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 interpretation
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.
In an interview with NPR, Adele explains that the real River Lea is mostly disgusting: "My experience of it was, whenever I was in our version of the projects, the river ran through it — so it ran through all my aunties' houses, stuff like that . . . But the idea of the song is that, especially since I've become a parent, let alone writing this record, I'm dealing with myself for the first time. And I have a lot of bad habits. And rather than admitting that I have bad traits in my actual character, I blame it on where I'm from."
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.
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).
"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'.
