Harsher In Hindsight

[Lost In Musical Reverie]

In your opinion, what are some difficult songs to listen to in hindsight? This doesn't necessarily apply to eerily prophetic songs only, but also harmless tunes which feel bittersweet or even disturbing due to later revelations/events.

Here are some of my picks:

1) "The Way" - Ariana Grande ft. Mac Miller: Pretty obvious, I believe. Also applies to "My Favorite Part", the "Into You" remix, and their duet of "Baby It's Cold Outside" (unavailable on streaming). I decided to highlight "The Way" in particular since it was Ariana's breakthrough single, and it's heartbreaking to think she's likely never performing it again, and might have a hard time even acknowledging it. 😔


Last time Ariana performed the song, which also happens to be the last time she and Mac performed together.

2) "Mercy" - Duffy: Her most remembered song takes a dark meaning when you consider her recent revelations as to what happened to her since. For those who don't know, Duffy was drugged, raped, and held hostage for four weeks, and decided to leave her career behind to recover. The chorus in particular is quite disturbing in hindsight, and I don't blame her if she refrains from performing it again.

"You got me begging you for mercy
Why won't you release me?"

3) "I Will Still Love You" - Britney Spears & Don Philip: The song that inspired me to make this thread. It's a beautiful, wholesome ballad - a super underrated cut from her debut, but after an uncomfortable audition at The X-Factor (where Britney was a judge), this becomes a sad listen given what we learned about Don Philip's life after this collaboration, notably the dark path of addiction that ruined his voice. I'll share both the edited and uncut videos here, but I'll warn you that it is a very upsetting watch, and it felt unethical for The X-Factor's team to not intervene when Philip was clearly under the influence of drugs.





Lyrically speaking, it's sadly ironic how the song is about still being there for someone despite complications and time taking them apart. As we know, Britney was facing her own demons, and the meeting left both parties visibly broken. Of course, this isn't the only Britney Spears song that became harsher in hindsight (#FreeBritney - some victories right now, but there is still a long path to go), but I wanted to highlight a more obscure example. 

[gikem]

No one's replied yet, so I'll bite.

Robbery by Juice WRLD - At one point I considered it one of the most laughably bad songs to chart in its respective year, but after Juice's death, I've had a really hard time coming back to it because of how raw and abrasive it is in both content and delivery.

Time of Our Lives by Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo - Both artists' last real hit, and given the subject matter, it feels like "one last party" to celebrate the end of the upbeat first half of the 2010s before the latter half moved into darker, more divisive territory (musically and socially). Pitbull's spoken bridge gives me chills every time.

Rehab by Amy Winehouse - This one should be pretty obvious if you've heard the song and know what would happen a few years later.

Do What U Want by Lady Gaga ft. R. Kelly - Also pretty obvious, in fact Gaga has been trying to bury the original's existence by replacing it on streaming services with an alternate version that features Christina Aguilera instead of R. Kelly.

[Lost In Musical Reverie]

Jul 15, 2021 20:10:20 GMT -5 gikem said:

No one's replied yet, so I'll bite.

Time of Our Lives by Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo - Both artists' last real hit, and given the subject matter, it feels like "one last party" to celebrate the end of the upbeat first half of the 2010s before the latter half moved into darker, more divisive territory (musically and socially). Pitbull's spoken bridge gives me chills every time.

That's a great one! It definitely feels very bittersweet in hindsight, and indeed, I couldn't agree more with what it represents nowadays. It really served as a last hurrah to the club boom/party vibes era. How I love this song! ❤

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Rehab was the first one that came to mind when I saw the first post.

[gikem]

Shoot, I totally forgot to add Pray For Me by The Weeknd & Kendrick Lamar to my list - I've realized after revisiting some 2018 best lists that that song is particularly hard for me to revisit after Chadwick Boseman's untimely death last year. RIP.

[dremolus - solarpunk]

Kid Cudi's Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven isn't as fun to bag on as it was 6 years ago. It's still not good but knowing how deep into his depression Cudi was and how thankfully he's been able to pull through both mentally and artistically, it's just an era we should move on and leave to be forgotten..

[Deleted]

Black & White by Juice WRLD.

If Juice was still alive, it'd be one of his best songs imho. But given the circumstances of his passing, combined with the fact that Black & White is an ode to drugs that makes even Lean Wit Me look sober in comparison and its music video literally features him dying... yeah.