DETO BLACK, chi It's A No From Me (2024)
In the age of dating apps, the pool of people potentially lucky enough to get with you is almost infinite—and the act of rejection a brutal affair. Your date chews their food with an open mouth during dinner? No, thank you. He doesn’t vote “on principle”? Next. She scrolls through instagram while you talk about your band’s last gig? Yikes, It’s A No From Me.
Artists DETO BLACK and chi also know the struggle and bless you with their vibrant, attitude-packed song as the perfect soundtrack for the next time someone gives you the ick.But letting down a romantic interest has been done long before Tinder & co.—and sure, Western social rules used to be stricter, but people have always been unhinged about romance. No surprise, then, that the Victorians (a generally truly unhinged bunch) also loved dramatic rejections and delivered them, for example, by poem. To provide extra gossip during high tea, rejections were delivered by way of a poem sent on Valentine’s Day.
These “Vinegar Valentines” were either part of bound collections of greeting poetry you could purchase and copy down into your rejection letter, or you could simply buy pre-made, nicely illustrated greeting cards for the occasion. Whether pre-printed or copied by hand, the verses were absolutely scathing: A card featuring a lady handing a giant lemon to a gentleman reads very eloquently: “‘Tis a lemon that I hand you / and bid you now “skidoo!” / Because I love another / There is no chance for you.”
Ouch!
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