It's been a while since I posted about a track, mainly because I've been listening to music recently that is dominated by its rhythms, its bass, designed to make you dance, not discuss.
Kendrick Lamar's "Swimming Pools", with its jittery beats, binge drinking topic, and earworm hook "I got a swimming pool full of liquor, then they dive in it", could indeed pass as another drunk hip hop swag-them to make the students fuck themselves up and dance to. But if they took a moment to listen, as in listen, they would hear a sadness, a hopelessness in the words, even in the dark opening chords that put any non-drunk listener on edge with their gorgeous, tingling unease.
Lamar sings of people "living their life in bottles" because they want to "fit in like "what's my problem?"". Whilst the dangerously addictive chorus seems to shamelessly glorify alcohol abuse, the verses sound doubtful, scared even; "if I take another one down, Imma drowning some poison, abusing my limit" he rants nervously. Most tellingly however, is the way the song ends abruptly with a second of white noise.
So yes, this track is heavy and addictive, possibly one of the most perfectly written of the year, but the subject matter itself is also very addictive. It won't change any attitudes, fans will still drink too much to this tune, but the fact Lamar seems to realize this when rapping the futile warnings makes it all the more bleak.
I think I'll put this on my "going out" playlist. Sad isn't it?
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