Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Good Old Days- Macklemore ft. Kesha



Growing up can be hard, and Macklemore’s “Good Old Days” from his 2017 album GEMINI is a perfect example of this. In addition to a feature from pop artist Kesha, this song is easily one of the most meaningful and nostalgia inducing songs out there. In the song Macklemore and Kesha effectively transports listeners back to their youth in order to demonstrate the importance of growing up and living in the present.
The song has multi-dimensional layers, both because of the speaker and the occasion. When specifically honing in on Kesha’s chorus of the song,

I wish somebody would have told me, babe
Someday, these will be the good old days
All the love you won't forget
And all these reckless nights you won't regret
Someday soon, your whole life's gonna change
You'll miss the magic of these good old days (1-6),

it’s hard not to take note of the speaker. When singing about her own past experience, she also uses allusion to bring her listeners back to a time before she went on a five year hiatus from the music business. Kesha’s first two albums Animal (2010) and Warrior (2012) represent a period of time I associate with care-free childhood. Hers are some of the first songs I can remember belting to on the radio in my car, successfully bringing me back to the good old days of my youth. This is unique from other songs, where most artists write about a specific experience, and are sometimes hard to relate for audience. In this sense, “Good Old Days” manifests itself as a universal language, open for everyone with all different types of backgrounds.

In between Kesha’s chorus, Macklemore delivers insightful lines using vivid imagery to make the song more specific to his own experience. This is in contrast to Kesha’s lyrics which are much more broad. In verse two, when Macklemore sings,

Wish I didn't drink all of that flask first
Wish I made it to homecoming
Got up the courage to ask her
Wish I would've gotten out of my shell
Wish I put the bottle back on that shelf (27-31)

Giving us a picture of his struggle with addiction. He uses the repetition of “Wish I” to invoke regret of his addiction, which he has described before as nearly ending his career, and show how the care free attitude they sing about, isn’t always a good thing.

The song wraps up by using lyrics about how the singers are proud of the experiences they have been through, “And I ain't worried 'bout the wrinkles 'round my smile” (52). Using the overarching theme to live in the moment while still appreciating your past, Kesha and Macklemore use allusion, multi-dimensional language, nostalgia, imagery, and by speaking in a universal language to create a meaningful work of poetry.

4 comments:

  1. I almost picked this song! I agree with you and think this song is a great example of music poetry, not only for the multidimensional language, but also because of the meaning behind the words. Macklemore and Kesha stress living in the moment and enjoying life while we have it. Remembering where we've been is important, but so is enjoying every moment as it comes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I also almost chose this song!! I LOVE this song and it makes me so happy, but also kind of sad at the same time because Macklemore is right. These are the good old days and we can never relive the days we have had, so we have to make the most of it. Life is not really about YOLO, because if you live your life by that, you will make stupid mistakes and mess up your life. Living life is about making healthy decisions that make you happy and I think that Macklemore definitely captured that idea.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree that this song is illustrates a universal idea that everyone reminisces about the things in the past. This reminds me of how life inevitably just goes on and on. Also, despite the good and bad experiences, you will always remember them and they do shape the person you are. I just listened to this song and liked it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love this song so much! I think as seniors this song somewhat resonates to us, as life is moving so quickly. But for the song it'self, I love your analysis of it. It seems like every line has more too it than just the surface level. That there is so much more to life than just going through the motions.

    ReplyDelete