American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story

562 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How do we use synthesizers nowadays

For those who haven’t heard, Abstract is a twenty-one year old musician from Texas. Released in 2014, his debut album MTV1987 showcases feelings of vulnerability through harsh, grunge rap. But his latest record, American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story is storytelling in its most vivid and cinematic form. Compared to others who capture the high school experience and coming of age, Abstract does the opposite of glamorizing it. American Boyfriend may just be the most nuanced and touching documentations of growing up and coming to terms with your identity. American Boyfriend is romantic, providing a sense of warmth and familiarity his preceding work failed to offer. It’s everything MTV1987 isn’t. Abstract sheds a layer of his self revealing everything he never was, has been and continues to be. The record features co-production from Michael Uzowuru, who has collaborated with Frank Ocean in the past. Defying traditional pop song structure and genre and basing the album from Abstract’s experience with another man— his first love, American Boyfriend is today’s Channel Orange. Both records journey through masculinity and sexual identity: the simultaneous feelings of lust, pain, and euphoria that seems so …show more content…

It’s the person recognizable from our childhood, whether through experience or memory of the kid who sat alone at lunch, taking in the laughter of everyone surrounding them and secretly wishing they were a part of it. Or maybe it’s the kid who spent lunch with their teacher to numb the feeling of isolation. The song is long drawn out but end with finding someone who makes the feeling of isolation worth the wait: “I think about you all the time. I’ve waited for you all my life. I need you right here by my side.” And maybe, just maybe, there is light at the end of the

Show More
Related

  • Rosas By La Oreja De Van Gogh

    624 Words  | 2 Pages

    Whenever I play this song, I can’t help but remember my childhood. My parents struggled financially but, that was never an excuse for them. They always took my brothers and I out on small adventures. One of the most memorable memories I get when I play this song is when my parents would take us out to park to have a barbecue, while my brothers and I ran through the park till we became tired and hungry. Whenever I need a break from the world, I listen to this song just to remind myself of those special moments, even though those days won’t ever return, they are memories I will always treasure.

    Read More

  • License-Beastie Boys

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    The album was created in less than a year. They gained inspiration from the music of many rock bands, such as Kerry King from Slayer. While listening to the album, the lyrics are mostly about women, drugs, rebelling against parents and partying. The sound of the album from song to song is very different, yet each song has a similar base cord. Each song in the album has a consistent beat while they rap, with small bursts of sound that transitions the lyrics to a faster or slower pace.... ...

    Read More

  • American Pie Rhetorical Devices

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    I see the form of Pathos in the album cover because at this time there was the Cold War going on, and we had just gotten out of southeast asia, so there was lots of patriotism that was being portrayed here. The way the thumb is pointed up seems that America is on the climb, and that everyone in America should feel that sense of, “America is a great country, and I am proud to live here.” Also, in the music video for this song, the “American Dream” seems to be portrayed very well because it shows, I can get a great new car and I can get a pretty girl to love me. Also you just seem to feel the patriotism from the video from how happy everyone seems and all the scenes happening, there are people dancing, and celebrating birthdays and playing lots of

    Read More

  • Andre Dubus The Land Of No: Love In A Class-Riven America

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    In America, many people are divided by a class system. Within our society, many people find themselves not interacting much with people outside of their class and can rarely find something in common with people of different financial backgrounds. In Andre Dubus the Third’s writing “The Land of No: Love in A Class-Riven America, he speaks about his experience with his roommate who comes from an affluent background opposed to his less advantaged upbringing. In “The Land of No: Love in A Class-Riven America, Andre Dubus the Third displays that the experiences the people face from different classes can differ entirely and therefore it makes it difficult to identify with someone outside of your class.

    Read More

  • 'The Dying Girl That No One Helped'

    1521 Words  | 4 Pages

    The song “Outside of a Small Circle of Friends” discusses the importance of individuality by showing the perspective of a person conforming to the rest of society and how they ultimately affect the world around them. For instance, the song states “I’m sure it wouldn’t interest anybody outside of a small circle of friends” (Ochs). This shows that the person in the song is deeply concerned with what others around them may think, and has little regard for their own opinions and moral values. The repetitiveness of this

    Read More

  • Fall Out Boy: Song Analysis

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    American Beauty/American Psycho was an album that was sung by the band Fall Out Boy in 2015. Fall Out Boy is an alternative/indie rock band with a little hint of pop in some of their songs. This album, which is the band’s most recent album, is full of a lot of good songs and songs that maybe some people wouldn’t like. Fall Out Boy is a face-paced band, which means their songs are faced-paced. A lot of their songs could be a little hard to understand for people who don’t listen to this kind of music. The album does not have many of these types of songs, which is why it is a favorite among Fall Out Boy fans.

    Read More

  • soapstone

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    Subject- The lyrics in this song brings up a reoccurring problem that everyone faces throughout their lifetime. Everyone wants to fit in or belong to someone, or something. This song easily compares to the book Frankenstein, when the reader is introduced to the monster. The monster that Victor created does not understand the world he has been put into, or how to operate in everyday society. In the first stanza Phil Collins writes,

    Read More

  • Teenage Dating in the 1950s

    3472 Words  | 7 Pages

    Teenagers in the 1950's are so iconic that, for some, they represent the last generation of innocence before it is "lost" in the sixties. When asked to imagine this lost group, images of bobbysoxers, letterman jackets, malt shops and sock hops come instantly to mind. Images like these are so classic, they, for a number of people, are "as American as apple pie." They are produced and perpetuated by the media, through films like Grease and Pleasantville and television shows like Happy Days, The Donna Reed Show, and Leave It to Beaver. Because of these entertainment forums, these images will continue to be a pop cultural symbol of the 1950's. After the second World War, teenagers became much more noticeable in America (Bailey 47). Their presence and existence became readily more apparent because they were granted more freedom than previous generations ever were.

    Read More

  • Homosexuality in Same Love by Macklemore with Ryan Lewis and Mary Lambert

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    Right away Macklemore establishes his credibility and knowledge, ethos, by stating, "When I was in the third grade I thought that I was gay, 'Cause I could draw, my uncle was, and I kept my room straight" (Haggerty, Lewis, Lambert, 2102). With such a forceful statement, he shows that he can relate to this issue, which gives him the credibility that people look for in such an important topic. By speaking of personal experience, this gives the audience a closer look into his life and may feel a connection that many people might need to relate and understand the lyrics or topic of the song. With the song beginning with an anecdote about Macklemore as a third grader fearing he was gay brings a great sense of the ethos appeal. This directly illustrates society’s corruption of an innocent child’s mind with the fear of being gay and believing that being gay would be a fault. This opening anecdot...

    Read More

  • Male Dominance In "Hills Like White Elephants" and "The Chrysanthemums"

    1402 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...lthough consciously made will not be of her own influence. In addition to her youthful inexperience regarding matters of life and love, the American’s dominance over her and her fear of being without him will be what forces her hand. In a sense, she was trapped. This is undoubtedly the first of many major discords in their relationship. After maturing with age, Jig will grow weary of the American’s manipulative ascendency; thus allowing her to bolster her own self-esteem and present him with an ultimatum.

    Read More

  • American Idiot

    363 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Song “American Idiot” by Green Day uses techniques to engage the audience to interoperate the issues. Green day through their style of music convey issues such as the medias over powering effect on society, greed and the division of the United States of American over political issues. Green Day’s negative stance on the issues through these techniques conveys the audience to agree with the main issues being focused.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in The Yellow Wallpaper

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    I think that the narrator feels much alone in life, even though she has a family who cares for her. She is clinically depressed so naturally she is going to feel isolated from the world. Speaking about a house that the narrator grew up in, she writes, 'and there was one chair that always seemed like a strong friend.

    Read More

  • The American Dream During the Romantic Period

    2251 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Romantic period was an entirely unique era in American history that produced new life philosophies through the focus of nature and exploration resulting in the evolution of the American Dream. Consequently, some of the world’s greatest advancements in arts and literature were accomplished during this time period. Authors such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Fennimore Cooper, and Oliver Wendell Holmes sparked the imagination of American audiences through newfound literature such as lyrical poetry, myths, legends, folklore, and the new American novel. Romantic age writers emphasized nature, especially in poetry, as an inspiration for imagination and emotion. The American Dream during the Romantic era was to lead a life of emotion and intuition over reasoning through exploration of the countryside and the recognition of natural beauty displayed by imaginative literature that reflected this American Dream.

    Read More

  • I am a rock

    1264 Words  | 3 Pages

    From the first stanza of this song, you get put into a scene. You know almost immediately that it is about someone, and it is the middle of December, but without stating the obvious, it paints a more illustrated picture for you. The first line states, “A winters day, in a deep and dark December” and I could almost immediately feel a cool breeze around me. When I normally think of a winter’s day, I think of people playing in the snow, and having a good time. This may be because I grew up in Southern California where there has been a lack of snow, but in my head, that is what I imagine. Having them state, in a deep and dark December, turns my attitudes to the more pessimistic way of looking at things. The image of children playing in the snow in my head has now turned to cold and dark emptiness. Reinstating my idea of emptiness, the next line follows with the simply statement, “I am alone”. Personally, I hate being alone. So to have the opening words place us in a deep and dark setting, and then state that you are alone, automatically puts me in a negative mindset.

    Read More

  • Degradation of Women in Caribbean Music

    1764 Words  | 4 Pages

    As one moves past the initial onslaught of rhythmic beats that calypso has to offer, it is difficult to miss the way in which it reverberates with negative and demoralizing images of women to their male counterparts. Whether it is within the lyrics of Sparrow’s “Drunk and Disorderly” or Square One’s “My Ding-a Ling”, an ample number of verses are often dedicated to making lewd comments about the female body and the suggestive body language described through thinly veiled rhymes and puns, can be offensive depending on the listener. The half naked models being displayed on the various album covers of calypso, soca and rap mix tapes further reinforces these negative connotations. This bandwagon has been jumped upon by many, including the rap genre in the last two decades, wanting to capitalize on a marketing strategy that generally purports to flag consumer attention, playing on their sense of eroticism. The sections titled “Music, Sex, Sexism” and “Woman Rising” within Peter Manuel’s text: Caribbean Currents, dive into the many issues surrounding gender within music as well as female portrayal specifically in calypso. Observations can be made simply by reading through the textual comparisons. Many aspects of this subject area allude to the fact that the issue of gender portrayal in music can be construed differently depending on who the critical listener happens to be. With the increased awareness and heightened sensitivity to the way in which females are portrayed in popular media, it is important to reflect on the impact these lyrics have on male-female relationships within the communities who most often enjoy this music genre.

    Read More

More about American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story

Open Document