Rina Sawayama’s Single Is Your Cuffing Season Anthem

Time to find that person you’ll be cuddling with all winter long.

Rina Sawayama/Twitter

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Another week in the long haul of 2018 is over. While you clean, or lie in bed thinking about how nice it’d be if all those chores were already done, we got a nice little upbeat pick for you for this week’s Friday Find.

This week: “Cherry” by Rina Sawayama (Different Recordings, 2018)

Why we’re into it: As the days get darker and the weather gets colder—at least for those of us who live where seasons exist—it’s especially nice to defy it all and indulge in a summery, romantic sound. After all, it’s cuffing season, and we all need a good tune to be the soundtrack for the whole process of coupling up. And what could possibly be better than an early ‘aughts inspired, queer, pop ode to love?

As if pulled straight from 2003’s Top 40, Rina Sawayama’s newest single, “Cherry” is the perfect one for this fall weekend. Inspired by a glance, this track captures that indelible moment of making significant (emphasis on significant) eye contact with someone in public. Not just a quick exchange, mind you, I’m talking about that glanceThe one where suddenly fantasies overwhelm you about falling in love, the dog you’ll adopt together, and the home you’ll eventually buy, (or maybe that’s just me).

Yet Sawayama’s strength here is not how she captures that fleeting moment and builds it into a three-minute story—although that’s insanely impressive and another reason for this week’s pick—it’s the way she repeatedly builds up an intensity, only to just let it go with the same ease of early Britney and Mariah. 

Not only is the sound reminiscent of the early pop icons, the feeling it evokes is also what the early ‘aughts’s best music inspired: you wanted to dance around the room, best friend on the phone, making plans, and talking all about your crush. “Down the subway/you looked my way,” she muses, “With your girl gaze/with your girl gaze.”

This isn’t just a great pop song, it’s a great gay pop song. With a video to match, Sawayama’s sound is unique in the pop of today. Falling in line with the likes of Carly Rae Jepsen, Marina and the Diamonds, and Sky Ferreira, Sawayama crafts a mature and multi-dimensional love story, but attacks it with the childish infatuation that makes crushes so fascinating, consuming, and, alas, ephemeral.

Indulge in a little fantasy this weekend, maybe ask that crush what they’re up to, and see if you too, will be cuffin’ up this winter.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate