A restless, saccharine ray of restless light, “Cooped Up” introduces Nashville’s Tedadore with a sweet, bubbly indie pop study in duality.
Stream: “Cooped Up” – Tedadore
Tedadore’s introduction to the world is eerily well-timed for a lockdown summer, even if it was written well before the first hints of a global pandemic. A restless, saccharine ray of restless light, “Cooped Up” introduces Nashville’s Tedadore with a sweet, bubbly indie pop study in duality.
My mama made a honey-do list
For my pops while she’s away
Down in Texas playing with the grandkids
He’s in Indiana teaching for the day
So I made myself the same list
Exercise every day, cook my dinner every night
Sometimes I worry that I let you down
When I’m watching TV until midnight
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering Tedadore’s debut single “Cooped Up,” an enchanting indulgence ready to soundtrack our hot summer nights The moniker for Nashville, Tennessee singer, songwriter, and producer Ted Hartog, Tedadore reminds us of a young COIN or PHANGS.
“‘Cooped Up’ is about the restlessness that comes from long, hot summer afternoons in your 20s and lives in the tension between stability and excitement, two themes I wrestle with as I navigate early adulthood,” Tedadore tells Atwood Magazine. “The song begins with the sound of nature and a sample of an old meditation tape simply saying ‘quiet, comfortable, and relaxed,’ but builds to a triumphant climax that celebrates the uncomfortable in-between that I most often find myself in.”
But I’m bored, and I’m cooped up and too hot
Wanted more, now it’s too much and I’m just not
What I thought would make a good man, it’s true
Worried everyone can see straight through
Bored, and I’m cooped up and too hot
Wanted more, now it’s too much and I’m just not
What I thought would make a good man, you’re good
And I think you’re good
“I wrote it last summer when my routine was to basically get up, go work retail, come home, watch tv, go to bed,” the artist says of his first solo release. “I was always inside – home, car, work, car, home. I rarely got up early enough to get out before it got hot. I wasn’t feeling particularly creative, and each night when I sat in front of the TV, I felt like I’d just been here. The stagnation was too much and I tried all sorts of things to get some energy – hence the “4 PM rolls around I’m getting coffee and a cinnamon twist” lyric. It was pure impulse.”
Turn the page you want to
Take the promise leave the warning
I get up out of my bed and get my ass in the living room
Tell my best friend good morning
It’s no wonder that I stagnate
4 PM rolls around I’m getting coffee and a cinnamon twist
I got groceries in the fridge and a check on my list
That says my past self knew that I’d do something like this
Originally from Southern Indiana, Hartog grew up playing banjo “barefoot throughout the midwest.” For college he moved to Nashville, where his folk music evolved into more eclectic styles and sounds in the form of “Miki Fiki, a funk/pop group.” His latest effort doesn’t necessarily have a specific roadmap or filled-out landscape; Hartog is letting Tedadore become what it wants to become, one song at a time. It’s driven, he says, by a desire for authenticity.
That journey begins with “Cooped Up,” a song that wrestles with our doldrums. “Up until this point, I tended to write love songs,” he shares. “I felt that’s all I had to say, that my romantic relationships were the only experiences strong or interesting enough to put to song. This (Cooped Up) was one of the first times I wrote about something that was less identifiable by high and low points, and more by the constant low hum of mediocrity. That shit eats you more. It isn’t inspiring and it isn’t jolting enough to get you to act. I confused (and continue to confuse) comfort with contentedness.”
“The contradiction is that I want to try my best to be a good man and often feel I’m falling short, while I believe others are already good the way they are, simply by trying. The ending of the chorus is a conversation between two versions of myself; the one trying to be better so they can become good, and the one who realizes you already are. “I’m just not what I thought would make a good man.” “You’re good. I think you’re good.” The song lives in that in-between.”
Despite the inner tension and struggle rippling through “Cooped Up,” the song doesn’t feel torn or pained; in fact, it feels bright and uninhibited – full of an airy, ethereal kind of glee, thanks in large part to the artist’s tender vocals and buoyant melodies. Many of us hearing “Cooped Up” for the first time during COVID-19 lockdown or quarantines will have our own interpretation of the song’s chorus – considering how we, ourselves, have been cooped up for many months now.
But I’m bored, and I’m cooped up and too hot
Wanted more, now it’s too much and I’m just not
What I thought would make a good man, it’s true
Worried everyone can see straight through
Bored, and I’m cooped up and too hot
Wanted more, now it’s too much and I’m just not
What I thought would make a good man, you’re good
And I think you’re good
It was never Tedadore’s intent to write a song to get us through a pandemic, but that’s just what “Cooped Up” seems to be.
With a fun flow and restless calm, this smile-inducing debut arrives as an anchor to sanity and patience during these difficult times. Stream “Cooped Up” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and stay tuned for more from Tedadore!
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:: stream/purchase “Cooped Up” here ::
Stream: “Cooped Up” – Tedadore
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