“Rather than just saying, ‘Oh, there’s Brexit and there’s Trump in power’, instead we’ll write songs like Positive, which is about looking for positivity – asking people to support those around them suffering from mental health problems or facing difficulty with poverty or homelessness. I’m thinking...
[Verse 1: Alexis Taylor]
You're washed up and you’re hated
You've lied, you're berated
You’re despised, contaminated
Defeated, isolated
People look at you
A puzzle, not a clue
To be solved by only you
As if you were not real
As if you could not feel
As if they could not help
Extend a hand in wealth
Of information, a declaration
[Chorus: Joe Goddard & Alexis Taylor]
We get together sometimes
Talk about how we used to get together sometimes
Of love
How we used to laugh together sometimes
Of something positive (Sometimes)
We get together sometimes
Talk about how we used to get together sometimes
Are you positive?
Move together sometimes
I don't know how I can live
If you're positive
If you're positive
[Verse 2: Alexis Taylor]
With certainty
Can you tell me
A decision's made?
Our best plans laid to rest
Do we now take a test
Of our certainty?
Of our certainty?
Will that set us free?
[Bridge: Alexis Taylor]
We'll always be, we'll always be
We'll always be, we’ll always be
We’ll always be
Prisoners, prisoners
Prisoners of love
And when we lose ourselves
Do we lose our trust?
Prisoners, prisoners
Prisoners of love
[Chorus: Joe Goddard & Alexis Taylor]
We get together sometimes
Talk about how we used to get together sometimes
Of love
How we used to laugh together sometimes
Of something positive (Sometimes)
We get together sometimes
Talk about how we used to get together sometimes
Are you positive?
Move together sometimes
I don't know how I can live
If you’re positive
If you're positive
[Post-Chorus: Alexis Taylor]
Ah ooh
Ah ooh
Positive was produced by Rodaidh McDonald & Hot Chip.
The song talks about perceptions of homelessness, illness, the need for community, kind gestures or lack of, information, love. It’s a heartbreak song with those subjects and a fantasy relationship at the core.