I let the lyrics on Spotify take control of my dating game and I have no regrets.
I’ll be honest, I don’t reply to ‘hey’ messages on dating apps. It doesn’t matter how hot you are. My thinking is that ‘hey’ is unlikely to lead anywhere I’m excited to go – it’s usually followed by a lacklustre ‘hi how are u?’, then a ‘good wbu?’ and so forth. Look down at your keyboard. You have an infinite number of options to be charming, and you choose to go with ‘hey’? Sorry, no rizz.
But I can’t really blame them. Online dating is a numbers game and coming up with something witty and unique for every person you want to talk to is a lot of work. One night, feeling particularly uninspired, I decided to test out the song lyric TikTok trend for myself.
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As a music writer and lifelong obsessive, I know that music has an unrivalled ability to make people feel connected. Plus, someone’s taste shows a lot about them. What better way is there to express your feelings than through the lyrics of songs you love?
I flopped on my couch, turned on my TV and set up the Lyrics function on Spotify (heavily discounted, thanks to their half-price premium plans for students) and scanned some of my favourite tunes to see if I could incorporate any bars into my pickup game.
Deciding on a song that would work well as a first message took some critical thinking. I figured it might be good to start out with something that appeared on the surface as an innocuous greeting. Immediately, I thought of Blink 182’s classic emo ballad ‘I Miss You’ – a song that I performed with passionate angst at my sixth-grade talent show. I shot out a handful of ‘hello there’s, then followed it up with ‘the angel from my nightmare’.
It went over pretty well. One guy replied with “I prefer to go by sleep paralysis demon, but that’s okay” which gave me a little chuckle. Another hopped right in to complete the lyrics, saying he would like to ‘live like Jack and Sally’ with me. Off to a solid start!
I wanted to try something different, so I turned on a Spotify playlist of hit 2000s songs. Feeling a little risqué, I sent out a few messages saying “Baby, you know that I miss you, I want to get with you tonight”. Shoot your shot, I guess. I realised my grave error when the replies started coming in – the next line of the Soulja Boy song was ‘But I cannot baby girl and that’s the issue’. I was setting myself up for rejection. No kisses through the phone for me.
Then I thought of something no twentysomething Tinder boy would be able to resist: the poetry and lyricism of our generation’s favourite soft boy, Drizzy himself. From what I’ve noticed, the dating app ‘anthem’ sections seem to be dominated by Drake. Perhaps there’s something about him that men believe conveys the message of ‘I like to have fun, but I also have good manners’.
I hopped in the mix with a vaguely confrontational “I been movin’ calm, don’t start no trouble with me”. Not the most romantic opener in my opinion, but it did the trick. Minutes later there were bites.
“Tryna keep it peaceful is a struggle for me,” a gentleman snapped back. I continued: “Don’t pull up at 6am to cuddle with me.”
It went on like this for a while, then I started to get nervous. Shooting lyrics back and forth is all well and good, but eventually you need to somehow transition into a normal conversation. I went in for the kill. “I feel like it was God’s plan that we met.”
“I only love my bed and my mamma, I’m sorry,” he replied, “I can make an exception though.”
Hey, I’ll take it. It did actually feel like we had bonded on some level. It felt like we had done a surprise karaoke duet, à la Troy and Gabriella in the opening scenes of High School Musical. When I shared this sentiment with him, he said we should make it a reality. I’ve got a karaoke date lined up for next week.
Sending song lyrics felt kind of silly at first, but it ended up being the most fun I’ve had on dating apps in a long time. Sometimes you just need an icebreaker.
Next time you’re looking for a little flirtation inspiration, I suggest you swipe on Spotify’s Lyrics feature and borrow a few lines from the pros. It’ll at least be better than a ‘hey’.
This article was made in partnership with Spotify.
