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!
I don't know if a lemon has ever made you cry before; but there is a good chance that it will, if you listened and watched the music video for “Green” by Cavetown. You want to know why? and what’s the story behind this lemon? Let me explain.
NF’s new song and music video “When I Grow Up'“ is so good you cannot listen to it, and we couldn’t not talk about it; we see NF as a cute little kid, a garbageman, a fast-food restaurant employee, and even a custodian. It’s an interesting song from a new perspective. So let’s talk about it.
“Cut My Lip”, the 10th song on the album Trench by twenty one pilots; it’s a sincere song, that addresses the skeleton clique, which is exciting. So let’s talk about that.
half•alive has put out a song that made lots of us feel things, tear up, and do lots and lots of thinking about life. “Runaway” lyrics and music video are one of the best things that I’ve seen in a while; so let’s talk about it.
Let’s talk about Taylor Swift’s new song and music video “You Need To Calm Down”; because it has a lot of things to unpack here, haters, fans, pop stars, LGBTQIA+ movement, and more.
“Guiltless” is a new song by dodie, she talks about this person who’ve hurt her feelings, yet they are unaware of it. I am sure that most of you reading this can relate to this story; which makes this song even more beautiful.
It’s about sadness, bitterness, and forgiveness… A relatable topic, a great clean simple melody, and a cool music video; so lets talk about it.
A simple yet elegant song that draws inspiration from Shakespeare… Let’s talk about that.
“The Hype”, the 8th song on the album Trench by twenty one pilots; it’s such a deep song, that has —as usual— some personal things, where Tyler Joseph speaks to someone —which is new to twenty one pilots— about something that he’s almost never spoke about before. So let’s talk about this.
Is it a rap? Is it a country song? What is “Old Town Road” really about?
Let’s discuss this song today.
NF’s song “The Search” is super deep and intense, and the music video is interesting, it has few imageries that we’ve seen in previous music videos, and couple that I really think that we’ll see in future music videos… Let me explain.
NF’s song “Paralyzed” is about depression, and it's very sad, which is unique for a rapper who's a well-known for how angry, intense, and energetic he can get. The song is really powerful, and I want to explain it to you.
Is the old Halsey back? Yes! And she is being angry about how she's treated as a woman, how she treats herself as a woman. So don’t tell her “Come on, little lady, give us a smile", or she’s going to be your nightmare. So let’s talk about this.
“Neon Gravestones“ is probably the hardest and the most controversial song on Trench; the thoughts and ideas in this song are worth considering, even if you find that you disagree in some way, you still need to consider what's being said here, because it is interesting, important, and dare I say it could even be life-changing.
“Smithereens”, the 6th song on the record Trench by twenty one pilots, a love song that isn’t like any other love song, and we love it. Let’s talk about it.
