On the subject of Modern Love, David Bowie said, “I know when to go out, and when to stay in, get things done.” In 1983, he may have anticipated the mission statement for Tinder users thirty years ahead of its time. Sure, he probably knew this was coming, and as an alien rock star he likely didn’t have to try very hard anyway. The instant gratification of video games and sex was an inevitable combination destined to land in our laps. Bowie was even slow to the game; Logan’s Run had already beat him to it by six years. Apparently what they couldn’t anticipate was all camouflage, dead animals, and general life of swiping in the Maritimes. That’s where Kylie Fox comes in.
‘Tinder Girl’ is an odd mantle to take on, especially for someone who claims they haven’t used the dating app very much, but that is what New Brunswick singer-songwriter Kylie Fox is dealing with. In a piece that featured Fox, CBC covered the particular quirks of online dating in the Maritime. Her title had been firmly fixed in place long before that, though.
“I wrote the song three years ago and people have wanted it recorded and filmed, then CBC did their bit about me so I thought I’d prepare a bit of a video when it got released,” says Fox.
The song appears on Fox’s debut album, BalconyEP, which was released just last week.
“I wrote it as a means to make fun of all my friends who were using it. When it was beginning to trickle into everyone’s phones, I remember those that did have it would get their phones passed around the table at meal hall.
It was a joke, a means to pass the time and a source of a lot of laughs. It wasn’t taken seriously when it first developed because it was awkward and not enough people had tested out actually dating on it, so we used it to like, say creepy things to people. Eventually, we all caved and got it, and I’m forever pegged as the Tinder Girl, having never had Tinder for very long.
It just came to me – like I wrote it in five minutes and it has haunted me ever since. It became like a theme song everyone at the Mount Allison bar knew and playing it live is a fucking ball.”