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!
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Fall Out Boy just released their first new song in years. After the success of songs like "Uma Thurman" and "Centuries," I think a lot of Fall Out Boy fans have been waiting for something new from the band, and we now finally know that Fall Out Boy will be releasing a new album called Mania in September of 2017. The lead single off this album is "Young and Menace," and its lyrics are about riding the wave of feelings of isolation, anger and anxiety.
I'm going to give you a peek behind the curtain. This may be the only song explanation you've ever read or ever will read by me, but I want to take a moment to be transparent. I'm sitting on my couch in my living room at 1 in the morning furiously typing out this song meaning explanation. It's two cold in here, and I'm exhausted.
My first introduction to The xx came years ago before I cared so much about the meanings behind song lyrics, back when I was still exploring what kinds of music were out there. I fellow who was a few years ahead of me educationally and certainly more well-listened gave me an eclectic playlist of indie bands like Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weeknd to listen to on GrooveShark (RIP).
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.
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."
SONG MEANING: "Adventure of a Lifetime" by Coldplay is a fun, groovy dance song about feeling "alive again" because of a woman. The song is disco inspired and meant to not only be about good feelings but also to give them. Coldplay is coming out with a new album on December 4th, and it will be called A Head Full of Dreams. The fifth track on the album (and the lead single) is "Adventure of a Lifetime." After Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin was left by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, the band's next album Ghost Stories was quiet, suppressed, and even depressing. "Adventure of a Lifetime" is a reassuring return to a message of hope and fun, even if the song wasn't directly written by Martin.
SONG MEANING: "Focus" by Ariana Grande is about acceptance and focusing on someone on a deeper level--finding out who they really are beyond the way they look or their preferences. Keep reading to find out more and to hear Ariana explain it herself.
Ariana Grande's new album Moonlight is set to come out in 2016 though a more specific time isn't set yet. In preparation, Ariana has released her first single from that upcoming album: "Focus." The music is sassy and energetic, which is perfect because the message is also sassy and energetic. The music video isn't quite appropriate for all ages, so I've found a concert video for you. Listen to it and then continue reading!
SONG MEANING: "Army" is about Ellie Goulding's best friend of ten years. It's a song to that friend, letting her know how much she means to Goulding. But my theory is that it's also to her fans. Keep reading to see why and to see Ellie Goulding's Instagram account post about this song.
Ellie Goulding's putting out a new album, and I couldn't be more excited. I love her music, and I'm a fan of the way she crowd-sourced "Lights" and other songs, allowing anyone to freely remix them. Her grass-roots tactics and awesome fresh pop sound have served her well, and now she's released "Army" on her route to releasing her album Delirium, which is coming out in four days!
SONG MEANING: "Hello" by Adele is a post-breakup song about going back over the past and seeking closure. Want to find out more? Keep reading!
Four years after her last album, Adele is finally back! She's releasing singles from her upcoming album 25, the follow up to 21 which she released last. About the distance and the changes in material between albums, she (according to Wikipedia) said, "My last record was a break-up record, and if I had to label this one, I would call it a make-up record. Making up for lost time. Making up for everything I ever did and never did. 25 is about getting to know who I've become without realising. And I'm sorry it took so long but, you know, life happened."
SONG MEANING: "Sunset Jesus" by Avicii is about a young man's thoughts on a rise to fame, as he hopes to one day be the person on the billboard. "Sunset Jesus" references a man dressed as Jesus on Sunset Blvd in California; he's a symbol to Avicii of frustrated dreams and possibilities.
Song meaning: Wiz Khalifa's Billboard destroying hit single "See You Again" that features Charlie Puth is a tribute to the actor Paul Walker who died in a car accident while filming Fast and Furious 7. Read on to find out more! The song was originally created by Charlie Puth, and then Khalifa was invited to add rap verses to the song. It plays at the end of Fast and Furious 7 as Paul Walker and Vin Diesel's characters drive separate ways. The official music video for the song shows this scene as well.
Fun facts: Conrad Sewell's full name is Conrad Ignatius Mario Maximilian Sewell. He's 28 and was born in Brisbane Australia. His music career began when at age 8 he began creating demo tapes. Though he failed to pass auditions for Australian Idol, he continued trying to break into the music business big-time which he did successfully in 2014 when he wrote and sang for Kygo's "Firestone," which was hugely successful around the world. "Hold Me Up" is his debut single that preceded announcements about traveling with both Ed Sheeran and Maroon 5.
"Can't Feel My Face" comes from The Weeknd's upcoming album Chapter III and is a synthy, poppy dance-esque track with some of the rhythm and soul of an R&B jam. The song was produced by Max Martin of Taylor Swift fame, and is a departure from Abel Tesfaye's (Weeknd's real name) usual style which is generally overtly R&B. (Think of his "Earned It" from Fifty Shades of Grey and of his "The Hills," which both feature the slow methodical melodies associated with R&B.) More than those songs, "Can't Feel My Face" seems a direct appeal to mainstream pop.
5 Seconds of Summer began on YouTube and was the opening band for One Direction in a 2013 tour, but now the music has taken on a life of its own (including a 7.4M Twitter following). The band consists of Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, Calum Hood , and Ashton Irwin, all of whom are 21 years-old or younger. The band bases its music on a whining, punk, almost-90's feel that helps them promote a "we're young and we don't care" message that fans seem to love. According to Daily Mail, "She's Kinda Hot" was the most shared song on Twitter on Tuesday.
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.
Demi Lovato is a 22 year-old former Disney Pop Princess who launched a pop career that's found special success among the club/dance crowd; her followers call themselves "Lovatics." Beginning her career on Barney & Friends, Lovato moved on to Camp Rock in 2008 and finally was the star in Sonny with a Chance. After Disney, she focused primarily on her musical career. She entered rehab in 2010 following a litany of problems including alcohol abuse, cocaine use, assault, and bulimia. According to Wikipedia, Lovato describes herself as a Christian and advocates heavily for gay rights.
April 20th, Panic! at the Disco put out a new single from an upcoming (but unknown) album. The single is "Hallelujah," and it's catchy. Like really catchy. The song made it into the top 40 on Billboard, and just three days ago, the music video came out. Viewers have described the video as being like a video game. In it, Panic! at the Disco frontman Brendon Urie chases a mysterious woman through a variety of corridors and optical illusions. He finally catches her when he embraces the illusions himself and trusts that something he can't see will catch him.
Twenty One Pilots is my favorite band. Period.
They are fun and exciting and catchy; their music is on a par I rarely encounter, and part of the reason for this is their incredible lyrics.
Three of their songs have been so powerful that they've directly influenced my ideas and the way that I think.
"Organ" is the eighth track on Beneath the Skin by Of Monsters and Men, and the song is a departure from the much of the rest of the album. Not only is the music more like a ballad style than any other song, but the lyrics rely much less on abstract references to nature than other songs do. Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir leads the vocals single-throatedly on this song with a soft and airy style that reminds one of Ingrid Michaelson more than of the Norwegian singer's usual style.
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."
