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!
Shawn Mendes is releasing his new album Illuminate on September 23rd, but in the meantime we get to listen to all of the great singles he's been releasing. We've already heard "Ruin" and "Treat You Better," and now it's time for another one: "Three Empty Words."
Pop Song Professor and his wife April Stumme take on "Rise" by Katy Perry. The song is getting popular FAST, but there's a lot to it, and it's kind of interesting. Topics in this podcast stretch from the 2016 Olympics, to the pre-100 BC Olympics, to the Zelda video games.
"Fake It" came out on July 29th, and it's another single for their album Wild World. I'm a fan of the song and of lead singer Dan Smith's awesome voice. And I'm also a fan of the depth of meaning behind the song.
I always thought that Bastille was overly dramatic and sentimental (think "What Would You Do"), but I feel like with "Good Grief" and "Fake It" they've hit a compromise and seemed to have mellowed out a little while still discussing difficult, emotional issues. They feel more confident--like they don't have to use sob stories to sell songs--and I like it.
Well, I just listened to "Zillionaire," and while I wouldn't call myself a "Flo Rida Fan," I do like several of his hits, particularly "I Don't Like It, I Love It" and "My House." He's just really good at that big, bouncing, cool, self-assured club dance sound, and I can really get moving to music like that, particularly because I like dancing west coast swing to it.
I became a Twenty One Pilots fan my first year of grad school when I was meeting up with some friends in a parking lot. Twenty-One-Pilots-Early-Adopter Heather had her car door open and was playing "Car Radio" pretty loudly. The song sounded weird, and I didn't think much of it, but I kept hearing it around, so I pulled it up on YouTube and eventually bought it or something (maybe used Spotify?).
I really like the sound of "Cold Water." The song is fun and poppy with all the electronic instrumentation I like in pop music (plus some acoustic guitar at the beginning). Justin Bieber does a great job of singing, and the song's well produced. What's more, the lyrics are uplifting and encouraging--a pretty cool thing to hear from a song that's (undoubtedly) going to premiere on the Hot 100. The song's got enough star power and just the right mixture of positive lyrics and fun music that there's no way this song isn't going to be popular.
I've never been Katy Perry's biggest fan. Something about the candy costume in "California Girls" threw me off. And "Roar" is too much pump-up without enough purpose. But it doesn't matter what I think, right? The point here is to explain this song objectively and line-by-line.
Literature teachers and professors keep looking for ways to be culturally relevant. It's kind of a buzz word these days, and everyone thinks it's going to keep students interested, attentive, and learning. So, teachers use memes, cultural references, and examples based on Star Wars or Taylor Swift to get points across to their students seeped in entertainment and culture. Well, I'm here to tell you that studying popular music in your literature classroom won't just be "culturally relevant"; it could revolutionize the ways your students think about literature and culture. Pop music is everywhere, and it has a lot to say to us about who we are and where our culture is; thus, we need to understand it. And since our students probably listen to it more than we do, they need to understand it even more.
Pop Song Professor Clifford Stumme takes on "Car Radio" by Twenty One Pilots and uses rock legend "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey to help him do it! "Car Radio" is about thoughtfulness and is an incredibly thoughtful song itself. Don't miss this explanation!
Enjoy this podcast that asks a big question. Please email me at jugglingcliff@gmail.com if you have a response to what I said. I'm still ironing out some of the details of my theory here, so bear with me. Have a great day!
The most fought over question I've come across in my sixteen months of song explaining is this: Whose interpretation matters more--mine or the writer's? And it's a good question. Chronicles of Narnia and Cambridge English professor C.S. Lewis writes in An Experiment in Criticism that people wonder, "Why . . . should I turn from a real and present experience--what the poem means to me, what happens to me when I read it--to inquiries about the poet's intention or reconstructions, always uncertain, of what it may have meant to his contemporaries?"
I'll be honest that I'm not the biggest Shawn Mendes fan. "Stitches" was a little bit weird: If she was the one hurting him, how does being away from her mean he'll need more stitches? And I haven't listened to much else by him though I do know that he's supposed to be the new "rival" to Justin Bieber--both from Canada and both heartthrob, teenage types. But I want to be open-minded and know that I haven't listened to enough of him to be able to accurately judge. I decided to give "Ruin" a chance, and I'm going to explain it.
I usually respond to comments on my blog every week. It takes me about an hour, and every time I do it, I wish I had started sooner.
The kinds of comments and questions that I get inspire me to think, to write, and to keep listening to songs with deep meanings.
Hey! Be sure to check out my most recent podcast about what "Can't Feel My Face" by The Weeknd means! The meaning of this song may surprise you, and it definitely isn't about what it sounds like. Enjoy!
After Demi Lovato put out "Cool for the Summer" last year, we knew that she was up to something. She's twenty-three now, and she began as a child star on the Barney & Friends television show and quickly moved onto the Disney channel. But if you've read my explanation of "Cool for the Summer," you know she's not one to be kid-friendly or to uphold "traditional" values.
Rihanna released "Sledgehammer" for the soundtrack of Star Trek Beyond in 2016. Musically, the song is intense but understated. The lyrics though are interesting with enough of a well-defined premise to work for a pop song. There does not seem to be anything exceptionally interesting about "Sledgehammer" on its own, but Rihanna is a strong singer, and she makes the song an enjoyable listen.
It's time to ask difficult questions about what's art and what's not. There are some songs that mean something deeper, and there are those that help us to have a good time. How do we tell the difference? Be sure to listen on this week's episode of the Pop Song Professor Podcast!
There have been many debates on what "Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots means: witnessing, Orlando, the Skeleton Clique, and more.
But everyone's still confused. Hopefully, this podcast and my theories give you a few pieces of evidence to continue your search for what this song truly means.
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.
