there's only so much you can miss / before we both collide

[hardparade]

I JUST HAD AN EPIPHANY?

Or, a really ridiculous idea.

Either way, it was brought about by this interview with The Kills. They're asked how they can be so sexual even though they split up. (I love it when they're asked if they're a couple and stuff, it's so interesting to analyse their reactions.) Anyway, Jamie's like "We were never lovers" and the interviewer is like "Never?" and they're both like "Mm-mm, never" and then there's a pause, and Jamie goes "So...that's why." And then Alison cracks up and there's awkward laughter all round. (If you just want to watch that bit, there are little markers you can hover over to see which question is asked at each timestamp.)

This kind of reveals something about how Jamie sees the two of them and their sexuality, right? ...Right?


Because, like, okay. Jamie is stating that they can be sexual together because they have never been lovers. WHICH IS AN ODD THING TO SAY. Because if they had, at one point, been lovers, they could have been sexual together back then, surely? It's like he believes that if they DID become lovers, they wouldn't be able to be sexual onstage anymore—and like, maybe not even just if they became lovers and then split up, but full stop. Like he believes the only reason he's able to behave that way with Alison is because they've never been sexual irl. Which goes a little extra way towards explaining his resistance to being with her—like, he loves the onstage sexuality so much, he's afraid of losing that. It might not work in real life, so he's not going to risk throwing what they DO have away, if that makes sense?

So anyway I was thinking through all of that for a little while and trying to make sense of Jamie's weird, denial-addled brain, and I knew I was missing something else that the quote implies, and then it just HIT ME and I was like....woaaaah hold up.

BECAUSE THEY ARE NO LONGER SEXUAL ONSTAGE. And if my ridiculous dissection of Jamie's words is correct—doesn't that sort of imply that they are or have been lovers?

It's sort of like—man, this is a dumb example but it's all I can think of, you know in Friends when Chandler's dating Kathy? Who I still can't believe was played by Paget Brewster, but anyway—she's an actress, and she has a sex scene in this play she's doing, and Chandler's all freaked out, but Joey says it's fine because as long as there's passion onstage, they're not doing it in real life. And he warns him that as soon as the spark disappears onstage, that means it's transferred over and they're probably doing it for real. Which does make legitimate sense as a theory. (Although I might have bits of it wrong, it's been a long time since I saw the episode because STUPID E4 STOPPED SHOWING FRIENDS.)

Idk, idk, it doesn't make sense 100% for The Kills because that's actually a fairly recent interview, so the sexual tension onstage had already disappeared, and obviously Jamie's been with Kate all this time—but I just literally NEVER CONSIDERED this side of things. I always figured that the lack of sexual tension onstage meant something NEGATIVE about their real life relationship, but how fascinating would it be if it actually meant they were having sex for real now? Or, at the very least, that they did it ONCE and then decided it was a mistake, and the only thing it ruined was their dynamic onstage?

I guess it would be like—all the stuff onstage came from the fact that there was tension between them and all this desperate desire to be sexual with each other and that was the only way they could be, and if they started actually having sex there wouldn't be any mystery to it anymore and they wouldn't NEED the stage stuff. OR, suddenly they're much more aware of the stage dynamic than they used to be—like before, it didn't matter if people thought they were fucking because they weren't, but now they ARE and it has to be kept a secret.

Does this make sense to anyone but me? I am probably just grasping at straws because I'm just so heartbroken about the way they act onstage now. I mean, a lot of the time Jamie even angles his microphone so he's singing away from Alison in a way that just seems so deliberate. It's not like they never ever look at each other or touch each other, but it's SO much less than it used to be, and I don't understand why no one else seems to be noticing this stuff. Even though it would probably be HORRIBLY awkward, I just wish one interviewer would be like "yo guys, what happened to all that pseudo-sex you used to have?"

And I mean, it goes without saying that I want fic. It's ridiculous how many Kills/Dead Weather related ideas I have right now, but this is definitely being added to a list.

I got really excited when I saw that they'd started playing 'Last Day of Magic' again, because that's one of the main ones they always used to get intense about, but I mean, compare this performance from yesterday with this one from 2008. At 2:18 Alison approaches Jamie and he literally like, darts away from her. IT MAKES ME WANT TO CRY. AND THAT'S JUST ONE TINY EXAMPLE.

The rest of the interview I linked to up top is pretty cute/interesting by the way—they joke around a bit and are adorable, but I also get a vibe like they're not quite on the same wavelength with the questions. Plus there's the bit where Jamie goes on and on about things crumbling and decaying, and how good it is when things come to an end and rot (wtf, Jamie?), and then there's a long pause and the interviewer wants Alison's opinion and she's like *over-the-top smile* "...I think he answered it pretty well."

:'(

Anyway, I'll leave you with a picture, for your time:


I can't even really go 'aww' at this kind of thing anymore, it just makes me want to hit things.


They really do drive me crazy sometimes. MAKE SENSE.

Comments

[sofiawonderland.livejournal.com]

Can I just say that I was there for the performance of Last Days of Magic you linked to? And I nearly started crying for real because he sort of darted away from her (and every other time he did this during the concert too)? The energy was so strong and a bit awkward at the same time because you could see Alison trying to get closer and then Jamie looking like he was going to reciprocate but then turning to the other side when she got really close. And Jamie was being very flirty with the audience, which I don't recall him being from performances I've seen online (I could be mistaken, though). At some point he sat on an amp near the edge of the stage and a girl kept stroking his legs and he just let her do it and looked at Alison and he was actually blocking my view from her so I couldn't see it properly but from what I saw she was smiling awkwardly and a little embarrassed and annoyed because he was letting a fan carress his leg for an entire song.

I completely missed my point here and I promise I'm going to send you a message with all the rambling feelings because I need to share them with you. Erm , I think what I wanted to say is that they are a lot less sexual on stage than they used to be and I'm inclined to believe your theory because the feeling I got was that they crossed a line and were aware of it and hyper-aware of their sexual energy on stage and were, like, holding back. So it makes sense, all of it.

[sofiawonderland.livejournal.com]

And I just realized I can see my hands gripping the edge of the stage with all the strength I had during this song in the video. I'm the person right in front of Jamie's mic, and I laughed a bit because I'm gripping that stage hard, like my life depended on it. And the girl waving a poster wildly at the beginning of the video is the one who was stroking Jamie's leg.

[likecharity.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha, awww! That's so cool that your hands are in the video, lol. Ah, it's really helpful to have like, extra bits of information from someone who was actually there. I just noticed that Jamie comes up to the audience right after he darts away from Alison, as though he's trying to cover up the movement somehow, but he watches her as she walks away and then goes back to his mic, like - what is he even doing? It's like he just gets totally flustered suddenly, just by her coming over.

[likecharity.livejournal.com]

Auugh, I figured you were from your message and I was really looking forward to your input! OH MY GOD, though, Jamie flirting with the audience like that and then looking at Alison, like her reaction was the important thing to him? I mean, even if nothing sexual HAS happened between them and they're just going through some sort of weird break-up, Jamie doing that is so fucking OBVIOUSLY a way to get her attention and almost make her jealous, what the hell.

That's super interesting that you got the impression that they were consciously holding back. I just wonder, because...if they are actually having sex now, the flirty behaviour with audience members is quite odd. Although I haven't noticed him doing that in other performances either, so it could have just been a jokey one-off thing that didn't realy mean anything. I don't even know, because the leg-stroking thing almost seems SPITEFUL, and that is just not okay. I put up with the avoidance because I feel like that can be excused (even though it's heartbreaking) but if he's going out of his way to do things to hurt her, i.e. refusing to be sexual with her at all and then behaving in a semi-sexual way with a TOTAL STRANGER in front of her...then, well. JAMIE WTF ARE YOU DOING.

SO looking forward to your rambling message, seriously. ♥

[sofiawonderland.livejournal.com]

Seriously, though, I didn't think he would be flirty with the audience at all. I always try to stay in front of one of the band members when I'm going to a concert and I'm good at picking up whether they're going to be flirty or not, and Jamie really surprised me in that regard, because from what I'd gathered from their other performances he and Alison interacted a lot but didn't really share this with the audience, you know? But damnm he was being flirty. And I should know because I was right in front of him.

I'm more inclined to believe that they had sex (once, twice, I don't know) and that changed things, but at the moment they're going through a very weird break-up (do you have any idea how Alison looked during The Last Goodbye? My heart was in actual pain from watching it, I swear). Jamie's behavior towards Alison seemed nearly spiteful at times, really. What with the flirting with the audience, and the ignoring her and all, but maybe I'm reading too much into things (I tend to do that). The point that "redeemed" him, though, was when he got on his knees beside her and looked up (and I can't recall at what song exactly, so I'm trying to go through the setlist and remember what happened when so that the rambling message will be complete enough, hahaha) and she looked down at him and it was almost as if he was asking for forgiveness. Or, again, maybe I'm just being crazy and reading too much into it, who knows.

Rambling message will probably be in your inbox in the next hour or so. I hope. ♥

[likecharity.livejournal.com]

Yeah, exactly! In the past it seems like he always shut himself off from the audience and focused on her, so I guess it makes sense that avoiding her would lead to him interacting with the crowd more. Even so, there's no need to get flirty about it unless he's being hurtful. :/ The only other thing I could think of is that they're sleeping together now and it's almost like a teasing thing, because they do still feel the sexual tension onstage and maybe Jamie needs to get it out SOMEhow so he sort of directs it at the audience, and it frustrates Alison but she knows she gets him to herself at the end of the show.

I agree though, I do get much more of a 'break-up' vibe from them these days. GOD, The Last Goodbye. I'm all convinced it's about Jack now, but I bet if something's happened with Jamie since then, the song carries a sort of double-meaning, particularly when he's right there with her onstage. When they played it at the gig I went to, I was surprised by how blank-faced she seemed - I've seen her get super emotional in some videos but she just seemed totally shut off from it which I thought was interesting. I guess it depends on her mood at the time.

It's a wonder I'm managing to type after you said the thing about Jamie getting down on his knees, by the way, because ohhhhhhhh my god. ♥_♥ He used to do that! It seems like such a reassuring thing whenever they do something they USED to do (which is why I thought putting older songs back on the setlist seemed so positive) and the idea of him sort of asking for forgiveness...I got that sense in the video when he looks at her after darting away, like he instantly felt bad. SIGH.

Eagerly awaiting it!