S. E. Webster explores the delusion and obsession before knowing your crush in “Bad Thing Comin'”

Everyone’s guilty of putting someone on a pedestal, an unobtainable level of perfection. S. E. Webster explores what happens when you’re infatuated with that person.

“Bad Thing Comin’”, the first track on Webster’s new EP Romance at a Distance, uses blunt lyrics like wishful thinking and gritty guitars to grind the illusion into timeless melodic dust. With catchy vocal lines calling and expressive guitar responding, they create a modern yesteryear sound.

As the character falls deeper into their obsession and delusion, there’s a part of him that knows it’s all wishful thinking. “When it all comes down to it, you ain’t think of me, but I’m thinking of you.” Even as he sings about “trying to woo ya” and singing “sweet nothings,” he admits that this crush might not even be real. “I know I’m seeing an illusion.”

But the illusion is one layer deeper. All those attempts to get this mysterious person to reciprocate his love aren’t even real. “It was all just a dream and I’m dreaming what kind of trouble you’re getting into,” he admits in the third verse.

As the long musical outro stretches across the final minutes, we’re invited into the obsession with this character. The slow descent into a warbling silence quiets us like falling back into the unobtainable dream.

Stream “Bad Thing Comin’” and the rest of Romance at a Distance below.

Ben McCoy

Ben is an advertising Madman who spends his days with words and music. When he’s not writing for his supper, he’s eating it at some of NYC’s most interesting restaurants.