Some songs make lists like this because everyone agrees that they are terrible.  Other songs just happen to bother you, even if they are positively received by most.  This next entry is in the latter category.

“Moral Of The Story” – Ashe

Pop
#71 peak

Alternative
#12 peak, #45 year-end

I tend to get annoyed by songs that try to teach you a lesson, finding them preachy.  When I first heard this song for the list, I figured that this was the problem with the song.  On reflection, I was taking too much with the title.  Upon relistening to the song, I realized this wasn’t the problem. 

This song was written after Ashe struggled with a divorce from her husband.  She explained the meaning to Earmilk, “It’s hard to accept when you’ve made a mistake in love or life.   But realizing all those mistakes have made you who you are and have helped shape the life you’re in you puts a different light on things.”

Within the song, Ashe cites the lesson as follows, in the chorus:

Some mistakes get made, that’s alright, that’s okay
You can think that you’re in love when you’re really just in pain
Some mistakes get made, that’s alright, that’s okay
In the end it’s better for me, that’s the moral of the story babe

So the message I am getting from these lyrics is that while Ashe just finished a bad relationship, she came out of it a better person, and the relationship actually helped her in the end, whether it involved her understanding life better, or if her ex-husband or relationship in general provided her with happy memories she can look back on fondly even after she finds a new special someone.  After all, the moral is that this mistake was “better for [her].”

But… the evidence in the lyrics is lacking.

Twice in the song, she is asked why on earth she chose this person, we don’t get any answers about how this guy was a nice person or made her happy.  All we get is her answer,

Young people fall in love with the wrong people sometimes

Adding to that, the only memory we get of her relationship is this example in the second verse:

Remember how we painted our house?
Just like my grandparents did, so romantic
But we fought the whole time
Should have seen the signs, yeah

Not only is the rhythm to this set of lyrics inconsistent to the previous stanzas in the song, with the added difficulty being that it sounds like Ashe is rambling on rather than giving a conclusion on what she learned, this memory… makes it sound like her relationship didn’t help her.  You fought the whole time you painted a house, a chore that takes several weeks to complete without the added benefit of aluminum siding?  I get that arguments happen between people who are close to one another, it’s part of life.  But if you were arguing for this long over something that was supposed to be romantic for you two… it sounds like this relationship hurt you more than it helped you.  Without examples of how this relationship was worthwhile and with this example of an ugly scene between the two, all we’re presented with is a scarring memory that fails to provide evidence for the thesis.  Or excuse me, “moral of the story.”

Then we run into another problem at the song’s bridge.

They say it’s better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all
That could be a load of s**t

(GASP)!  ASHE SAID THE S WORD!

Ok.  The real reason this is bad is because… profanity is such a bad fit for the bridge’s gentle instrumentation and the song’s attempted message.  Now you might be asking why I have a problem with Ashe using profanity in an alternative pop song, and not fellow alt-pop star Lana Del Rey casually calling her songs “Norman F**king Rockwell” or “Venice B***h.”  The difference is that even in her soft rock songs, Lana Del Rey has an acerbic wit and precision when discussing love and disillusionment that allows her to get away with using such language.  Ashe doesn’t have this just yet.

Oh, and before you ask, the music isn’t great either.  The music in the verses and pre-choruses consists of a simple piano figure.  That’s fine.  I don’t hate “Untitled (How Could This Happen To Me?)” or “Someone You Loved” because of their simple piano instrumentation, I hate them because of the lyrics.  But then in the chorus and post-chorus, the instrumentation gets swapped out for this thunderous percussion that dwarfs the piano and strings.  This makes the song sound more dated, as it falls into the trap so many Alternative songs of the past ten years have fallen into: it sounds less like a song about relationships and more like a commercial.  

That’s the moral of the story!  BUY A JEEP COMPASS DURING EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT MONTH AT YOUR LOCAL JEEP DEALER!

Adding to that is the inclusion of “Oh-oh-ohhhhs” in the post-chorus.  Great.  I can add this one to songs that violate Strongbad’s rule of “Na-na’s, la-la’s, and doot-do’s as legit lyrics,” as “oh-ohs” are practically the same in all aspects.

I wonder if my dislike of this song is going to lessen over the years, and that I’m taking too much into it.  But that is how I think of this song right now, and I’m sticking with it.  Moving on. 

SOURCES

Blair, Lindsay.  “Ashe Gives Us A Track-By-Track Breakdown of Her ‘Moral Of The Story Chapter 1 & 2.’”  Earmilk 2019.  Web.  31 December 2020.

IMAGE SOURCES

“Moral Of The Story” single cover and image of Strongbad from Wikimedia

Image of the Jeep Compass from Motor Trend