'Hey Ya' is a brilliant song. Simple as that. For the inexplicably uninitiated, 'Hey Ya' is responsible for coining the charming phrase 'shake it like a Polaroid picture' as well as being the most overplayed song of 2003. There's no denying that the song is catchy, though, with a great beat and an unrelenting energy that was perfectly suited for high school dances and blasting on the radio.
However, most people regarded the song as a superficially catchy pop/dance number and, as with any other catchy pop/dance number, the masses quickly moved on.Their loss, I say, for behind the beat and the cheery, very green tone set up in the Ed Sullivan-esque music video, is a deep and, I'll say it again, brilliant song.
Let's start with the first verse:
My baby don't mess around
Because she loves me so
And this I know for sho.
Uh, But does she really wanna
But can't stand to see me
Walk out the door?
Don't try to fight the feelin'
Because the thought alone is killing me right now.
Uh, thank god for mom and dad
For sticking through together
'Cause we don't know how.
You see, this is why people need to listen to lyrics. It's the same concept as reading the manual; the manual's there for a reason. The lyrics are not here merely as pretty sounds to fuel one's hip-gyrating desires. Instead, Andre 3000 sings about the relatively dreary topic of relationship woes - something that most people don't really want to dance to. These lines reveal the fronts that both parties put up for the sake of preserving a relationship of some sort. The male tricks himself into thinking his significant other truly loves him. Anytime somebody says something along the lines of "she loves me so / And this I know for sho'," they are often deluding themselves. Furthermore, the male doubts his lover, wondering if she wants to mess around. By harboring these doubts while proclaiming her love for him, he is reassuring himself of her love by having to repeat it aloud.
Skipping the chorus for now, the second verse starts with the line "You think you've got it." For people who phase out of the first verse and only start paying attention to lyrics after the chorus, this line is deceiving. On the one hand, "it" can refer to the woman's hot bod. But, in light of the first verse, "got it" could refer to the woman's presumption that she has a grasp on her relationship, or even that she has a happy relationship. This makes even more sense when coupled with the line "But got it just don't get it / Till there's nothing at all," which suggests that just because she perceives a stable relationship doesn't mean it's true, and the self-delusion will only wear the relationship down to nothing.
Farther down in the second verse, the male speaker asks the woman, "Why...are we so in denial / When we know we're not happy here?" Denial becomes the key operating phrase, whether it's the man denying that his woman might entertain thoughts of infidelity or it's either one of them denying their unhappiness with the relationship.
Going back to the chorus, now, the very poppy and upbeat nature of the chorus (and the whole song, really) serves as a metaphor of the masks this couple (and most other couples, really) hide behind. Furthermore, the phrase "hey ya" is a close approximation of the greeting phrase "heya." The constant "greetings" in the chorus, then, reveals the couple's desire to reside in the cordial first moments of an encounter instead of delving into deeper or more meaningful conversation (perhaps because they no longer connect on an emotional or intellectual level).
In the second iteration of the chorus, Andre 3000 includes vulgar lines in the background. These lines are the first signs of vulgarity in the song, implying that the speaker is taking off the front and "being honest" in his desire to just have sex, rather than maintain a relationship. This surfaces in the bridge as well, when the man demands that he "see y'all [the ladies] on y'all baddest behavior / Lend me some suga', I am your neighbor!" (which is a great line by itself). Stemming from his doubts in the first verse, he now implores that the females cast off their false projections and find happiness by embracing their true desires, whatever that may be.
In the beginning of the bridge, the man asks fellas what is cooler than cool, to which they reply with "ice cold." While this is a clever reference to one of Andre 3000's other aliases, the word "cold" also suggests frosty in demeanor, unfeeling. The man is essentially telling the other men trying to hide behind a seemingly secure relationship will only result in both parties acting "cold" towards each other.
Now, what is probably the most well-known line from the song, "shake it like a Polaroid picture," also can be easily mistaken as shaking one's ass. People at dances and clubs just look for any excuse to shake their asses. But, shaking a Polaroid picture ruins the picture. Pretending everything is great (the act of "shaking it" to a poppy dance beat) actually destroys the relationship (the effect said shaking has on a Polaroid). (credit goes to Kenji for coming up with this). Also, the object being shaken, the Polaroid picture, represents memories. The Polaroid is a memento of a moment worth remembering in their relationship (or many moments, given the repetition of the line), which the shaking promptly ruins. Before the line, the man tells the ladies that "we gon' break this thing down." "Break this thing down" can refer to gettin' jiggy with it, but that superficial aspect is a reflection of the front people put up. In reality, the only thing breaking down is the relationship.
**Edit: Brooke has offered up the suggestion that shaking the Polaroid signifies a desire to develop the image and, implicitly, the relationship as well. This, then, leaves the song with a hint of hope for the couple's future. A very good point - though I choose the more cynical outlook wherein shaking the picture is indicative of the couple trying to rush into something they weren't ready for and thus ruining the relationship.**
Afterwards, he references Beyonce and Lucy Liu, telling them to "get on the floor / You know what to do." Again, another reference to ignoring the deeper meaning and implications and just living a lie (a sentiment he sums up very well at the end of second verse with the line "Y'all don't want me here, you just wanna dance"). The final fadeout of "hey ya"s only reiterates the endless cycle of misery that proceeds from sticking to a relationship not out of happiness, but out of fear or routine.
Andre 3000's song may have been a pop sensation, but the catchy nature of the song, which propelled it to the top of the charts, is actually a metaphor in itself of the things we overlook when the outer shell looks and/or sounds appealing. To anyone who has since given "Hey Ya" the cold shoulder because it was overplayed, revisit it again and you shall find an emotional song whose very success proves Andre 3000's brilliant point.
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2 comments:
Very nicely said.
With these things I find it best to hope that, while most don't consciouslly receive the intended message (or any intellectual content at all, for that matter)-consciously, that somehow it seeps into their sub- or un-consciouses (or possibly, from how much things like this are overplayed, the collective unconsious) to better that base layer of knowledge that some people refer to as intuition. Emergence theory is the wave of the future, you know.
Stylistically, I would take out that disclaimer, or avoid them in the future (or in life): you've got enough valid points to let your balls show, as they would say.
Also, thinking about it a bit more: did a possible conversation with gigi bring this paper about? I think I clearly remember him disliking the song, and you explicitly reference him in the paper (probably a bad idea in a real argument, as he's a strongly disliked individual and would turn public sway to the other side, no matter what the topic).
But again, I must say, nicely done. Enjoyable, even. Keep a nigga (me) updated on future posts.
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