X/Z Song Trader: "Witchy"

A Gen X Rocker Discusses Music With His Gen Z Daughter

Aug 24, 2024

About X/Z Song Trader: Steve is a music journalist, author and musician. Lucy is a diehard music fan and college student. They have always enjoyed a father/daughter bond over music. Each week one of them picks a song and they both share their perspectives. These are casual conversations based on musical connections. Opinions are their own. Keeping it positive.

Check out the whole X/Z Song Trader series.

Lucy’s Perspective

I honestly never considered myself to be somebody who enjoyed house music/dance/electronic music.

Not because I ever experienced a particular song from these genres that I hated, but because I was so into pop, indie and rock that I just stuck with it. I think being in college really opened me up to a lot of other music. That’s where I fell in love with songs like the one we’re talking about today—at parties and social settings where it makes sense to dance to a more consistent beat.

“Witchy” is interesting to me because of the people who worked on it.

Childish Gambino, or Donald Glover as I’m sure you know him, and KAYTRANADA is a collaboration that, for some reason, I didn’t see coming. KAYTRANADA has a very ‘chill’ approach to his sound, incorporating synth and other electronic instruments over more laid back words that are somewhat few and far between.

Childish Gambino, on the other hand, tends to focus more on the lyrics and the beat. I think that the combination of these styles makes a perfect song that feels loose and chill while also having the repetition of lyrics to sing along to. ‘Witchy’ reminds me a little bit of Gambino’s ‘Redbone’ in the way that it has a few repetitive lyrics used throughout the song.

‘Witchy’ is, by far, my favorite song of the summer.

For me, the combination of stylistic elements perfectly encapsulates the vibe of not only this song, but the rest of KAYTRANADA’s new album, Timeless.

Another thing I’ve come to love about house/EDM music, in this song especially, is the way that artists build up for a beat drop. In this song, it happens after these lyrics:

I can feel you in the night (no lie)
I don't want no other vibe (no lie)

The build up continues for another ten seconds before the beat drops, and then:

You make me feel like I've been floatin' (oh, no)
This ain't a spell, you got me open, girl

I am curious to know what your take on this song is, considering that this type of music seems pretty far from what you usually enjoy. Who knows, maybe I will have introduced you to a new song or genre of music you hadn’t thought to explore before.

Steve’s Perspective

Right off the bat, I’ll admit that this song was a challenge for me.

Not because there was anything that I specifically disliked, I just couldn’t find a way into the music. Even after reading your thoughtful perspective, I was still scratching my head about how to develop an informed opinion about a song that—as you mentioned—is really far outside of my wheelhouse.

After many listens, I groped to come up with something interesting to write. At one point I thought Childish Gambino/Donald Glover might be a hook since I was a fan of the TV show Community—but that felt like a cop out (this isn’t X/Z Sitcom Trader…).

Next, I decided to let the algorithmic overlords make some connections that I might be missing, but only got as far as Michael Jackson’s “Rock with You,” Bob Marley’s “Could You Be Loved,” Tame Impala’s “Disciples” and Outkast’s “Hey Ya” before I ditched that idea and decided Spotify was just as lost as me.

Then, during my eleventy-fifth listen, a few specific words started popping out at me: “Magic,” “Spirits,” “Witchy” and “Potion.”

I was so focused on the musical style and slick production that I forgot to concentrate on one of the main things that unites “pop music” across genres: lyrics. Whether you’re listening to soul, punk, funk, country, glam, hip hop, folk, power pop or whatever, songs about infatuation are pretty universal.

I suddenly found a way to understand the song thanks to a familiar storyline. My old brain started making connections between “Witchy” and other songs with similar themes: “Love Potion No. 9” by The Clovers, “I Put A Spell On You” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, “Black Magic Woman” by Santana, “Magic” by The Cars—the list goes on.

And, of course, there’s this garage punk classic (sorry, couldn’t resist).

I probably won’t become a huge KAYTRANADA fan, but this song choice did pull me out of my comfort zone and got me thinking differently about a style of music that usually eludes my attention.

Other than getting to spend so much time discussing music with you, that’s probably my favorite part of X/Z Song Trader—the chance to gain a little additional perspective on music after years of dwelling in the pop rock trenches.

Thanks for another interesting song choice.