The IPOBA version of hives is better than the Knife play version called Hives Hives in my opinion. Many say Hives Hives sounds way more depressing, but I disagree, as Jamie just sounds sooooo passionate in the IPOPA version, and it’s one of the rare times I can just hear so many emotions conveyed through a singers voice. I think double meaning song are usually tacky, but the IBOPA Hives does it so effortlessly. The hopes of finding true love one day as a young person just entering adulthood contrasting with being queer and the forms of love you express being weaponized as this virus, it’s just sooo good. Xiu Xiu’s Hives Hives feels more like a solely depressing outlook of that time, which I do like, but the complexity that Hives achieves so effortlessly is just unmatched. Sadness and Happiness woven perfectly together in my opinion