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Hello and welcome to "Sean Rodrieguez Explains Complex, Meaningful Lyrics. In this segment I hope to answer some questions some of you may have over the lyrics of some of the best music ever written. From analyzing the string sections of Strauss or the fiery anger of Bruce Springsteen.
Many people know the words to the great songs and even more sing along to them whenever they get the chance. But what good is this if people don't know the meanings behind the words? The very raison d'etre of the lyrics themselves? Well as a well renowned musical genius and a man whose analytical skills get him laid frantically at English Literature exams, I've taken it upon myself to help you all understand better the lyrics to a few hand picked songs that I feel are particularly complex and meaningful. Perhaps I'll go through the psychadelic genius of Pink Floyd, the sublime sound of The Beach Boys or the subtle hidden meanings of Morrissey. But this week I'll be covering...
Womanizer by Britney Spears
A devillishly complex song, Britney Spears once again regailed us with her lyrical abilities with the recent smash hit "Womanizer". The song reached number 1 in Eleven different countries charts, including Israel which is widely known as the home of great music. When the video for Womanizer first hit YouTube it was played over 7,000,000 times in the first 48 hours in the United Kingdom alone and at the time of writing has been viewed 60.5 million times overall. The Beatles never did that and thus I feel that is a sign of Britney Spears lyrical superiority. So with out further to do, onto the analysis.
Analysis.
It is important before you can truly understand the lyrics to this piece that you understand the characters involved, here is a brief profile of them all:
Womanizer - Male, Likes: Puppets, Women, Using Women for sex (sex that the women involved do not enjoy in the least because he is a womanizer)
Britney Spears - Female, Powerful, Intelligent and she KNOWS just what YOU are are are.
With that in mind the story and emotion behind the lyrics is much easier to understand. Here, let's examine the first stanza.
"Superstar
Where you from, how's it going?"
Analysis: Britney has just met a "Superstar" and would like to know his hometown and how his day is going. However these lines leave us as an audience with many questions. Is Britney's use of the title "Superstar" sarcastic? Is she commenting on the mans illusions of grandeur or the terrible chauvinistic world in which she co-exists with this man?
"I know you
Gotta clue, what you're doing?"
Analysis: But the folly of the above lines is revealed here as Britney reveals that she knows the male antagonist and she knows the motives of his actions.
"You can play brand new to all the other chicks out here
But I know what you are, what you are, baby"
Analysis: Britney claims that he can try his spurious games of turning up in the vicinity and having a penis with other women, but she knows what he is really planning
Just when you thought that first stanza wasn't a sledgehammer cracking your very being open to possibilities of music as the great communicator of emotions, Britney then unleashes herself into this next stanza
"Look at you
Gettin' more than just re-up
Baby, you
Got all the puppets with their strings up
Fakin' like a good one, but I call 'em like I see 'em
I know what you are, what you are, baby"
Analysis: Britney orders the Womanizer to look at himself. We as an audience then learn that he is apparently a puppeteer, whether or not it's his career or if he's simply a Punch and Judy affecionado we do not yet know, this helps create suspense within the piece. Apparently the man is trying to not appear like a puppeteer but Britney see's through this thin disguise and reiterates for the second time to him that she knows what he is planning. As an audience we are now on the cusp of our seats waiting for her to reveal this man's terrible secret.
"Womanizer
Woman-Womanizer
You're a womanizer
Oh Womanizer
Oh You're a Womanizer Baby
You, You You Are
You, You You Are
Womanizer, Womanizer, Womanizer"
Analysis: Britney herein reveals that the man is a Womanizer, that he Womanizes Women and then reiterates for effect the fact that he is, in fact, a Womanizer. Then she seems to knowingly exclaim that he is a Womanizer with the use of "Oh Womanizer" and then for the fifth time let's us know that he is in fact a Womanizer. Then so as to avoid confusion she points out to us six times in eight words just who is a Womanizer (You). She clearly doesn't think much of the man in questions intelligence as she then tells him three more times that he's a Womanizer. This is an incredibly emotional reveal from Britney as we the audience did not in fact know upto this point in the song just what this man was (A Womanizer).
"Boy don't try to front I I know just just what you are are are
Boy don't try to front I I know just just what you are are are"
Analysis: Britney then reiterates that he should not front (which is youthful terminology for putting up a false pretence) because Britney knows, despite her difficulty here in expressing herself due to an unfortunate stutter presumably due to the intense emotion involved, just what the man is.
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From this examination of the first quarter of the song I feel the main idealogy and meaning behind this song can be clearly identified. The man in question is a Womanizer and Britney knows just what he is.
Fun Fact: Britney uses the word "Womanizer" 42 times in this song. This song is 3 minutes and 45 seconds long. That's 235 seconds. Which means Britney averages a "Womanizer" every 5.5 seconds in this song.
This is an intensely meaningful song that I feel says a great deal about Male-Female relations in this crazy cooped up modern world. Shown beautifully in her choice of costume for the beginning of the video for this lyrical masterpiece:
Analysis: DAYUM LOOK AT THAT BOOTAY.
This has been Sean Rodrieguez Explains Complex Meaningful Lyrics. I hope you have learnt a little something today about this song that you didn't previously understand. It's a deep, meaningful ballad that I feel has an undeniable strength in it's choice of words.
Well I've been Sean Rodrieguez, you, you,you have, you, you, have been a great audience.
