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 pop song lyrics
NF’s “Mansion” is super deep, personal, and so worth talking about, and that’s what we’re going to do today.
“Apologize” by Grandson is one of his most famous songs in his newest album, he sees art and music a way to be political, unapologetic, and deep.
“My Blood” is the forth song in the album Trench, it’s about family; such a beautiful and catchy song, and it’s probably the most repetitive song in the album, but it works well, so let’s talk about this.
“Sincerity Is Scary” is a great song, it has a fantastic message about being true to yourself; and it gave me the opportunity to talk about one of my favourite controversial philosophical topics, and that’s Postmodernity.
“Morph” is probably the most intricate song in the record, it is well-put together, and just a beautiful song; but also perhaps one of the most confusing, in fact it's my most confusing song from the entire album.
AJR just released a new music video for their song “100 Bad Days”; the music video is completely trippy and cool, the music itself sounds so good, but there is a little bit of question when it comes to the value of the lyrics, are they worth saying?
Levitate is deep, and it’s has a lot of things yet it’s short. Tyler Joseph talks about music in this third and final part of a three-part story from twenty one pilots’ latest album Trench. And so, I am excited to go over this song in depth with you.
Nico And The Niners’ music video is insane; there is so much meaningful stuff. We get to see DEMA. And it looks like the bishops are in it, we also see the banditos, and Josh. There is a story to tell here, and I am excited to go over this in depth with you, guys.
Jumpsuit’s music video is insane; there is so much meaningful stuff. It looks like a bishop or Blurryface is in it, there is a cameo by Josh and Jenna in there, the allusions to movies. There is a story to tell here, and I am excited to go over this in depth with you, guys.
Billie Eilish put out a new music video and a song called ‘bury a friend’; and even though she has put out some creepy stuff in the past, this video might be taking the cake, which is appropriate since apparently this song is written from the perspective of the monster underneath her bed.
When “High Hopes” released today, Brendon Urie tweeted, “I spent too long not setting my expectations high enough, worried about how it felt to fail. I hit a point when I realized I had to aim high and fail, fail, fail in order to keep growing. This one is for all of you who helped me go for it all. I thank you.” Urie didn’t say indicate that his words had specifically to do with “High Hopes,” but this was the emotion he chose to share with his fans upon the song’s release, and that emotion certainly fits with the meaning of his lyrics.
While not all songs are autobiographical—in fact, one should never directly assume that they are—it is both a songwriter’s privilege and responsibility to allow him or her experience to influence the writing process in some way. In “Say Amen,” Brendon Urie uses much of the knowledge of the religious tradition that he grew up in to influence his lyrics. While this does not necessarily mean that Brendon Urie is the narrator of the song, it does make the notion of a narrator who is disenchanted with his religious upbringing to be far more powerful and affective.
Taylor Swift's "Gorgeous" was an especially trying one for me to explain. I stayed up until midnight to explain it and spent most of my first video talking about how people would probably think that it meant Taylor Swift was admitting to be a bisexual. Luckily for me, before it was up for long, my loyal fans explained the real meaning to me, and the next morning I started fresh and created the video you see below in which I explain the true meaning of the song. While not as controversial as Taylor Swift coming out of the closet, "Gorgeous" may still have a meaning that surprises you.
