“1-800-273-8255” is a song that deals with the complex emotions of depression, anxiety, suicide and more as seen in the video below:

 

In the first listening post we focused mostly on the time of release and its context of meaning. Here In my second listening post we will be diving deeper into the theme from Logic’s 1-800 and connecting it to other songwriters and music.For this post the songs that I have selected that have similar lineages and context to 1-800 follow as so:  

“XO TOUR LIif3” (Lil Uzi Vert)  |  “U” (Kendrick Lamar)   |   “Porcelain” (Red Hot Chili Peppers)   

Songs like these where they discuss the most raw emotions they have, the ones society doesn’t like to talk about really stirs you up inside as you listen. They all follow a similar flow of topic and themes of depression, at the end of the rope and ready to go that Logic touches upon in his own music. Of the songs that I have chosen, two follow the hip/hop genre and one follows more alternative roots in its approach but all lead to a similar place of mind when listening to the themes and messages.

“XO TOUR LIif3”

Lil Uzi Verts top hit has taken a different approach than the other songs, it uses a big catchy beat to accompany the deeper lyrics. Making it a song that has much emotional depth to it but something you can also trap at a frat house and everyone will go wild. It makes the song easier to swallow in a way without taking away from the lyrical acclaim. The song delves into the relationship he had with his long time girlfriend who had begun to turn to suicide after their break up. The song expands into his usual talk about money and cars but in a more personalized and emotional way not just rapping about it but with purpose. With lyrics like:

Baby, I am not afraid to die 

All my friends are dead 

Push me to the edge 

I might blow my brain out 

Xanny, help the pain 

Please, Xanny, make it go away 

“U”

Kendrick is one of the greatest rappers of all time yet even someone of such stature has his troubles. U follows a second hand perspective of himself where he is judging himself and his choices. As the song goes on Kendricks voice clearly loses its structure and stableness, as if he is now in a complete drunken state of remorse. The slow beat and unstable lyrics show the breakdown of Kendrick throughout the song, the lyrics get more dark as his songs mental state gets worse and worse as he goes through his mourning and regrets. With lyrics like:

Loving you is complicated, loving you is complicated

I place blame on you still, place shame on you still

I fuckin’ tell you fuckin’ failure- you ain’t no leader! 

I never liked you, forever despise you- I don’t need you! 

“Porcelain”

Porcelain was written mainly about the bands experiences with heavy drug use and darker side of the minds due to drug addiction. In 1998, the lead singer Anthony was at the YMCA when he met a pregnant woman. She was broke, no longer connected to the husband and heavily addicted to heroine to the point of suicidal action. Unfortunately the woman ended up taking her own life along with that of her child due to the extreme depression of heroine withdrawal.  The song follows a hauntingly mellow melody, almost that of a lullaby. The song is written in the perspective of Anthony as he watches this woman’s life unfold in pieces. With lyrics like: 

Do you carry the moon in your womb?

Someone said that you’re fading too soon

Are you wasting away in your skin?

Are you missing the love of your kin? 

In Logic’s 1-800 he goes into similar relations with people who just don’t understand, the societal pressure of being homosexual, depression, suicide, and mental health. All these songs connect back to logic through the themes of the songs in that none are your happy go lucky life song, they all lay out their inner most emotions no matter how raw they are. They all find their own mediums to produce such a message but none the less they all hit home with emotional ballads about the pressure of mental health and dealing with that.