Genius Meanings
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t.A.T.u. – All the Things She Said
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Released in 2002, “All the Things She Said” was the lead single off t.A.T.u’s debut English album, 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane. It was originally recorded in 2000 in t.A.T.u’s
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blink-182 – All the Small Things
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Blink-182 founder Tom DeLonge wrote this song with bassist/singer Mark Hoppus. DeLonge wrote this song about his then-girlfriend and eventual wife, Jenna Jenkins. His anecdotes—
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The Killers – All These Things That I've Done
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“All These Things That I’ve Done” was written by frontman Brandon Flowers and features gospel choir The Sweet Inspirations. It was released as the third single from the band’s
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Drake – Jungle
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“Jungle” gets its title from a nickname for Lawrence Heights, a particularly rough neighborhood in Toronto.
The song sounds like an ode to a particular girl back in the Jungle who
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Nelly (Ft. Kelly Rowland) – Dilemma
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A hugely popular song from 2002 which appeared on both Nelly’s Nellyville and Kelly Rowland’s Simply Deep.
This song is arguably the most successful, ‘biggest’ song of both Nelly’
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Kanye West – Heartless
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“Heartless” was released as a promotional single 20 days before the official release of 808s and Heartbreak, and peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts while topping
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The Cure – Just Like Heaven
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“Just Like Heaven” was the third single from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me It was inspired by a trip Robert Smith took with his then-girlfriend (future wife) Mary Poole to Beachy Head
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The 1975 – If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)
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“If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)” is an uptempo, guitar and horn-heavy track released as the seventh single of Notes on a Conditional Form. Matty sings about his infatuation with a
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Adele – Set Fire to the Rain
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“Set Fire To The Rain” talks about a relationship coming to an end. Girl meets guy, he is wonderful and she falls really quickly. He tells her all of these amazing things, but
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Taylor Swift – You Belong With Me
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“You Belong with Me” tells the story of a boy who is too wrapped up in a toxic relationship to see how much another girl likes him. It appears on Taylor’s sophomore album, Fearless
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Lana Del Rey – Video Games
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Considered Lana Del Rey’s breakthrough hit, “Video Games” served as the first single off the artist’s wildly successful sophomore studio album and major label debut, Born to Die
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Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
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One of Michael Jackson’s signature songs, “Billie Jean” tells the tale of a young girl who claims to be the mother of Jackson’s alleged son. The song was the second single from his
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Taylor Swift – cardigan
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Accompanied by the release of her project written and recorded during the lockdown due to COVID-19, “cardigan” is the lead single from Taylor Swift’s eighth studio album, folklore.
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Eminem – Kill You
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“Kill You” is the opening track to the album, and is a lyrical tirade against Kim, Debbie Mathers, girlish rappers and women in general. The call-and-response part after the hook
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Lana Del Rey – Carmen
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“Carmen” is the 9th track from Lana Del Rey’s album Born to Die.
The song’s 17-year-old protagonist suffers from substance abuse. Del Rey admitted in 2012 that she had a problem
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Taylor Swift – All Too Well
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Widely regarded as one of Swift’s best songs, “All Too Well” sees her picking up shards of memories after a gut-wrenching breakup. She jumps through time to reflect on her best and
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Lil Wayne (Ft. Drake & Future) – Love Me
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On “Love Me,” Weezy, Drake, and Future talk about their women and how they care about nothing but them—as long as they love them back. It was released as the second single from
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Say Anything – Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too
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“Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too” is a track on Say Anything’s album …Was a Real Boy, which was a bonus disk in the reissue of …Is A Real Boy.
In the song, Max Bemis talks about having
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Lil Peep – crybaby
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“crybaby” is the first song off Lil Peep’s namesaked album, crybaby. Peep has performed the song many times in live shows, such as the Rap-Festival “Rolling Loud.”
Gustav got a
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JAY-Z & Kanye West – Niggas in Paris
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Kanye West, XXL Magazine, October 2010:
I am where art meets commercial. The sweet spot between the hood and Hollywood. Having a conversation with Karl Lagerfeld and Jay-Z within
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Frank Ocean (Ft. James Fauntleroy) – American Wedding
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The climax of Frank Ocean’s mixtape/album nostalgia, ULTRA. This song’s sample of “Hotel California” created a major controversy when the Eagles demanded to be paid for every time
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MF DOOM – Hoe Cakes
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The second track off the MM…FOOD album makes use of some pretty sick beatboxing throughout.
“Hoe Cakes” (spelled “hoecakes”) is an African American food from the 19th century
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Michael Jackson – Dirty Diana
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“Dirty Diana” is the 5th single (and 5th #1 song) from Michael’s 1987 album Bad, which sees him tackle the issue of groupies in a more aggressive, palpable way than he did on “
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USHER (Ft. Lil Jon & Ludacris) – Yeah!
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Lil Jon’s work ethic is legendary in the music business. All artists he’s worked with rave about his preparedness and professionalism in the studio. Nowhere are these qualities
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Waterparks – See You In The Future
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“See You In In The Future” wraps up the album by widening the scope from Knight’s inner evaluation of his own psyche, to his perception of the world upon waking from the dream
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Mark Morrison – Return of the Mack
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“Return of the Mack” is a 1996 R&B track from British musician Mark Morrison. It was the lead single from his album with the same name.
While highly successful in its own right, “
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Junior M.A.F.I.A. – Get Money
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Biggie and 2Pac agree on one thing: money is more important than bitches
Notice the artistic unity – both women and internal – of the male/female verse pairing
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The 1975 – Sex
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“Sex” tells the story of what seems to be an innocent encounter at first, which then escalates into, well, sex. It appears on The 1975’s debut album. It was originally released on
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Nelly Furtado – Maneater
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“Maneater” is a song by Canadian singer Nelly Furtado from her third studio album Loose. The song’s musical style and production were inspired by pop arrangements from the 1980s by
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Sade – Like a Tattoo
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The final night of Sade’s 1993 Love Deluxe World Tour, Sade explained to her audience that “Like A Tattoo” was a true story based on the accounts of a stranger Sade met years ago
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The Offspring – Self Esteem
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The song that got millions of mid-90s teenage boys self-righteously indignant. Believe us – we were there…
Dexter Holland has said that people have often thought that this was a
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The Smiths – What She Said
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“What She Said” is told from a female perspective – it’s rare for male songwriters to write about women with empathy rather than desire – and how it taps into a certain kind of
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Taylor Swift (Ft. Ed Sheeran) – Everything Has Changed
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“Everything Has Changed” is a song about realizing your life has flipped upside down after falling for someone new. The track appears on Taylor’s fourth album, Red, and features
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Iyaz – Replay
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A chart-topping single released by Iyaz on July 7th, 2009. It didn’t get popular until later in the year, leading into 2010.
This was the first single off his debut album, also
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Nicki Minaj, Drake & Lil Wayne – Seeing Green
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For the 2021 re-release of her classic 2009 mixtape, Beam Me Up Scotty, Nicki Minaj recruits her fellow Young Money superstars, Drake and Lil Wayne, for “Seeing Green,” a stellar
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Frank Ocean – Nikes
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“Nikes” is a critique of the trappings of materialistic hedonism, with a frequent mention of Nike shoes, shiny gold and glitter, and fantasies of pleasure. The video version of
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Kanye West – Bound 2
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As opposed to the industrial, electronic influences found throughout Yeezus, this warm soulful track sees Kanye “Bound 2” his partner, Kim Kardashian. Reminiscent of West’s
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Travis Scott (Ft. Kacy Hill) – 90210
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“90210” is the 5th track from Travis Scott’s debut album Rodeo and his self-professed favorite song on the album.
“90210” is the postal code for Beverly Hills. On the track
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4 Non Blondes – What's Up?
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“What’s Up” was the second single from the 1992 album Bigger, Better, Faster, More! by 4 Non Blondes. It shot the band into international stardom, topping the charts in seven
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The Notorious B.I.G. – Juicy
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“Juicy” is the first single from Big’s debut album, Ready to Die, and is the track that established him as a titan.
It was one of the first mainstream rap songs about a rapper’s
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Lana Del Rey (Ft. A$AP Rocky & Playboi Carti) – Summer Bummer
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“Summer Bummer”, the fourth single from Lana’s fifth studio album, features long time friend and previous collaborator A$AP Rocky and Playboi Carti. Produced by Boi-1da and T-Minus
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Avril Lavigne – Sk8er Boi
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“Sk8er Boi” is a song from Avril Lavigne’s debut album Let Go which was released on Aug. 27, 2002 when Avril was seventeen years old.
This song is about a skater boy that liked a
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beabadoobee – the way things go
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[Refrain] / And there's so much left to say / I guess I'm just the bigger guy / And there's too much on my mind / That I don't even want to try / Guess it's not far from the
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