As any self-respecting pop fan is aware of, today (September 8) marks the tenth anniversary of the release of Kylie Minogue’s modern classic, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”. In some ways, it’s hard to believe that a decade has already passed since audiences first caught a glimpse of the barely-there hooded dress she sported in the Clockwork Orange-meets-Tron video clip, but at the same time it sort of feels like a whole lifetime ago. In this particular phase of popular music, one can argue that “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” was ahead of its time. Indeed, with almost every song in the top 40 today culling some form of thump-thump-thump Euro-techno sound, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” can perhaps be regarded as the granddaddy of this recent electronic dance craze. But then, like Madonna, Kylie’s been using the dancefloor as a starting base for much of her career. Over time, her music has gotten more sophisticated, and more camp in certain ways, but all the while we knew she was comfortable being right there in the clubs. For all the Britneys and Katy Perrys out there today who are leading the pack with their batch of club-friendly jams, they ought to be paying at least some tribute to Miz Minogue for helping bear the torch all these years.
Pop was a different breed of beast back in 2001. The teenyboppers like Britney, *N Sync and Christina were slowly beginning to step towards ‘maturity’ (which back in those days meant bribing R&B producers to hand over their latest work to you and sexing things up even more than usual), and hip-hop was continuing its stratospheric rise as the dominant force in popular music. Overseas, Kylie’s comeback wagon was already trucking along with the success of her 2000 LP, Light Years, so massive anticipation awaited her in Europe and her native Australia when “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” began to rear its devious head. But for the song to achieve the success it did on American shores in early 2002 is something very curious indeed. When Britney’s third album failed to produce any top ten hits and *N Sync abruptly opted for a permanent hiatus, it was clear that 2002 would see the first nails being hammered into the pop coffin. With such a musical landscape, what could US audiences want with a relatively unknown Aussie in her ‘30s tramping around to a silly Eurodisco tune? We’re still not sure of the reasons why, but for one of the very few times in modern history, Americans actually paid attention to something brilliant.
Because, as we all know, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” was not some silly Eurodisco tune. It was a slinky earworm that gradually lodged itself into the subconscious until people outside of the gay club scene were walking around humming “la la la” to themselves without even realizing. The song dripped with pure sex – from Kylie’s breathy sighs to the undulating bass throb that was engineered specifically for the grinding of crotches. The song also had some ominous undertones. Its tale of lustful obsession and the rather dark lyric “It’s more than I dare to think about” is testament to this.
While we could spend all day heaping glorious amounts of praise and discussing the song’s cultural impact over the last decade, ultimately the reason why “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” has stood the test of time is simply because it is a fantastic pop song. It has all the right elements – catchy, memorable hooks, inventive productions and a perfect delivery from its performer that only they can emulate – and at the end of the day, that’s all that needs to be said. Happy birthday, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”. It’s been a privilege having you around this past decade.
