Subliminal Messages in Music
After having a few months of Spotify premium, I have discovered a lot of new music. Some of the music has been popular for a year and I have never heard of the artist nor a lick of their music. Some of these songs, along with many others, have a meaning that isn’t superficial. When you find out the meaning and proceed to listen to it after, it may make the song great, or make you uncomfortable.
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One artist I’ve discovered is Billie Eilish. Billie Eilish is 16 years old and has an ep out titled ‘don’t smile at me’. The album is comprised of bops.
One song on the album that is one of my favorites is Bellyache. It seems like her songs have a theme as you listen throughout the album. The album title sets the mood as you progress.
The song opens up with some interesting lyrics…
“Sittin’ all alone
Mouth full of gum
In the driveway
My friends aren’t far
In the back of my car
Lay their bodies”
Starting it off with harmonies and a guitar, the lyrics jump right into her talking about laying bodies in the back of her car. Fitting?
The chorus…
“Maybe it’s in the gutter where I left my lover
What an expensive fate
My V is for Vendetta
Thought that I’d feel better
But now I got a bellyache”
Minus the fact that the chorus is POPPING, it threw me off when she said she left her lover in the gutter. It may be a rhyme, but in her album it’s not metaphorical. I find that funny when I catch myself singing it on the way to school. Or when I am in the house and my mom asks why I’m singing like a serial killer.
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Another one of Billie Eilish’s songs is titled ‘party favor’. The song starts out with the ringing of a phone and a males voice saying “leave a message”. We assume this is her boyfriend, well.. ex if you keep listening to the song.
She starts playing her ukulele as a voicemail. It sounds kind of sweet, like I am listening to the Moana soundtrack. As the song progresses, it sounds even more island-ish and happy. Billie Eilish has you fooled if you don’t pay attention to the lyrics.
“”Stay” and “bla bla bla”
You just want what you can’t have
No way
I’ll call the cops
If you don’t stop, I’ll call your dad”
The song escalates quite quickly as the bridge talks about calling the cops. She comes back at him with “I’ll call your dad”.
Warning: There are cuss words.
“And I hate to do this to you on your birthday
Happy birthday by the way
“It’s not you, it’s me” and all that other bullshit
You know that’s bullshit
Don’tcha’, babe?
I’m not your party favor”
From listening to the song multiple times, it sounds like she is being used by her boyfriend. She just happened to bring it up on his birthday. All in all, this song is more of an ‘F you’ than a ‘happy birthday’.
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I have 8 months left on my Spotify premium account. With that said, I am bound to discover more great artists that write songs that are meant to make you think instead of just bopping to in the car. However, it wouldn’t hurt to sing to it. Just know what your singing first. The last thing you’d want to do is sing ‘Bellyache’ in front of the police.
