Drop the Game

The song, "Drop the Game" by Flume and Chet Faker has only two stanzas of lyrics, after which is merely repetition. But I believe these stanzas convey a larger meaning to the song. As part of the album, Lockjaw, the song has a eerie, dark sort of feel but also, to me, sounds like a sort of call out for help or a shout out for sanity.

At the beginning of the song, he is describing his encounter with someone who appears very mysterious, making him question both their life and his.

      I've been seeing all, I've been seeing your soul
      Give me things that I wanted to know
      Tell me thing that you've done

The speaker has been dissatisfied  and this one person seems to be a catalyst for his insanity. The third line seems to be a beg for understanding. He wants to know the ways of this person who brings life, or "heat" to his world in what appears to be a time of self-reflection. At the next stanza, the beat of the song changes.

      Hush, I said there's more to life than rush
      Not gonna leave this place with us
      Drop the game, it's not enough

At this point in the song, I think that his desire for sanity changes extends to more of a plea to fins the meaning of life. Maybe it's only because I now associate the word "game" with Meursault, but his plea in these lines in many ways reminds me of Meursault and brings to surface a prevalent discussion similar to The Stranger. However, rather than emphasizing that relationships themselves have no meaning, I think the song is trying to say that the expectations that are associated with relationships are where the real trap is. In other words, everyone has these notions of what someone else wants, and it becomes this massive game.

To this mysterious person, he says,"See, you are my sun," demonstrating his dependence on this soul and how he would be unable to live without it. This sort of attachment has made him insane. He realizes he is, "Not gonna leave this place with us," that the relationship is eventually going to end, and that this game of attachment is "not enough" to give his life meaning anymore.

These lines repeat several more times, each time increasing in a more desperate tone. I know we are not supposed to include repetition in the analysis, but I think it's important to the meaning of song by displaying the desperate cry for sanity and the lack of relief.

I really enjoy the music video for this song and highly suggest you watch it. It really puts to life the tone of the song adding meaning to the words and insanity and disparity of it all. There are times when he varies from looking bored to exhausted which exemplifies his loss of hope and attitude towards the meaning of life. The movements are simple, effective, and at times almost an optical illusion which I think makes it all the more powerful, and could be choreographed as a metaphor for life itself.