Mitski Wins My “Washing Machine Heart”

I can be a bit obsessive with music, and the latest of my musical fixations is a bit dated, but still golden: “Washing Machine Heart” by Mitski. 

It’s been sitting on my “to listen” playlist for forever, and until recently I’ve skipped it every single time. But two weeks ago, the intro started playing before I could catch it, and from then on I was hooked.

“Washing Machine Heart” is a bit of an enigma of a song, containing two distinct musical styles weaving through each other: the rhythmic, percussive background and the languid, almost wistful, lyrics. The song seems to bloom as Mitski sings of her protagonist’s insecurities and overcompensations. The peppy tone of the song is a stark contrast to the lyrics’ exploration of an almost manically obsessive woman, caught in endlessly repeating loops of habit, her heart becoming an emotional appliance designed to cater to her partner. As Rob Hakimian from The 405 said in an interview with Mitski, “… the washing machine is very useful, but it’s also quite the unglamorous job.” 

But the lyric that really gets me every time is “Baby, though I’ve close my eyes / I know who you pretend I am”. Through the romantic undercut, there’s a message here that everyone, on some level, can relate to: an idealized version of yourself in another’s eyes that you can’t hope to compete with. “Why not me?” Mitski muses later on in the song… and honestly, so true.  

I give this song a 10/10.