One of the albums that I found to be an ideal lyrical album is "Confessions" by Usher where most of his songs deal with the experience of losing the love of his life. Like the album title says, most of the songs are confessions of an affair with other women and overall the album as a whole gives off the message of "please take me back". This idea of destroyed relationships and begging for forgiveness is also reflected in several of the music videos that accompany these songs where he often winces and drops to his knees as he lyrically recounts the incidents. At the start of the song "Confessions II" (one of the videos listed below) he almost comes to tears after finding out that his "girl on the side" is pregnant and his "girl at home" is inevitably going to realize his infidelity. The rest of the song is full of doubt, panic, and confusion over how to tell his girlfriend about the situation.
At the end of this video & song you see/hear glass shattering. This leads into the next couple songs, including "Burn" which follows the storyline. In this song, he talks about how their relationship can not come back from such a tragedy and that it must end. A later song, "Truth Hurts" continues this same theme of remorse.
These songs, as well as the rest of the album, parallel his life at the time. Months before this album was released, Usher underwent a very emotional breakup with a girlfriend that he had known since childhood. While some of the songs stray a bit from the truth (there were indeed other women in his life, but no pregnancy scares ;-) ) they still succeed in conveying his feelings about the breakup.
I would never have even thought that Usher would have done a whole album dedicated to love. I'm very impressed with the artistry that goes into making some of these albums.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your review of this album, i couldn't agree more. Usher's album Confessions, is one of reminisce, missing a loved one, and hoping they will take him back. He is very passionate in all of his songs and i'm definitely a fan.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. This a great post! I used to listen to this album all of the time and never realized how deep the lyrics truly are.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I completely agree! Confessions was a great choice for this assignment I was obsessed with it when it came out.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much agree with everyone here. I never really thought of Usher as one to do a lyric sequence, let alone on something so deep. It is remorseful, penitent, deals with unrequited love and anguished feelings. A lot of typical characteristics of a lyric sequence. I've never paid much attention to Usher, but I really enjoyed the vids you posted, and I think I appreciate him a little more because of this.
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