No one likes to get dragged along. If someone is going to break up with you, it’s better to just get it over with, and the TV show Friends taught us that taking a ‘break’ doesn’t do any good. In his song ‘Have Fun (Without Me)’, Ari Zizzo is letting his ex go. When Zizzo went off to LA, his partner said that they’d stay together and everything would work out. At some point, his partner’s plans changed. Zizzo was cut out and had to learn he wasn’t going to be a part of his ex’s life anymore. Now, Zizzo thinks back on his relationship and everything they used to do together. It’s not the big things that make him miss his ex, but the mundane things, like sleeping in bed together. Zizzo is working to move on, yet he can’t help but wonder if his ex misses him like he misses them.
‘Have Fun (Without Me)’ is a breakup song that takes you through the artists emotions. During the first verse, Zizzo is accompanied solely by an acoustic guitar. The isolated vocals layered over the guitar create this feeling of loneliness and isolation. When the chorus builds and percussive beats come in, the emotion moves away from a lonely sadness and morphs into an emotional flurry. Zizzo wants to know how his partner is doing but he can’t ask those questions. The emotions from the heartbreak combine with the emotions of this exclusion making the chorus super charged with emotion. After the first chorus the rest of the song is charged with a heightened emotional energy. Zizzo does a great job at creating a breakup song that doesn’t pull the listener down. By juxtaposing the more serious moments with upbeat moments the song doesn’t create a sad feeling. It’s the perfect song when a breakup isn’t fresh anymore but the feelings are still heavy as you try to move on.
Upper East Side native Ari Zizzo has always been surrounded by music. His mother, a successful songwriter, and his father, a record producer, greatly influenced his musical pursuits. By the age of 4, Zizzo started to learn instruments. He knew from a young age his dream was to be an artist. Zizzo’s music is influenced by his life experiences, one such experience being the struggle to find your identity. As a transgender man, Zizzo had a different experience than many whilst growing up, but at the core of his growth was finding out who he is. He has said that the struggle to find your identity is a shared experience, even though everyone’s struggle is different. This understanding that life experiences are different, but the general problems are universal, is something Zizzo implements in his work. He creates music that any listener could find themselves relating to. If you liked what you heard, ‘Have Fun (Without Me)’ and Zizzo’s other singles are available to stream now on Spotify.
Written By Maddy Mahady
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