Welcome!
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!
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 tagged literary analysis
SONG MEANING: “I Miss You” by Adele is about intimacy—sexual, emotional, and otherwise—in a relationship. Adele has doubts about the relationship, and the man may too, but the intimacy they feel when things are going well convinces Adele to keep trying even if she’s still afraid for the relationship when she’s not with him.
SONG MEANING: "When We Were Young" by Adele is about meeting up with friends from the past and discussing how things have been. Adele meets one friend in particular and makes amends with him. But the song is really about making amends with the past, represented by that friend.
SONG MEANING: "Pure Grinding" is an intense song about trying to survive without a lot of money. Keep reading to find out more!
"Pure Grinding" probably has the most confusing title on Avicii's Stories album (other than maybe "Sunset Jesus"), and it's well worth figuring out. The music video (which came out on September 3, 2015) is also intensely deep and brings up a lot of good questions we need to ask ourselves. "Pure Grinding" features Earl St. Clair about whom I couldn't find much except for an underliked Twitter page. The song is gritty; has some soul; and, (despite my lack of musical knowledge--I'm more of a lyrics and literature guy) I'd say, has a deep, grungy bluesy feel to it. There's an emphasis on repetition that really speaks to the song's topic.
SONG MEANING: "Somewhere in Stockholm" is Avicii's ode to his hometown; no matter where he goes or what he does, he still thinks about Stockholm and misses it. Continue reading to find out more.
Now that "Stories" is out, I can't stop freaking out. I showed the album to my college students before class today and reminded them all that they NEED to listen to it. Avicii has created something very special here, and it's well worth the listen. The whole album is, I think, an ode to stories, and many of the stories are very personal: "Somewhere in Stockholm" is very autobiographical, and I think it's even Avicii doing the singing in it. You're going to love this song about returning home.
By now, everyone's heard "Uma Thurman" by Fallout Boy from American Beauty/American Psycho, and everyone probably knows it too. The song doesn't sound anything like most mainstream pop, maintaining a distinct rock pop sound, full of grunge and energy. The song was released January 13, 2015 and a music video to match was released on April 17, 2015. It features a fan who won a sweepstakes to be Fall Out Boy's assistant for 24 hours. In the video, Sarah and the band romp around and have fun.
Calvin Harris (and the band Disciples) just came out with a new song called "How Deep Is Your Love." The song is a dance track with a strong female vocal. The song's evocative of Avicii's "You Make Me," and is definitely dance-worthy. The song was released on July 17, 2015 to acclaim by a wide variety of critics and reviewers, especially as a return for Harris to the style that made him popular.
Travie McCoy's name is most recognizable from "Billionaire (ft. Bruno Mars)" that got popular in 2010. Since then, he's been mostly out of the spotlight (though he did make it to 82 on the Billboard's The Hot 100 in 2013 with Jason Mraz with "Rough Water"). While it'll likely be a few weeks before the world sees whether "Golden" goes viral or not, the song is interesting and maintains what "Billionaire" would have us believe is Travie McCoy's signature rapping style--a mix of generic rap, island rhythm, and spoken word.
Adam Young, of Owl City fame, just came out with another song from his album Mobile Orchestra, which will be released July 10th. The song is "Unbelievable (ft. Hanson)." The other band, according to Wikipedia, is "best know for the 1997 hit song 'MMMBop' from their major label debut album Middle of Nowhere, which earned three Grammy nominations." And like Hanson, "Unbelievable" feels strongly of the 90's. And, of course, this makes Hanson the perfect band to collaborate with. In an interview with EW, Adam Young says, "Hanson was a total dream collaboration for me . . . I was born in the mid-’80s but grew up in the ’90s, so I am around the same age as those guys, and we connected on a lot of the subjects in the song ‘Unbelievable.’ I just reached out to them, sent them the song, introduced myself and said I’d be thrilled to work with them if they might find the idea appealing at all. They wrote back and said they were down to do it. They wrote Verse 2, added some additional production and just kind of did what felt natural to them, all of which I loved. So imagine me, someone who grew up loving this band, to suddenly have the chance to collaborate on a song of my own was totally surreal. They were the nicest, easiest guys to work with."
"Tompkins Square Park" is about a relationship that ends in Tompkins Square Park in New York City, the site, according to Wikipedia, of numerous riots over the past 150 years. The park served as a gathering place for artists (Allen Ginsberg lived nearby during the 1988 riots), bohemians, and the homeless. Due to gentrification, the park has lost some of its artsy vibe, but its legacy serves well as a backdrop for the difficult subject of Mumford & Sons's new song.
Mumford and Sons just released the next installment from their soon-to-come album, Wilder Mind. The song is called "The Wolf," and it's a departure from their earlier music. Gone are the days of hipster alternative blends of folk instruments and crooning, soulful harmonies. "The Wolf" retains some of the familiar harmonizing, but everything is more intense. While his voice stays recognizable, the music surrounding Marcus Mumford's vocals is much grittier and much more rockin' & rollin'.
“Fairly Local,” a single from Blurryface, was released last week, and it’s really good. While I’m afraid that it lacks a little bit of the lyrical depth of other Twenty One Pilots songs, the music is intense and interesting. I’m looking forward to seeing whether this is a precursor to a likewise album, or if they released it first because of it’s blood-pumping, energizing feel, and decided to save the even better stuff for later.
