I love music, but one thing I really like is when a song manages to be good while expressing something that doesn't fits at all with how it sounds.
To put it simply, a song which concept is sad and depressing but sounds ridiculously happy.
One good example of this, is Hey Ya! by Outkast and the rapper Andre 3000.
This is one of my favorite songs ever. You probably know it already or at least listened to it once.
So what’s this cool catchy song about?
Ignore the energic intro counting numbers, if we pay attention we’ll get what this is really about from the very first lines.
My baby don't mess around
Because she loves me so
And this I know fo sho (uh)
But does she really wanna
But can't stand to see me walk out the door? (Ah)
Don't try to fight the feeling
Because the thought alone is killin' me right now (uh)
Thank God for Mom and Dad
For sticking two together
'Cause we don't know how (c'mon)
Yep. We are dealing with broken relationship. Or at least one that is slowly but surely falling to pieces.
Were you aware of this?
You probably are, because this song's actual deepness is relatively well known. But I’m sure you were at least a bit surprised when you actually checked the lyrics for the first time.
I sure was. Mainly because English isn’t my native language so I didn’t understand the lyrics at first. It didn't help that the previous part is followed immediately by the chorus that consist simply on,
Hey ya! (Uh oh)
being repeated over and over.
But more than anything... I simply. didn’t care.
I just focused on how catchy the song was and not the lyrics. And this fact is REALLY important, you’ll see why later.
If what they say is
"Nothing is forever"
Then what makes, (x4) (what makes, what makes)
Love the exception?
So why, oh,
why, oh (x4)
Are we so in denial when we know we're not happy here?
The second verse tell us a bit more about how bad this relationship is.
You think you've got it
Oh, you think you've got it
But got it just don't get it 'til there's nothin' at all
We get together
Oh, we get together
But separate's always better when there's feelings involved
If what they say is
"Nothing is forever"
Then what makes, then what makes
Then what makes, then what makes (what makes, what makes)
Love the exception?
So why, oh, why, oh
Why, oh, why, oh, why, oh
Are we so in denial when we know we're not happy here?
(Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance)
So, these two people are deluding themselves into thinking they know what they are doing. Even if they aren't mature enough to carry a serious relatonship or simply don't care about having one in the first place. Maybe there isn't love or their love just isn't enough.
What's clear, they aren’t comfortable in their relationship and are probably on the edge of doing something that will awfully hurt each other. They are aware of it. And yet they seem to be trying to remain together even if it looks like a hopeless situation.
Will they make their relationship work somehow? Will they break up?
We won’t ever know. Because then this line happens:
(Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance)
This part of the lyrics isn’t sung but merely said. Worse yet, it's said quietly so it almost fades under the noisy "Hey ya!" from the chorus.
It almost seems unimportant, and that’s just the point. Because what Andre 3000 (or whoever the narrator/protagonist of this song is) says is totally right.
The message he tries to convey is clear. And yet we don’t care, no one cares, we just want to enjoy, to dance, not to get depressed or hear about someone's else problems.
Isn't that one of the main reasons we heard music? To relax and distract ourselves from our worries and life problems.
And Andre 3000 knows it, so he gives up. And it’s clear, because past that line the lyrics suffer a complete change, and become your classic mindless pop song that isn't really telling you anything of value.
I won't bore you adding the lyrics of the second part of the song here. Just check the video, and you will realize how huge the change is.
The curious thing, it totally fits with the kind of video they choose for the song. It's a tv presentation that exists only to make people excited and get them to dance to the song.
So yeah, we didn't try to listen, so this is our "reward". We got just what we wanted. To dance with Hey Ya!