Nova Miller – Supernova

“SHINE, Thomas, SHINE like a freakin’ SUPERNOVA.”

Tim: In a transparent attempt to have you yelling “get off my lawn”, I’m going to open by telling you that Nova is 13, and, if we take the title with no context, has quite a high opinion of herself.

Tim: On the other hand, listening with the rest of the lyrics, then…well, actually it could be either – the standard interpretation, or a “shine like me because I’m awesome.”

Tom: I’m not going to “get off my lawn” here, but I am going to astronomy-pedant: a supernova’s the last explosion of a dying star, a suicidal blast that destroys the star itself and takes out anything around it. If you’re going to analogise astronomy, make sure you haven’t got unfortunate implications in there.

Tim: Oh, do shut up. Whatever interpretations or problems we may have with the lyrics, it’s a cracking tune – let’s face it, this is uplifting and power-gifting enough to be a Kelly Clarkson song turned the other way round, and it would be up there with her best.

Tom: Yep, to be fair, I wasn’t convinced until that high note at the end of “supernova”. Didn’t expect it, it works well.

Tim: Even better, everyone involved has resisted the inevitable temptation to turn this into a romantic song – in the chorus, it would have been so easy to rhyme “you see” with a “to me” at the end, but nope. Instead, it’s addressed to EVERYBODY, so SHINE, Thomas, SHINE like a freakin’ SUPERNOVA, dammit!

Tom: Be careful what you wish for, Tim.

Tim: Oh, I know exactly what I’m wishing for, Tom.