Nobody would ever look at this track on a surface level and conclude it’s anything like the others that appear on 808s.īut a surface level is not a level Kanye West typically works from. It’s a remarkable accomplishment not only for its innovation, but also for how successful this trick turns out to be. So the Chicago native offered the antithesis of a sad song from a musical standpoint. He knew he couldn’t continue down the violent path of “Amazing” or the inquisitive, whiny nature of “Welcome to Heartbreak”. But the way those defiant, antagonistic words are framed–basically on the floor of an ’80s dance party–is an example of how smart a songwriter West can be. Yes, when Kanye sings “All of the time you wanna complain about the nights alone / So now you’re here with me, show me some gratitude / Leave the attitude way back at home”, or “All of the time, you be up in mine / Checking through my cell phone, baby no / You wanna kill the vibe on another night? / Here’s another fight, oh, here we go”, it certainly doesn’t exude rainbows and picnics.
He may have changed the dark vibe for these three-and-a-half minutes musically, but with the lyrics that color in the lines on “Paranoid”, West wants us all to know that his head is still in a place that isn’t all that far from “Love Lockdown” or “Say You Will”.īut that doesn’t mean the song doesn’t stand well on its own. “Tell me right now / You really wanna spend your whole life alone? / A little time out might do you good / Might do us good ‘fore we be done for good”, the rapper recites during the song’s first verse, all but promising that while the colors for the painting might look a little different from its surroundings, the backdrop of conflict and demise remains firmly intact. But honestly: exactly how different is “Paranoid” from the rest of the songs West offers here? Sure, the 1986 electronic drum effects and killer pop synths reflect a welcome change of pace that evokes fluorescent colors and cheesy, big-haired music videos. Still, one has to wonder how much of a relief the song actually is when examining the words a bit closer.
It’s also the song that seems like the only real break in action on the album. And even though we know we are going to wake up tomorrow and start bickering just as much as we did today, let’s do the best we can to ignore that notion for a few hours to drink, dance, and even turn that burning hatred we hold toward each other into a form of passionate love as the evening comes to an end.” “Paranoid” is the perfect soundtrack for the point in a relationship that entails the following: “The end is near, but hey, let’s shut up and party, if only for a night. Ahhh, finally we get to take a breath on 808s & Heartbreak.
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