“Maps” – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
(Words/music: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, available on Fever to Tell, Interscope 2003)
I’m always fascinated to see how the emotional resonance of certain lyrics creeps into the musical part of the composition. Sometimes we’re drawn to happy songs that sound sad or sad songs that sound happy, perhaps because of the novelty and perhaps because it lets us hear what we want or need to hear in a variety of different moods. Still, I’m always attracted to songs that present a unified front – songs that display emotions not just in the lyrics but in the music as well. While the emotional resonance within the listener depends on the circumstances revolving around the person listening and reacting to the song, the emotions a narrator experiences within a song might spill out into the rhythm and melody as well.
Maybe it’s from watching the tear-streaming video one too many times, but I imagine Karen O’s narrator as someone trapped in heartbreak. In the verses, she’s repeating words, contradicting herself, and generally sounding lost. She sounds like she’s pacing around inside her own head, unsure how she arrived where she is and hesitant about where to go next. Meanwhile, the drums pound heavily around her like the emotional baggage weighing her down. Nick Zinner’s guitar sounds like her pulse steadily quickening. Then, when she finally musters up enough courage to say something – even if it’s just pleading for her lover to “wait,” – the music explodes along with her. Rather than pounding down on her, the sound feels like it’s radiating off of her (or at least reflecting outward). Maybe I’m just hearing what I want to hear, but this might be why “Maps” hits so deep with so many people – that the musical shifts work in tandem with the lyrics, reinforcing the shifting moods Karen O sends her narrator through.
More on Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm
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