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!
What should Christians' responses be in the face of a decision that goes against one of their beliefs? While Christians think homosexuality is wrong, much of the culture believes gay marriage is acceptable and now has the might of law on its side.
While not the shortest song on Of Monsters and Men's Beneath the Skin, "Black Water" may have the fewest unique lines of any song on the album. In fact, not counting repeated choruses and lines, there are only 54 unique words in the entire song! The ninth track on Beneath the Skin is, however, still very interesting and fits well with the theme developed throughout all of the album: the acceptance of aspects nature imparts to human identity-a marrying of human civilization with nature's wildness.
"Wolves without Teeth" is the fourth track from Of Monsters and Men's Beneath the Skin, and I think it's one of my favorites. The music is engaging, the lyrics are interesting, and the give-and-take duet between Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar "Raggi" þórhallsson tells a beautiful story. The song is almost narrative in form and tells an intense but ultimately hopeful tale of fear and love.
Recently, I met a [pyramid scheme organization] salesman at church (though I didn't know it was a pyramid scheme at first). He was older and combined an interesting history with an easy-going personality. I asked him what he did for work, and he began telling me about an opportunity to make money.I eventually met with him to talk, and he laid out [pyramid scheme organization's] business plan. His presentation lacked detail and focused on the low effort and high returns that depended on me introducing him to my friends so we could get them to become salesmen too (see: pyramid scheme). When we finished, I told him I'd think about it and respond.
Of Monsters and Men's new album Beneath the Skin is out, and the album's ninth track "Thousand Eyes" stays true to what seems to be the album's continuing theme-an alliance of humanity to the powers of nature. In "Thousand Eyes," the band is trying to pull the audience into a feeling of potential power and intensity. While the song does have a specific central idea, its true power is as an atmospheric piece that conveys strong emotion.
Adam Young is putting out Mobile Orchestra, his newest album on July 10th, and the singles are starting to fly thick and fast. Last year, he put out "This Isn't the End," and this year he's already released "Verge," "You're Not Alone (ft. Britt Nicole)," and now "My Everything." I've been working through Of Monsters and Men's new album Beneath the Skin this and next week but when Owl City put out this song, I had to switch gears. I love Owl City, and I love this song. I think you'll enjoy it too.
"Human" by Of Monsters and Men is probably the oddest song that I've explained so far. At times, the lyrics seem like nonsense, but they do mean something. The song is the second track from Beneath the Skin which released on June 9th. The album is Of Monsters and Men's second album and sounds similar to the music written for My Head Is an Animal. Interestingly enough, this one song may have the most to do with the title of that first album.
The title "I of the Storm" forecasts an intriguing song about a person caught alone in a large and terrible battle of the mind. It's the eleventh track from Of Monsters and Men's new album Beneath the Skin which drops in the U.S. tomorrow! The album will have 13 tracks, 4 of which have already been released and explained ("Hunger," "Empire," "Crystals," and the one you're reading about).
The establishing process may take him a while, but he's dedicated: "As the hills turn into holes / I fill them with gold." A user on Genius suggests this means that when his efforts are flattened, he finds ways to turn failure into success. Whether true or no, putting gold in the holes instead of mining it out of them may seem odd. Perhaps he is trying to save his money and his success from complete failure by hiding it away. Or perhaps doing this is his way of becoming like the "[h]eavy stones" that "[f]ear no weather"; he's got reserves of gold and accomplishment backing up his next risks.
Over the past month, Of Monsters and Men has been putting out singles from their upcoming Beneath the Skin, which will be released on June 9th. The album has 13 tracks, and the third is “Hunger” a powerful anti-ballad about what sounds like a suffocating relationship that needs to be ended. Four singles (“Empire,” “Crystals,” “Hunger,” and “I of the Storm”) have already been released.
When Twenty One Pilots released Blurryface, they designed their album cover to be very symbolic and very cryptic just as Tyler Joseph promised. In an interview with Alternative Press, he says, "There are so many layers-both literally and in the meaning of the album cover-that are so important to Josh & I. We've worked very hard on it. We can't wait for you guys to discover it once you get your hands on it. But every element was very thought-through, and very intentional."
Ready for a summer of beaches and sunshine? Any pool-side party's going to need a soundtrack, and the music industry's going crazy trying to figure out exactly what it's going to be. Many (including Billboard.com) are putting their money down on OMI's single "Cheerleader" as the future sound of summer 2015. Considering its driving reggae beat and recent EDM remix, there's not much to stand in its way.
Owl City's coming out with a new album-Mobile Orchestra-on July 10th, and the first song (the only one released so far) is "Verge" which features Aloe Blacc, the memorable voice in Avicii's "Wake Me Up." There's a lyric video out (just below), and a Vevo behind-the-scenes video has already dropped in anticipation of a full-on music video that will use graduation imagery to support the song's main idea of being "[o]ut on the verge of the rest of our lives."
After the small victory celebrated in "Not Today," it would seem that Twenty One Pilots frontman Tyler Joseph's Blurryface has come back. This last song on the band's new album Blurryface is a prayer to God. Tyler needs ultimately powerful help to rid himself of darkness and depression, and he's seeking it from a supernatural source.
Only two songs left on Twenty One Pilots' Blurryface, and this one's "Not Today." The song is clever and quick and engaging. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun are forecasting the end of their album with a climactic fight against Tyler's alter-ego Blurryface, the darker part of him. The song is a powerful tell-off to a tendency that tries to compel him to recede into himself and to stay dark.
Twenty One Pilots released its album Blurryface a little early. They told everyone they planned to let it out on the 19th, but the Skeleton Clique woke up to Blurryfacefor sale this morning. The album had already been leaked last week, so some fans had it, but now everyone's purchasing and listening to it like mad. And for good reason. Blurryface is a strong album with an underlying theme threading its way through the entire thing, connecting song to song, developing conflicts and resolutions. One of the notable resolution songs is "Hometown."
Apparently, now it's time for Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun of Twenty-One Pilots to take on the entire music industry. In "Lane Boy," the two attempt to explain a musical style that seems to change with every Blurryface single that they release. The songs are intense and interesting, and this one, musically especially, is supercharged, a good match for the aggressive lyrics. The song describes the band's break from the direction of the music industry as well as a commitment to an entrepreneurship that doesn't focus on money.
"Message Man" has a hint of a reggae beat to it, but most of the song is full of intense bass drum and organ focused on Tyler's chanting and rapping verses and choruses that warn audiences that "[t]hese lyrics aren't for everyone" and that "these are just triplets"; "[y]ou don't know my brain / The way you know my name." Whatever Tyler truly hopes the audience to get out of "Message Man," he wants them to recognize the differences between song, artist, and meaning as well as the difference between understanding lyrics and just hearing them.
It's wonderful when a singer says exactly what you've been thinking, and I experienced that twice while listening to "We Don't Believe What's on T.V." Tyler Joseph has a real talent for being "in tune" with other members of his generation, and Twenty One Pilots' tenth song on Blurryface is a fun, ukulele driven example of that.
My first strategy to discover "Polarize's" meaning was to find a source that explained polarization. A lot of people wear polarized sunglasses, and they're advertised as something special, but do any of us know what "polarize" actually means? Of course, then I realized that reading the lyrics first would have been more helpful. The lead singer, Tyler Joseph, defines the word in one of the verses, so I needn't have wasted the time. But my search was worth it, and the information learned will come in handy later as we explore the meaning of Twenty One Pilots' ninth song on Blurryface, "Polarize."
