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!
Clifford, the Pop Song Professor, takes a hard look at Florida Georgia Line's "H.O.L.Y." The song's a love song, but it uses religious imagery to send the message that there's something special about a woman who can rid the narrator of all of his demons.
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."
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.
Greetings Readers, I just wanted to take a minute out of my day (the way you've taken many out of yours) to say, "Thank you." My life's taken a different direction because you read this blog and interact with me to talk about these songs.
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.
