came, but I can’t wait to leave.

Meanwhile, escaping to another life she’d rather be living leaves her partner dancing with a ghost—vanished from the arms of a lover, left swaying alone to the music. What happened? Where’d she go? But maybe that’s what Clark asked herself. (And you may ask yourself, Well, how did I get here?)

What makes “Slow Disco” more compelling is how Clark fuses the connection and closeness of dancing with the despair of thinking you’ve made the wrong life choice. A party of one on the wrong path. Gotta split.

Slip my hand from your hand
Leave you dancing with a ghost.

A Song for Joy

In 2017, Clark explained to Pitchfork that she’d planned on writing a song for a Joy Williams solo album. (Williams was one half of the Americana duo The Civil Wars with John Paul White.)

“I had the line, ‘I’m so glad I came, but I can’t wait to leave,’ and we kicked things around in a room for a little bit,” she said. But they didn’t finish it. Wrong path.

However, the line stuck with Clark, and she “gutted the song and rewrote all the words,” though Williams is credited as a co-writer out of respect for the song’s origins.

Dancing With a Ghost

There’s a parallel reality where “Slow Disco” does get finished by Clark and Williams. Maybe under a different title, but certainly performed by another voice. But on this path, Clark, against the backdrop of rising fame, wrote a confessional ballad. One that might play when everyone around you on the dance floor seems to be moving in slow motion, as you realize this isn’t where you’re supposed to be.

Songs evolve like living entities, too. Clark has since offered several reworks of “Slow Disco”, including a piano version and the sped-up “Fast Slow Disco”.

 But this one wasn’t meant for Joy.

Photo by Pamela Neal