All in song lyrics blog post
It's time to begin explaining the last three songs from Death of a Bachelor by Panic! at the Disco. The album's been taking some interesting turns and been maintaining a steady theme of looking back at happier, wilder days while keeping up a steady appreciation for how good the future can be with a little effort and determination to be the best. "House of Memories" continues this theme using intense, choral-esque music (a sound Urie calls "operatic and evil stuff" in the Twitter video below) backing Brendon Urie's waving, strong voice. He's the man caught in a storm, but among all of the wind and waves, he and his voice are standing strong, ready for whatever comes next.
Panic! at the Disco is really winning me over with the music on Death of a Bachelor. These songs are groovy and fun. Have you been able to appreciate how well put together the music is here? It's part Fallout Boy, part 1950's, part 1990's, and it's awesome. "The Good, the Bad, and the Dirty" is mostly Fallout Boy, and it's pretty intense.
I've been pleasantly surprised with Panic! at the Disco's songs that weren't the lead singles. There were plenty of good singles--sure--but I wasn't thrilled by the lyrics. Now, I'm kind of freakin' out over how good the album sounds. Death of a Bachelor sounds legit, and I'm loving it. There's a lot of throwback sound on here, and I've really been enjoying that. But I've also been enjoying the energy put into the singing; Brendon Urie's been doing a great job of making that energy powerful.
As you probably know if you're looking this up, Panic! at the Disco just came out with its next album, Death of a Bachelor--an album that tracks the progression and changes in the life of Brendon Urie, the only remaining original band member. And if you've been following along here on the blog, things have certainly gotten weird for him as we've seen in "Hallelujah," "Emperor's New Clothes," "Don't Threaten Me with a Good Time," "Death of a Bachelor," and "LA Devotee."
Panic! at the Disco's new album Death of a Bachelor (similarly named to one of the songs on the album that I've explained) just came out on Friday, and the album's pretty rocking. I'm excited to see where it premieres on the Billboard charts after it's been out for a week, but based on what Panic! at the Disco fans have been saying, I'd have to guess that it's going to be quite popular.
Welcome back to my explanation of "Untitled 2 (Blue Faces)" by Kendrick Lamar. If you haven't read Part 1 yet, you really should--it lays the foundation for what Lamar's song is about. If you haven't seen the video yet, here it is...
When I started cliffordstumme.com, I think the first recommendation I got for a song to explain was anything from To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar. Unfortunately, it'd already been out for a while, so I wasn't sure that it would be a good idea. So, I've been waiting a while to be able to explain one of his songs, and finally I have an opportunity to do so!
Time to freak out, fanboys and fangirls. T-swizzle's not done with 1989 yet. She just released an actual music video for "Out of the Woods," and I like it. You might like it too. I used to think the song was kind of boring--too poppy and WAY to repetitive--but this music video might have converted me. At the very least, it's an easy song to sing along with, and the music video gives more context for what the song itself means.
On Christmas Eve, Panic! at the Disco released the titular track for its new album Death of a Bachelor. The album (as Urie puts it) is a beautiful mix of Queen and Frank Sinatra. And this song likewise mirrors that mix. It feels like a crazy, no-holds-barred Sinatra-esque club-mix.
Chris Brown's out with his new album Royalty, and one of the songs on that album--my favorite so far--is "Little More (Royalty)." The song's smooth and strong and an enjoyable listen. I'll be honest though: I have rarely ever listened to Chris Brown, and what I have heard of him has been largely negative. Not that being explicit is always bad, but the fact that so many of his songs on this album are explicit concerns me. I've listened to a few others besides "Little More (Royalty)," and there doesn't seem to be a lot of variety on Royalty. His song "Back to Sleep," in a paraphrase of his words, is about "sexing" his girlfriend back to sleep after he comes home from playing a concert.
You've all heard people talk with enthusiasm about being "right where they belong," and that's because feeling comfortable is important to people. Unfortunately for the narrator of the song "Pride" by folk, indie band American Authors, the saying may go more like "lost where you belong." That's what the song is about--feeling alone and rising above it. In "Pride," the American Authors' narrator uses pride to remind himself that he's not going to give into the temptation to give up; he's better than that. Now, this pride isn't necessarily the bad kind of pride that a lot of people complain about or accuse each other of. The narrator's pride could lead to that, but his isn't a bad thing when it first appears.
"Hymn for the Weekend" has got to be one of my favorite songs from A Head Full of Dreams by Coldplay. The song is slow, yet strong, and it features Beyonce's beautiful voice. The song's about as pop music-ish as Coldplay can get I think, and Chris Martin the lead singer, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, backs me up on that.
"Birds" is a soaring song about hope and overcoming circumstances; the melody and other aspects of the music mirror that same upbeat, positive perspective. It's a fun song and definitely worth the listen.
Adele's 25 continues to break records this week--she already sold over 3 million albums in her first week, and no one knows when it will end. The album is beautiful and heart-rending. People have enjoyed it immensely, and the songs continue to show new depths of emotion and thought on Adele's part. I think it's interesting that one of the most popular albums of our time is often so sad. Adele doesn't stay on the superficially "happy" partying level that a lot of pop music does, and people are reacting to it positively (even if it means they're crying).
The meaning of "A Head Full of Dreams" explained in detail by a scholar of literature
Coldplay's new album A Head Full of Dreams is awesome--not only the lyrics, but the music as well. Everything about this groovy disco-experimental album is uplifting as well as dance worthy. Billboard.com refers to Chris Martin explaining that he wants fans to "shuffle [their] feet" to the songs on this album, and as Wife-April and I were listening to it, we realized that even our prime dance style (west coast swing) would work really well with a lot of these songs. (We were pretty excited.)
Psy's "Gangnam Style" came out over three years ago, and since then the only thing we in American have really heard from Psy is the song "Gentleman," which was successful but didn't go off nearly as well as the first video. Now Psy's trying again. His new video for his song "DADDY" is certainly zany and weird. I wouldn't say it's as zany or weird as "Gangnam Style," but it tries. It does, however, contain a much more cohesive central idea and pushes that idea to its limits, all the while maintaining a musical style halfway between Korean and American pop.
"Million Years Ago" is a spare, lean song. The instrumentation is minimal, and Adele's voice is incredibly powerful. In an interview with Hattie Collins, she explains that it went on "at the last minute" and that it's "very stripped-back . . . just me on the guitar." The sparse musicality gives Adele's voice plenty of opportunity to do what it does best--wring ever tear and spare piece of emotion out of any listener who gets too close.
SONG MEANING: "Everglow" by Coldplay is about the feeling of warmth or happiness that comes with the sadness you feel when you think about a relationship, situation, or friendship that has now ended.
SONG MEANING: Adele's "Love in the Dark" is a classic breakup song. Living with this relationship is living "in the Dark," and Adele realizes that she want to "live" and not just "survive."
SONG MEANING: "LA Devotee" by Panic! at the Disco is about someone who has fallen in love with the city of Los Angeles and will stop at nothing to survive and succeed in the city. If you found this free song explanation helpful, please help me by sharing or tweeting it. Thanks!
