Is PANG meant to be played in REVERSE? (POP Theory)

Is Caroline Polachek's Pang supposed to be played from back to front? I discuss what happens when you play the album in reverse.
R.I.P. SOPHIE:
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[@hahayes2345]

Sorry to keep ya'll waiting for so long. Having to balance school and work and this now. Hope you enjoy it. OK? Ok! bye

[@hahayes2345]

P.S. I know this video is like a year late lol

[@meoweth]

Also the cover with her on the ladder... there's no way to tell if she is ascending or descending, so also kind of feels like an invitation to listen backwards

[@MarinaAndTheDevil]

This album will never stop surprising me huh? 🥵

[@jasminemorgenstern6599]

You never stop surprising too. I have been seeing you around for 6-7 years now.

[@tommyxcx9771]

Andy why are you everywhere

[@JonMinaj]

Ur really everywhere omg 😭

[@stellavroom]

hey girl

[@elisallanos4116]

Its interesting to see your interpretation! I see the album as the start of a relationship and it turning unhealthy or abusive (maybe also affected by distance) and then the person moving on so if it were played backwards it would be like the happy person descending into a bad place within a relationship. Cool video, food for thought :D

[@hahayes2345]

thank you for the insightful comment. Glad you enjoyed the video

[@MarinaAndTheDevil]

I actually now think the reverse tracklist makes much more sense! It’s such a Caroline thing to do something like that + that way it may be talking about the end of her relationship with Ian Drennan and their divorce and then after Insomnia finding a new relationship. Blew my mind 😟

[@wawis231]

heard her live at an amphitheater yesterday. Pang was by far my fave, the pang sounded so good with the acoustics

[@gowonenthusiast]

your mind omg huge asf🗣️🗣️🧠

[@simpliar3959]

lost me when you said the gate and parachute werent a good opener and closer… the gate, sure i guess whatever, but parachute is literally THE perfect album closer and i dont understand why anyone would think differently

[@fruit4evr]

See I find the gate as an amazing opener, it’s mysterious, ethereal, pulls me in

[@simpliar3959]

@@fruit4evr oh same i adore it but i can understand people who have a preference for a more energetic opener

[@endorphonic]

2 openening moments... opening the gate to this world (album) then opening the door to another door and another door... for a particular moment in the album

[@stephensamueljohnson]

This is mind blowing, I wonder why she did that? Usually one would think the resolution /epiphany about the breakup comes at the end, after the sour experience. Although you refer to the romantic long distance relationship as the album's primary subject matter, I think Caroline refers to different past versions of herself too. I'm still working on if that completely holds up but it's the sense I get from some of the music, especially in songs like 'Hey Big Eyes'.

[@lukec9353]

I’m pretty sure Caroline said side A is the breakdown of a relationship while side B is the discovery of a new one. And some tracks don’t fit the relationship narrative at all, like ‘New Normal’ which is just about her and Danny L Harle hanging out.

[@renato2586]

ohh thats cool, where did she say that tho?

[@erfyw]

@@renato2586 on her twitter! You'll have to dig a bit though, she tweeted those long ago.

[@wolfgangromine8341]

This is an incredible theory . I really wish Caroline herself could see this, I wonder if it’s correct

[@twentytwenty8653]

i dont think its likely that there was a clear vision of it being a concept record, but maybe it started to take form once they started arranging the tracks. thats just my theory though based off the way caroline works

[@eerienah]

ALSO if you play it in reverse, the first word you hear is “awake”… pls ur brilliant

[@hahayes2345]

Oh, didn’t even think of that one!

[@gratitud31]

It actually makes sense! I knew the tracklisting felt a bit off when I first listened to Pang, the songs don't feel like they're in the right place. Example is the title track, it feels more like a closing track than an opening one, which supports the theory a bit. Then how most of the singles are placed at the end of the album instead of the first half, cause albums commonly place their singles at the beginning. I knew I needed to try this method, that would've boosted the listening experience! (Apart from the part where Hit Me Where It Hurts transitions to I Give Up, that's gonna actually hurt a bit if I flip them)

[@sephiroticempires]

This is a great idea! I love The Gate so I was always kinda put off by people calling it underwhelming, but I see now it had more to do with the structure of the album, not the track itself. It makes me feel like everything is going to be okay, and playing it at the end seems so much better.

[@sephiroticempires]

Listening to it in reverse now and... "Caroline Shut Up" after "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings" HURTS so good. Like she found a fun way to express how she misses her partner and now she's just depressed.

[@sephiroticempires]

Holy shit, "Have you not been sleeping?" in Look At Me Now, referencing Insomnia...

[@pikachuthedog]

@@sephiroticempires in the remix album there is a Parachute reverse version. This is the last song on PANG so it might have been the clue for listening it reversed. And I also think The Gate is incredible, the humming in the extended version is indrawn!

[@oldmansam95]

this makes so much sense tho! also, parachute is kind of metaphoric as in jumping into a long distance relationship and slowly falling (falling in love). however, when she lands, she realizes it’s not like how she saw from above.

[@sorcellerie]

I am convinced she's just an extraterrestrial being and not even hiding it at this point

[@dylanfallon6720]

Okay holy fuck this is actually good? Like, this makes sense a lot of sense? I never thought too much about the flow of the album but now I see what the problem is. Let me listen to the album in reverse now.

[@re_i_gn]

love this, thank you so much!!! Love learning more about my favorite pop album.

[@rospiya]

may the algorithm bless you with a 100x more views bc you deserve it!!

[@hologem]

i love this theory so much probably gonna cry listening to the album backwards now 🥺

[@hey.noah.]

I know am a bit late to the party, but what you say here makes total sense, I just never realized it. Thank you for sharing this 🙂 Also, you have a lovely soothing voice..so calming to listen to x

[@NotJakeSmith]

a year later it's now the only way I listen to it but damn must I say i found her as solo artist Caroline Polachek but now I love her work as the chair lift and Ramona Lisa

[@esmeveleztoro]

Cool! Never thought about the album in this way.

[@FlyingSQUIRRILLLS]

Gee no wonder I was so close to this album. I didn’t even know it had this story that tied way so close to my own life at the time. Omg.

[@TheProjectEmerald]

this video is incredible, the thought of ever listening to it backwards would never occur to me even though I do it occasionally with some albums just for fun lol love when albums pull of hidden stuff like this for you to wonder about it, can't wait to listen to the album now

[@hahayes2345]

glad you enjoyed! :)

[@deeb1124]

Hey boo! I wanted to let you know you popped up in my recommended!!! Love the video 💜💜💜

[@Nono-md6mc]

MINDBLOWING

[@moritzl7619]

Another thing contributing to that theory is that on her remix collection vinyl, there's a reversed version of "Parachute" the last song on the original album.

[@hahayes2345]

Wow, interesting. I have had the vinyl for months now but never got around to listening to it :/. Going to check it out today, thanks for sharing!

[@moritzl7619]

@@hahayes2345 it’s probably overlooked because it’s one of the songs that isn’t on streaming

[@plamenasiniye]

I watched this video yesterday and had to go listen for myself. I must say you might be on to something. The album works so much better in the reversed order. I fell in love with it in a wholly different way.

[@lucas10armond]

YOU CRAK THE CODE!!!

[@juansayagocheein9348]

Though I don't agree with the idea that the opener and closer leave something to be desired, I agree with your theory but only from a lyrical point of view. I've never played the album backwards but I imagine it must feel a bit off sonically speaking because most of the songs in the first part are exquisitely connected, since the ending of one automatically moves on to the beginning of the next. I guess I should give it a try and see how it looks like

[@cumsglitter7345]

love love love the album

[@circuitousImpulse]

I loved this video, you have such interesting takes! Specifically I wonder what your interpretation of Hey Big Eyes is in this theory beyond the surface. I would suggest that Hey Big Eyes could be about her reconnecting with her friends after the breakup you describe in Go As a Dream. "Hey big eyes, can you swim / swim down to me? / Hey red star, can you burn / burn down to me?" could be two friends who mean a lot to her (Big Eyes being someone who really connects to her emotionally and supports her that way, and Red Star being someone who's warm and good to be with, who supports her in a different way). The song describes Caroline in a really rough spot: "Picture me all messed up now / can't talk to nobody / can't plan for anything / except the rain"; reaching out to these two for comfort but not feeling like she's in the same space as them, because emotionally she's somewhere else: "Today the flags will all fly green / at the embassies / you're here next to me / except you're not". I'd be interested to hear your take on this! Nice work with this video!

[@circuitousImpulse]

Oh also - I wanted to ask why you said Pang is Caroline Polachek's debut album? This may have been a mistake, but she had five other albums under her belt by the time she dropped Pang: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Polachek_discography en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chairlift_(band)

[@hahayes2345]

@@circuitousImpulse her debut album under the moniker “Caroline Polachek”

[@jowilson5581]

wow. great theory! im sold. cool interpreration

[@ragdollrose2687]

Not me having chills because my 2021 is basically this album and I only knew one song that I kept singing thinking about my LDR 😭 Now I have to listen to the whole thing in reverse cause it seems cathartic to do so. Ngl tho, I thought you were about to literally play the songs backwards 😅

[@oldmansam95]

this album is so beautiful. The Gate reminded me of Skyrim 😂

[@22centipede]

I wonder if the Parachute Reverse Mix from her Pang remix LP is hinting this

[@Andrew-vl7nm]

the opening line of parachute “awake from a dream, one that started as a nightmare. like a war, so extreme, it erased itself from my memory” makes it feel like the closing track of pang because of the lyrics, but when you play the album in reverse order it starts out like a nightmare but then erases itself from her memory in the reverse closer “the gate”… maybe i’m reaching tho

[@leonardojlseling4890]

Masterpiece

[@geronimobg99]

mind blown great video

[@marlongoulding7031]

The remixes actually includes one of the songs in reverse

[@jhonatatv1]

Omg this is mind blowing

[@Long-wd4ee]

i love SOHIE

[@JonMinaj]

She really thought everything through 😭

[@rayyxy7337]

YASSSSSS

[@p2p2p2p2p2p]

🤯

[@emxlioe]

So gooodddd!!

[@user-bi1jh5ue9l]

have only hear Polecks singles, will go into the PENG experience rg and will do it backwards for the first time

[@JosiahMcCarthy]

I listened to them in reverse order. I like it. It does make sense. But toward the last few songs, maybe less so. It's like, new relationship, falling hard, warning signs of it being too good to be true, like being very jealous, then having to come to terms with the relationship not being good, "you have to break up, can you even imagine life without them? but you have to," then dealing with their response, sacrificing yourself to still be there for them, one last time, rather than taking your opportunity to close off and be the one who gets the good side of things. I think Pang alone may be about discovering a new relationship.

[@UwUOwO-tw5so]

YESSSS!!!!!+!!!!!!!! SO TRUE!!!!!

[@SupperDanny101]

What if it’s just a cycle and there is no order. Love this video

[@realtjbrand]

This makes a lot of sense. I'm currently listening to it backwards and your 100% right. Maybe it's by accident, or design. Either way, it's a great way to enjoy an already perfect album, and somehow even more relatable.

[@lesliephung7317]

I see the album as her spiritual journey. Speaking to her higher self and trying to find her way. The opener "the gate" serves as where her spiritual adventure begins. If you listen to the album as if she's speaking to inner self, it makes a lot of sense

[@mcjcave18]

The album I personally like to listen to backwards is After Hours.

[@hahayes2345]

Haven’t thought about that. What makes it special to listen to it backwards?

[@mcjcave18]

@@hahayes2345 He ends up Alone but the process feels more natural.

[@KillDevon]

I spoke to Caroline and Danny some time ago about other links… for instance take a look at the cover art for In My Dreams by Danny and Parachute by Caroline… 🤫 don’t you love PC Music Easter eggs??

[@YourHighwayInTheSky]

ok i love your channel...

[@NotJakeSmith]

😳 wow

[@mcjcave18]

Interesting theory, I wished I'd found this video earlier.

[@charleneherrella389]

This and videogame walkthroughs

[@hahayes2345]

No mutlitasking while watching my videos! They require 100% of your attention 😒

[@valeriobuda7409]

wow that makes soo much sense, but then... why did she released the tracklist reversed .-.

[@Drewscarymore]

It makes more sense to me with this interpretation. I love this

[@Army1175]

WOAH! I actually really like the album in reverse.

[@MichaelMooring]

For anybody from there (and she is), "the city", is always, New York City.

[@hannahlennertkristiansen4797]

GOOD VIDEO

[@lssppac]

wow! this theory makes so much sense!!. I honestly never thought of it that way, but now I will listen to Pang backwards more often. btw, what are your thoughts on the “butterfly trapped inside a plane” metaphor? how do you intepret it in the context of the song? 😊

[@mayfairmonopoly]

i love gnap

[@urnoze7239]

🦕

[@aakashsky3790]

Theory: Is Pang meant to be played in reverse? This channel: haha yes 😉

[@LizaLavolta]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[@atomsplitter601]

woah

[@m.5534]

omg i love you

[@johndare6]

also, she looks like Lara Croft on the the album cover. it may probably mean that there are easter eggs to be debunked and that is probably be a major one.

[@andricox_x2844]

My name is pang....

[@Slim_Vervenet]

Padam Padam

[@key4reality]

Hey ,can i adopt your theory and translate it to Russian fans?

[@hahayes2345]

Sure :), please just link my video in the description

[@Hovsep]

ah right sweater is what you wear in los angeles

[@hahayes2345]

Haha, her lyrics not mine. Though I think that could be interpreted as her showing a sense of insecurity in her new environment, and the sweater offering a bit of comfort to her

[@niraea]

for some reason i thought it was NYC. LA, london and NYC being the three "settings" for the album. back in "the city" - "just another girl" - "in a sweater" - all breaks down to NYC in my mind. idk where i got this idea though.

[@fartmagus]

BROO?

[@fartmagus]

oh wow thanks for this video!!!

[@caydenclark-johnson7854]

so insane. caroline shut up right after so hot you're hurting my feelings like...

[@Dough2590]

caramba impressionante 10000% falta do que fazer, ótima habilidade pra colocar no currículo

[@zerocaloriedelights]

this gagged me a bit…