I'm Clifford Stumme, and I use literary analysis and research to explain the deeper meanings of pop songs. Feel free to leave a comment or to email me at clifford@popsongprofessor.com with questions or ideas!
All in song lyrics blog post
I explained the meaning of Twenty One Pilots's new single "Heathens." My argument was that it addressed new fans of the band, telling them to be careful around members of the Skeleton Clique (Twenty One Pilots's VERY enthusiastic fanbase). I thought Tyler Joseph, the lead singer and songwriter for the band, was maybe even telling people to be careful about being judgmental towards those they didn't understand.
Bastille released "Good Grief" on June 17th, and I have to admit that while I've heard (and liked) several of their songs I'm not as up on them as some you readers might be. Therefore, if I miss something, please let me (and other readers) know in the comments below. We'll work on this together.
It's (basically) a rule that Twenty One Pilots doesn't write in the same genre twice. And we can definitely hear that here with "Heathens." The song is part grunge, maybe part R&B, and part pop. It reminds me of "Fairly Local" more than any other song by them, but even then it's iffy. You can listen if you like and let me know what you think (unless the leaked location I've been listening to has already been removed). Alternatively, I recommend searching for it on Twitter; there seem to be many uploads of the song there.
Listening to this song has been a weird experience for me. I know there's not much in it as far as lyrical depth goes (there's not supposed to be), but the music is super fun. It sounds perfect for dancing, and I can't stop pressing the "play" button as soon as it finishes. I guess for an artist as famous and tried-and-true as Usher (who released "OMG" and "Yeah!), "Crash" being really good is no surprise. He just released "Crash" as a single from his upcoming album Flawed, and I'm sure we have a bit more of this smooth, R&B sweet-talking coming our way.
Switchfoot just released this song a few hours ago, so there's literally no one else on the Internet explaining it at the moment. That means I'll be explaining this song without any help except for what is in the song and what I can find on Switchfoot's website (not much).
Nick Jonas released "Bacon" featuring Ty Dolla $ign on June 3rd, 2016 as part of his upcoming album "Last Year Was Complicated." It's probably going to be/was a pop hit, but nobody actually gets what it's about. People who don't listen closely think that Jonas is saying he likes bacon better than his ex, but that's not the case.
DNCE (headed up by Joe Jonas) was formed last year, but the single the band released is still holding steady at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Cake by the Ocean" is an infectious dance anthem written by Justin Tranter and DNCE. But the song doesn't have the most normal origin story. Apparently it was created after two European producers (Mattman and Robin) mistranslated the name of a cocktail called "Sex on the Beach" as "Cake by the Ocean." The band heard the mistranslation and had the song written within ten minutes.
Red Hot Chili Peppers just released the next single from their upcoming album The Getaway which will be released on June 17, 2016. Musically, "The Getaway" is slow, methodical, and hypnotic. It sounds like something that Coldplay would put out, and it's quite catchy.
OneRepublic is definitely changing things up with this single. According to an interview reported by Idolator.com, the lead singer, Ryan Tedder says, "It's not indicative of the entire album but it's kind of like if you go have dinner, you don't order steak for an appetizer and steak for dinner, you split it up, and you have different things, so the first single is – it's definitely an appetizer, I think it's the best appetizer we could come up with."
Even though the band's fans are excited for that release, this single will be more than enough to tide them over--both for the band's pop-country sound and it's interesting use of religious imagery that will give pause to religious audiences. Even Rolling Stone notes, "The mix of Christian imagery and hooking up is most likely a little over-the-line for devoutly religious fans . . . ." This, of course, makes for an interesting analysis of the song and will give us plenty to think about as we study "H.O.L.Y." and consider its greater significance.
"Ain't Your Mama," in fact, was written by Meghan Trainor for Lopez and places Lopez firmly in the pop-anthem women's empowerment category with Trainor and Beyonce. All three of the artists have released songs that give a firm "no" to men who enforce glass ceilings, expect cooking and cleaning, or try too aggressively to pick girls up at bars.
I’ve already explained “Ophelia," “Cleopatra,” and "Angela," and now it’s time for “Sleep on the Floor.” This song follows the other three in tone and style, but this is the first one I've done that the title of which is not directly about a female character. There is still a story being told here, but things are a bit more vague. In an interview at the iHeartRadio Concert, the band explained the song a little:
Wesley Schultz (the lead singer) opens up with, "When you left this town, with your windows down / And the wilderness inside." He hasn't completed a full thought, but we can already see that Angela is leaving behind something difficult, and that all is not well with her. It's as if though she's leaving the windows down to embrace new found freedom and to be closer to the nature around her. She's trying to let go and let all of her anger flow out of the open windows. But the true wilderness isn't the forest flying past her. It's inside of her. Her own thoughts and feelings are mysteries to her.
The Lumineers have just released the second single from their forthcoming album Cleopatra, and it's the namesake for the album, a 3 minute-long ode to lost love from the perspective of a woman named Cleopatra.
I typically spend a lot of time listening to contemporary pop music, but for some reason I haven't been able to get enough of Huey Lewis & the News. The music is so dang catchy and a tiny bit philosophical at times.
I'd never heard the song before last night, but "Perfect World" is actually deep and fun to listen to. The up-beat in the verses is groovy and gives the whole song a feeling that's a lighthearted twist on normal rock'n'roll.
It's time for a throwback song explanation--we're going old school today. There are few songs of the last forty years that have had the impact on listeners that "Dust in the Wind" has had. For one thing, it's deeper than most songs. Anyone who throws it up next to any Justin Bieber song (or almost any current Top 40 song besides "Stressed Out" by Twenty One Pilots) is going to understand immediately that "Dust in the Wind" is a song about something (even though it's oddly about nothing).It has meaning.
And it's finally time for my last explanation of a Panic! at the Disco song from Death of a Bachelor. It's been a while in coming, but it's finally time to wrap up this album. Ironically, we'll be wrapping it up with the album's first song: "Victorious."
My explanations aren't usually this quick, but I wanted to make sure that I did explain all of the songs from Panic! at the Disco's Death of a Bachelor album. Thus, without much fanfare or introduction, I present my line-by-line explication of "Impossible Year."
The Lumineers' last album came out in 2012, and we all probably still listen to "Ho Hey"--I know I do. The band became famous very quickly and is known all over the world; Entertainment Weekly even calls The Lumineers "America’s answer to Mumford and Sons."
