Oh Desperado

Rihanna's song "Desperado" off of her album Anti is one of my favorites. A desperado is an individual who is desperate or a criminal. Desperado is about a criminal woman who is ready to leave everything behind to run away with a man.  I have always been a fan of Rihanna's music. I still vividly remember dancing to songs like "Umbrella" and "Pon De Replay" when I was younger. When listening to Anti, I noticed a shift in her music. Before, a lot of her songs were pop-centered like "We found love" and "Diamonds" but on this album I noticed less of that. I really like "Desperado" because of its defiant tone and just honestly how it sounds.

Perrine states that theme should be concerned with "creating significant new experiences" (3) and being multi-dimensional. Desperado follows this rule. For example:

If you want, we can be runaways

Running from any sight of love

Yeah, yeah, there ain’t nothin'

There ain't nothin' here for me

There ain't nothin' here for me anymore

But I don't wanna be alone

I think this is very poetic because I can envision a woman (speaker) trying to run away from her current life with a man. In addition, I thought the irony was interesting and clever. She speaks about running away from any sight of love, yet she running away with a man because she wants this rebellious love and not to be alone. This evokes an experience.

Another example of creating multi-dimensional experience:

Desperado
Sittin' in an old Monte Carlo
A man whose heart is hollow
Mhm, take it easy
I'm not tryna go against yuh
Actually, I'm goin' witcha

As a listener, I realized the many layers of this section. First, I imagined a woman who was desperate for attention was going to take advantage of a man's whose heart may be vulnerable at the time. There are many interpretations to /A man whose hear is hollow/. First, I thought of a man who may have experienced a breakup. Then, I thought maybe the man is experiencing an illness of a certain family member. But, then I thought maybe he is just going through a tough time. As a result, she would convince him to run away to together to get some excitement. I thought it was interesting that this section deviates from societal gender expectations. Men are expected to be emotionally closed off and always strong.

Another example:

Gotta get up out of here

I know you won't cause we share common interests

You need me, there ain't no leaving me behind

Never, no, no, both want outta here, yeah

Once we're gone, ain’t no going

This shows the speaker's forceful presence in that she wants to really get out. Also, it emphasizes how important this is to her. When listening, I felt she has been abandoned before. She definitely fears being left behind. This adds value to the song's title that she wants attachment.

In the end, the song is still very vague. There is no conclusion. The listener does not know if the desperado and the man actually end up running away together. However, this song is considered poetry because it creates numerous multi-dimensional experiences.