“Xxzxcuzx Me” by Crystal Castles
“Xxzxcuzx Me” is one song which, all lyrics considered, may be best not to try to venture too deeply into what’s being put forth. Maybe a general lack of understanding on our part of what’s being emitted is partially due to the fact that this is the first time we’ve analyzed a Crystal Castles’ piece and therefore are not familiar with their artistry.
But other analysts with deep knowledge about Crystal Castles have shared some explanations of the meaning of “Xxzxcuzx Me” with us. Actually some of these explanations have been verified by a number of reputable sites. One of those explanations states that what’s actually going on here is something like the vocalist being a robot.
That theory alone doesn’t really make understanding this song less complicated. And why? This is because later on, during certain lines, you also have to presume that Alice is indeed singing from a human’s standpoint. Furthermore, there’s just a whole lot of comprehensively-confusing terminology being liberally thrown about. There are a ton of metaphors and other types of indirect lingo which by and large do not really read as if they’re all related.
Digital Intimacy
So all of the above is just a fancy way of saying that by all means we’re going to have to go out on a limb in this case. And what it seems that vocalist may be speaking to is something akin to the sexual interaction between robots and humans.
Now keep in mind that this track was dropped at a time before sex robots became a thing. So that would mean instead of robots per se, with the above theory in mind, Crystal Castles may rather be speaking to something like digital sex. They could be referring to the act of viewing po-nog-aphy or what have you.
Or, they may even be referring to a practice like the utilization of adult toys. Or, all things considered, perhaps they’re referring to a science like artificial intelligence.
Another, perhaps more logical way of interpreting it all is as the vocalist indeed portraying a robot throughout. In that regard, what she would be referring to is a notion akin to the human abuse of machinery (a category which, to some people, artificial intelligence does fall into).
Of course, machines do not actually have feelings or emotions. So more realistically, she would be suggesting something like technology being used on the part of man for questionable purposes. For example, for sexual gratification purposes. And since we ourselves, as a whole, are not able to fully recognize this, then she is taking on the role of a machine to illustrate that no, these things just aren’t right.
Takeaway
The above is our attempt to make sense of this piece, without even mentioning how the title itself is perplexing (though perhaps being meant to spell out ‘excuse me’). It doesn’t appear that Crystal Castles have offered a (readily-available) explanation of what’s going down here, nor does any other online analysis even really attempt to make complete sense of this song. But we can conclude by at least confidently postulating that the concept the lyrics are based on are likely too controversial and/or too complicated to put into simpler English.
Crystal Castles
Crystal Castles was a band of electronic musicians from Toronto. They were around for a little over a decade, beginning in the mid-aughts. The main members of the crew were:
- Alice Glass (vocalist)
- Ethan Kath (instrumentalist)
Who wrote “Xxzxcuzx Me”?
Both Glass and Kath are the sole credited writers of this song. The pair also own the song’s production credits.
When was “Xxzxcuzx Me” released?
This track came out, via Last Gang Records and Lies Records, on 18 March 2008. It is featured on Crystal Castles’ debut album, a self-titled effort. The album was not a major hit. However, it did make a number of ‘best albums’ list as compiled by prominent media organizations.
“Xxzxcuzx Me” wasn’t released as a single from the band’s “Crystal Castles” album. Despite this, the song is recognized as the one of their best known songs. Below are the official singles that accompanied “Crystal Castles”:
- “Crimewave”
- “Vanished”
- “Courtship Dating”
- “Air War”
Is there an Official Music Video for “Xxzxcuzx Me”?
No. That said, a video of the song does exist. However, the said video (which can be viewed below) isn’t an official one.
To Note:
What eventually did this band in was a failed relationship between Alice and Ethan. The former later accused the latter of, amongst other things, physical and even sexual abuse. And no, it doesn’t particularly appear as if Alice was dating Ethan, who by the way is a decade older than her.
