“Pretty Boy” reflects on misconceptions commonly found within relationships. She describes the pain found in her experience and the cruelty found in this boy but always with a description of it as “pretty”. This is a song for those who can feel the “rose colored glasses” resting atop the bridge of their nose but won’t take them off. The romantic tone of the piece loops the listener into the false beauty found in this heartache, as the subject she describes does with his own loving words. This is a love song, so full of admiration that even amidst the turmoil he seems to put her through, Tomlinson manages to make this boy sound like a dream. The piece reflects her own admirable dedication and caring nature even in the harshest of environments.
The song begins with a soft piano which is quickly edited into a higher pitched and more haunting sound after only a few seconds. Her own voice matches this theme, carrying the words “pretty boy” as a siren song past the music. She describes several instances of wrong doing on the boy’s part, followed immediately by an excuse or an example of love for him on her part. This goes on until the music intensifies and we reach the chorus. Here, the song sounds nothing short of magical, with Cate’s echoing voice swallowing everything else. She again describes instances of heartbreak but with that key word before it, “pretty”. “Pretty” is the boy that leaves her and the hands that hurt her.
Cate Tomlinson began exploring her talents in music as a young girl by playing the piano, an instrument still predominately used in her current work. She would perform for family and friends at first, but by the end of high school, she was working on building a genuine music career. She collaborated with established artists and by 2020, had released her first single “Muse”. Since, she’s released nine singles and an EP, with her most popular song “Favorite Boy” gaining over 100,000 streams on Spotify. She continues to make and study music to this day, now majoring in Music Industry at Northeastern University. Follow her below and stream “Pretty Boy” to stay updated.
Written By Hailey Schap
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