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The Weeknd dropped his latest album this weekend (pun intended). If there has been an artist that has quenched our “new music” thirst in times of COVID, it has been Abel. He has released what feels like hit after hit. In 2020 he released After Hours, which featured “Blinding Lights”, “Save Your Tears”, “After Hours”, and my personal favorite, “In Your Eyes”. The Weeknd has been so consistent with great music. You can nitpick his demeanor all you want but his musical talent speaks for itself. He is a superb songwriter and visionary.
To make this entry more practical and concise, I decided to go into detail over the tracks that I enjoyed the most, the ones that prompted me to replay them before they were even done (because when a song speaks to me this is what I do.. it is a bad habit lol but I cannot help it).
If you want to hear my even more detailed commentary instead, scroll all the way down.
Seconds into “How Do I Make You Love Me?”, I was taken to MJ’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” song. The beats in the intro before he starts singing sound almost identical. If anyone has any doubt of MJ”s influence on The Weeknd, I’d just play this song for them. Now to the lyrics. The first verse he mentions the use of psychedelics in a romantic way:
“Unpackin’ thoughts through tunnels in your mind
I’ll fix you mushroom tea
And cross the restless sea
Release yourself to escape reality”
The song is about unrequited love and the frustration tethered to it. The frustration of wanting that person to feel what you feel so badly. The frustration of loving them exactly as they are and yet it is not enough. The frustration of refusing to love someone else:
“I only want what’s right in front of me”
“A Tale By Quincy” is the first interlude of the album and it features musical giant, Quincy Jones. I think it must have felt so surreal to sit down with someone that got to work so closely with one of your biggest inspirations (Michael Jackson). Prior to listening to this interlude, I had zero knowledge on Quincy’s tough upbringing. He talks about the trauma he lived with seeing his mother have a mental breakdown and being taken into a mental institution. He also talks about how the experience of growing without a mother had repercussions in his relationships with women and his own children.
“Whenever I got too close to a woman, I would cut her off. Part of that was vindictive and partially based on fear, but it was also totally subconscious. Looking back is a bitch, isn’t it?”
The parallel we can draw between Quincy Jones and The Weeknd, is how their hardships growing up affected their ability to sustain healthy relationships. The Weeknd was an only child. his father left when he was only two. He was raised by his maternal grandmother while his mother worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. He began smoking marijuana at age 11, later turning to cocaine, ecstasy, Xanax, ketamine, and mushrooms in his late teens. He dropped out of high school and lived in an apartment with two friends while shoplifting food and selling drugs to survive.
The theme of erotic darkness and toxic love has been present throughout the previous albums and this one was no exception. “Best Friends” speaks to the blurring of lines between FWB’s. What happens when feelings are mixed in and friendship is placed on the back burner in exchange for sexual intimacy.
“I don’t want to be responsible for your heart if we fall
‘Cause I’ll get clumsy and tear it apart
I love you so but we can’t get close
You’re my best friend now
You’re my best friend now”
The lyrics are very paradoxical because it literally says “we can’t be close” but follows it up with “you’re my best friend”. If someone is your best friend, there is a heightened level of comfort/closeness. Obviously in this case, close seems to be referring to sexual pleasure.
“Sex as friends no more
You don’t wanna have sex as friends no more
Friends no more”
FWB’s are situationships period. Messy, selfish, and heat of the moment exchanges, not lasting meaningful impressions.
“Is There Someone Else” is such a good song to just sit back and chill with. When I listen to it, I think of driving, top down, alongside the coast of California, seeing the waves crashing while you have your hand interlocked with your significant other’s (or maybe like Bryson said “Left hand is steerin’ the other is grippin’ your thigh”). Or it’s a summer, breezy night and you’re watching the sunset from your balcony overlooking the ocean while sipping Rosé. That is the vibe this song gave me.
Onto the lyrics.. The best way I would surmise this song is in the following way: Fuckboy reformed and is no longer afraid of commitment but is involved in a love triangle. Fuckboy is the one committed now. And why is he fuckboy and not just homeboy because of the following lines:
“I used to be the one who was lying”
“I don’t deserve someone loyal to me
Don’t you think I see?
And I don’t want to be a prisoner to who I used to be
I swear I changed my ways for the better, the better”
I would label this song as Reformed Fuckboy Anthem.
“Starry Eyes” is sonic melancholy. Everything from this song screams melancholy. I am adding it to my arsenal of melancholic songs. Let’s breakdown the lyrics:
“I only met you in my dreams before
When I was young and alone in the world
You were there when I needed someone
To call my girl
And now you’re my reality
But you’re defeated, baby
Broken, hurtin’, sufferin’ from a shattered soul”
There is a lot to unpack here. First of all, it seems that the female he is talking about is the perfect woman, literally his dream girl. Unfortunately, this dream girl has been beaten up in the arena of Love:
“You weren’t touched by a man in so long
‘Cause the last time it was way too strong”
What he meant by this verse is open to individual interpretation, but this is my take on it. To me it could point to a traumatic experience such as sexual abuse. Maybe the female has an aversion to sexual intimacy and of falling in love in general because of a previous abusive relationship.
“And you can kick me, kick me to the curb
It’s okay babe, I promise that I felt worse
Back then I was starry eyed
And now I’m so cynical
Baby, break me, kick me to the curb”
And after you are back on your feet, you can let go of me. For letting me love you was worth it in the end.
“I Heard You’re Married” (feat. Lil Wayne) is self-explanatory but also one of top songs from this record. It talks about being with a married woman who wants to pretend like she isn’t and the toxic nature of it. I enjoyed the beat and the progression of his vocals throughout the track, particularly how it was built up for the chorus. This is the scene the song set in my head:
Eye contact with someone at the bar, chemistry on 100, numbers exchanged. Fast forward time. Impromptu date nights, hotel rooms, raging desire. And then boom. Cloud nine dissipates into thin air, ground fall. You aren’t the only one, in fact you’re the sidepiece. Ouch. Scene, curtain closes.
Jim Carrey’s role in the album is brilliant. If anyone has doubts about his writing skills, I’d just play this track for them. The last track “Phantom Regret by Jim” is a beautiful poem about self-reflection and the importance of accepting yourself as you are and the consequences of the decision making or lack thereof. Letting go of regret. the grudges, resentment, acting on the now, the present, for it is all we have.
“And how many grudges did you take to your grave?
When you weren’t liked or followed, how did you behave?
Was it often a dissonant chord you were strumming?
Were you ever in tune with the song life was humming?”
Self love is the epitome of self-fulfillment. No one can give you the acceptance and love that you can give yourself. Only we behold this power, and once we unlock it, game over. Once we put it into practice, no one can take it away from us.
“Are you listening real close?
Heaven’s not that, it’s this
It’s the depth of this moment
We don’t reach for bliss
God knows life is chaos
But He made one thing true
You gotta unwind your mind
Train your soul to align
And dance till you find that divine boogaloo
In other words
You gotta be Heaven to see Heaven
May peace be with you”
I enjoyed writing this entry so much, I hope you appreciated it as well! I see myself doing this for other albums in the near future so stay tuned. And on that high note, I end this music discussion. (pun intended)
Love & Light.
