SOP 148 - The Hopes and Fears of Mac Miller, Future, Drake, and

https://switchedonpop.com/episodes/the-hopes-and-fears-of-mac-miller-future-drake-and-billie-eilish
EPISODE 148

Mac Miller, Future and Billie Eilish all have good and bad news to share. On Miller’s posthumous album, Circles, he exposes personal struggles with fame, addiction, and mental illness — sobering topics given his unintentional drug overdose last year. Yet at the same time we hear him searching for “good news,” practicing self care and accepting that “there's a whole lot more” waiting. Future & Drake’s celebration of material excess also finds them “working on the weekend” just to keep up appearances. Similarly, Billie Eilish has achieved “everything [she] wanted,” but dreams of death and darkness overwhelm her. Yet she’s buoyed by the support of her brother FINNEAS. Many pop songs are about a single emotion: love, heartbreak or exuberant joy. But these great songs evoke more complex emotions, existing somewhere in a liminal space between our hopes and fears.

Artist: Bob Tozier
School: North Allegheny

Notes:

The Hopes and Fears of Mac Miller, Future, Drake, and Billie Eilish

Mac Miller, Future and Billie Eilish all have good and bad news to share. On Miller’s posthumous album, Circles, he exposes personal struggles with fame, addiction, and mental illness — sobering topics given his unintentional drug overdose last year. Yet at the same time we hear him searching for “good news,” practicing self care and accepting that “there's a whole lot more” waiting. Future & Drake’s celebration of material excess also finds them “working on the weekend” just to keep up appearances. Similarly, Billie Eilish has achieved “everything [she] wanted,” but dreams of death and darkness overwhelm her. Yet she’s buoyed by the support of her brother FINNEAS. Many pop songs are about a single emotion: love, heartbreak or exuberant joy. But these great songs evoke more complex emotions, existing somewhere in a liminal space between our hopes and fears.

Comments

Nick Faber from: North Allegheny - posted: March 9, 2020
Hopes and fears cannot exist without one another. Hope is faith that fear will not win, while fear tells us there is no hope. The greatest songs use more than one emotion, digging deep into the reality of pain and healing, and touching the people who take the time to listen.

Alex Hladio from: North Allegheny - posted: March 31, 2020
It's crazy to me that music can convey such emotion. What we're essentially seeing is that music is making us feel an emotion that we don't even have a word for. If we can describe something as a "space between our hope and fears" and understand what that means, that's us describing a whole different emotion in terms we can understand. Just solidifies the idea that music transcends language

Futen Wang from: North Allegheny - posted: April 1, 2020
It's both touching and saddening that such poweful emotions contitute the most beautiful pieces of art we all love and experience. Without such powerful emotions, such art woudl not exist--a despairing sight--but conversely, if we did not experience such emotions, such art not necessitate its own existence in the first place.

Colin Fitzgerald from: North Allegheny - posted: April 2, 2020
Hope is something we all want to have in our lives. In certain times like right now it is very hard to have hope. We as a people need to keep moving forward and think positive that things will get better just as mac miller portrayed in his music.

Caroline Lucas from: North Allegheny - posted: April 2, 2020
This is why music is so powerful. It puts words and sound into much more than a single emotion, evoking more than just a meaning. A song can be hopeful despite minor tones or sad despite major tones.

Samantha Petruccioli from: North Allegheny - posted: April 2, 2020
We as people are capable of feeling so many increadible feelings including both hope and fear. With all the different kinds of music that is made, we feel a different emotion and on a whole new level we are able to connect with that song or singer.

Rebekah Rest from: North Allegheny - posted: April 3, 2020
Music has an ability to connect all of us on deeper level as it has themes that many can relate to in some way. It is so important across all cultures and time periods because of the power it grants artists to express emotions, whether with or without words.

Sari Abu-Hamad from: North Allegheny - posted: April 5, 2020
When listening to the podcast and good news, I couldn't help but think of another Mac Miller song, "2009", that in my opinion has the same style of hope mixed in with sadness.

Julia Maletta from: North Allegheny - posted: April 5, 2020
I love that they write about struggles they actually deal with in their lives. A lot of artists are scared to write about the truth.

Gabrielle Parker from: North Allegheny - posted: April 5, 2020
I find it extremely interesting that music can convey such emotion. It makes you feel ways that you can't explain sometimes. Especially in Mac Miller's writing, he pours his heart into it and you can tell he was hurting.

Zach Brennen from: North Allegheny - posted: April 6, 2020
These artists and many others are so special because they let the highs and lows they experience control their music. It conveys a message that everyone is human and makes the music so touching.

Eric schaefer from: North Allegheny - posted: April 6, 2020
Music can bring out different emotions and thoughts that nothing else can. Music can make you feel many different ways and everyone can inturpret the music in their own way and relate it to something in your own life.