Lyrics Interpretation @AdamLambert "Underneath"

 The performances of this song in Las Vegas in the fall of 2021 are *so* beautiful, intense & moving. I already wrote a blog about it, but I'm still listening to it.

 

 

In listening, I'm starting to sense that I might not have entirely understood the lyrics.  I've done some song interpretations before, with lyrics that I thought were ambiguous.  Here I feel that I've got more questions than answers.  

 

 

Strip away the flesh and bone Look beyond the lies you've known Everybody wants to talk about a freak No one wants to dig that deep Let me take you underneath Baby, better watch your step Never mind what's on the left You're gonna see things you might not wanna see Still not that easy for me, underneath	When I first listened to this song, I thought “you” referred to his partner. It’s occurring to me tho, that “you” is actually the audience. He could be introducing the song, by explaining that he’s going to tell the audience what it’s really like to have gay sex.   At first, I thought “underneath” referred to being on the bottom during sex, which it may -- but it also could mean that this is a view under his skin -- inside his soul or his mind.   At first, I thought “still not that easy for me” referred to that sexual position, but now I’m wondering if he’s saying it’s not that easy to talk about   I just realized that “on your left” refers to where you look when you cross the street -- and he’s saying that that’s not what he’s asking the listener to do.
A red river of screams, underneath Tears in my eyes, underneath Stars in my black and blue sky And underneath, under my skin Underneath the depths of my sin	This is probably the most intense part of the chorus of the song.   At first, I thought he was talking about orgasm.   But, maybe, he’s talking about his emotional state.
Look at me, now do you see? Welcome to my world of truth I don't wanna hide any part of me from you I'm standing here with no apologies Such a beautiful release, you inside of me   [repeated lyrics omitted]	This is where I may have gotten confused. “Such a beautiful release, you inside of me.”   At first, I thought that this was a description of the sex act, addressed to his partner -- but maybe it means that it’s a relief to be able to talk about it, addressed to the audience.   So is he saying he doesn’t want to hide any part of himself from his partner, or from the audience -- the listener?   I suppose there’s an interview somewhere on YouTube where he discusses this. I could look.

 

 

Addendum:

 

I decided to create a new table indicating how my thinking on this song has changed --mostly by writing this blog and looking at the words more locally

 

Lyrics	Interpretation 1	Interpretation 2	Interpretation 3
	This interpretation was entirely oriented around thinking that Adam was singing about a conversation with a partner	In this interpretation I thought the song was partly addressed to the audience	In this interpretation I came to believe that I was completely wrong about my initial interpretation and that the song is entirely addressed to the audience
Such a beautiful release, you inside of me	This was probably the key lyric that set me down the wrong path. It stuck me as clearly sexual	I continued to think that it was a sexual lyric	I came to think that this actually meant that it was a relief to share his inner self with his fans
Still not that easy for me, underneath	I’ve always assumed that Adam was butch & therefore would not be a bottom sexually. I’ve thought that, because his love interests have been smaller and more effeminate. This lyric tended to fit in with that belief.	Still adopting the first interpretation	I came to think that this actually meant that it wasn’t easy for him to reveal his true self to the audience
A red river of screams, underneath Tears in my eyes, underneath Stars in my black and blue sky	In my initial interpretation, I believed that this was a description of an unexpectedly intense orgasm after experimenting with a new sexual practice.	I began to see that he was talking to the audience. In this interpretation I thought he used such strong language to illustrate how powerful and inescapable his sexual orientation is --why he can’t hide or suppress it	Now I think that this is not a description of orgasm, but rather a description of his daily inner turmoil --how much emotional pain he is in most of the time.   The fact that his current version of this song is more emotional than earlier versions emphasizes how unhappy he’s been being shut up during the pandemic
I don't wanna hide any part of me from you	This lyric could be addressed to either the lover or the audience. It’s the final stanza of the song, also, which gives it especial significance.
Strip away the flesh and bone Look beyond the lies you've known Everybody wants to talk about a freak No one wants to dig that deep Let me take you underneath Baby, better watch your step Never mind what's on the left You're gonna see things you might not wanna see Still not that easy for me, underneath	This is the start of the song. I didn’t really pay too much attention to it at first, because the repetition of the lyrics about the “red rivers of screams,”etc. distracted me from it.   When I thought he was talking to a lover, I thought that he was describing the process of becoming open and vulnerable with a new partner   I thought “you’re going to see things you might not want to see”meant his naked butt	“everybody wants to talk about the freak”started breaking my initial take on this song. That would not be the sort of thing he would say to a lover, because, presumably, the lover is also gay.   In this intermediate interpretation, I thought that the first lines were addressed to the audience, while the sentence starting with “Baby" was addressed to the lover	I started seeing this whole section as addressed to the audience.   that “on your left”refers to where you look when you cross the street --and he’s saying that that’s not what he’s asking the listener to do -- not really central to the meaning of the song, but I suddenly noticed it
A red river of screams, underneath Tears in my eyes, underneath Stars in my black and blue sky And underneath, under my skin Underneath the depths of my sin	This may be the chorus of the song. I discussed part of it above --but the “underneath the depths of my sin”tended to confirm my thought that this song was a about sex   The frequent repetition of this section overwhelmed my impression of the song and lyrics that weren’t in line with my understanding faded into the background	Sama as 1st interpretation	Orgasm is pleasurable. Red rivers of screams do not sound pleasurable. Tears can indicate many different emotions; however “black and blue”sounds like a bruise. Seeing stars can indicate being injured.   Moreover, when Adam sings this song he doesn’t look happy. He looks like he’s in pain throughout. That’s not how he normally talks about sex
Look at me, now do you see? Welcome to my world of truth I don't wanna hide any part of me from you I'm standing here with no apologies Such a beautiful release, you inside of me   [repeated lyrics omitted]	This seemed consistent with the kind of conversation one would have with a lover		The thought that he would want to be so open and vulnerable with fans is moving in a totally different way.

 

 

Curiously, I had an interesting interchange on Twitter with another user who lamented how inappropriate some of the audience comments were during the Las Vegas concerts. In particular one person yelled out that Adam should dip his balls during this song. When I thought it was a sexual song, that seems like an appropriate comment. I couldn’t understand why this other Twitter user was so upset. Now that I see that it is probably not a sexual song I can see that it’s really very inconsiderate and someone’s baring their soul to be saying something like that

 

Second addendum:

 

The song is just not letting go of me. I feel -- now that I have a different take on the words -- it makes me worried about Adam.

 

I met him very briefly in October 2019 at a charity event in Connecticut. I didn’t say anything about it at the time, but he looked as if he had been crying. Maybe I should've said something. But I'd only just recently become a fan. I didn't feel that I knew him. I didn't feel comfortable drawing attention to the puffy, recently crying, look around his eyes.

 

It wasn't that much later that they announced that he and Javi were breaking up. I wonder if he was crying over that.

 

When someone said in a recent interview that Adam reminded them of Elvis Presley, he mentioned how Elvis Presley, at the end, was fat and drinking a lot of beer. He seemed to imply that that was the kind of Elvis that he identified with.

 

Elvis Presley died at age 42.

 

I suppose there's nothing I can do. I am worried, though. The current rendition of this song is *so* desperate.

 

I hope he doesn't end up like Elvis.

 

 

.@AdamLambert "Underneath" Then & Now (& others)

 I've just been comparing Adam Lambert singing "Underneath" in 2013

And in 2021

He has become more physically imposing, but his rendition of the song is much more vulnerable and emotional.  With the newer version, I really feel that I'm inside his head, in his bed: in his most private moment.  The older version didn't feel as authentic.

It's not common that people make themselves that vulnerable in public.  It's moving, yet also somewhat disturbing.  There seems to be a desperation in his performance now, as if he doesn't care whether anyone sees his pain -- yet it's brilliant.  It totally draws me in.

His voice seems a bit lower.  He is going into falsetto more than he did when he was younger, but there is a greater variety of textures.

It seems to me quite common that performers improve their stage craft with age, even if their voices may change with age -- not always in a good way (tho here I would say Adam sounds great.)

Here is Neil Diamond as a young man singing Sweet Caroline

And here he is singing it at age 72

His voice is faltering as an older man, but the stage presence has improved dramatically -- and the audience is going crazy.  He's put down the guitar, moves around the stage dynamically, interacting with the audience --  and this despite the fact that he was in a lot of pain from arthritis at age 72.

Here's Dolly Parton singing "Jolene" in 1974.

And here she is singing it with Pentatonix in 2016

Her voice is raspier, but the performance is far more emotional and draws me in much more.  Her face is more expressive.

People really do learn more about performance with experience.  The entertainment industry needs to learn this, and not keep thinking that young people are necessarily the best.

#AdamLambert #Underneath #DollyParton #Jolene #NeilDiamond #SweetCaroline #aging #stagePresence #olderPerformers

The many voices of Adam Lambert @adamlambert

 As a fairly new Glambert, I have been very impressed recently with Adam's performance range with new material.  I just wanted to memorialize what I've been seeing recently.

On the Ellen Show

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More of the Ellen Show:

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As a prince in Andrew Lloyd Weber's Cinderella

In a civic PSA for Barack Obama

Playing 2 characters in a Netflix Series called A Tale Dark & Grim

Character #1

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Character #2 (Devil) -- I felt that the first character sounded more familiar than the second

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In the Playmobil movie: (evil emperor)

 #glambert #adamlambert #cinderella #playmobil #ataledarkandgrim

@parisjackson singing "Let Down" on Jimmy Kimmel

 Here's the video I'm commenting on

She got all the right genes

• She got MJ's face (Prince got his mother's wider face, which I find less attractive)
• MJ's tendency to be thin (the mother was not)
• the nose that MJ wanted from his white wife (which he famously pursued with plastic surgery)
• her mother's height (MJ being only average height)
• MJ's charismatic performance ability
• MJ's precise sense of rhythm
• MJ's precise musical blending ability (which we saw in particular on the SoundFlowers EP)
• recessive blue eye genes (which shouldn't matter, but definitely attracted a lot of attention to her over the years -- most people apparently not having realized that the average African American is 18% white, due to the unfortunate tendency of slave holders to rape their slaves.  It has been said that in the Entertainment industry there is no such thing as bad publicity -- something that enhanced her father's career, even though he didn't like it -- so having people gossip about her blue eyes just made her more famous.  BTW they only look fluorescent because her skin is darker than that of most blue eyed people)
• MJ's ability to reinvent himself 

Remains to be seen:

• dancing? (There's a hint of it here, but we can't be sure.  We see her start to let go and move with the music connecting with her gut.  I saw that happening with her dad, but this was just a hint)
• extraordinary vocal range? We're not seeing this yet, but I don't know that it isn't there.  

Not sure if good or bad

• some of MJ's shyness (demonstrated by her posting videos of her singing, showing only her fingers on the guitar -- and essentially singing background on most of the SoundFlowers EP)

Reminder that basically she looks like his twin, from a previous blog post

How can they say she doesn't look like him?

I am really enjoying "Wilted" though it is malfunctioning in the Amazon music app -- and when I click on it I get other performers.  It's hypnotic and beautiful.

I am struck at the musical differences between the Soundflowers EP and "Wilted."  She's not a one trick pony.

It doesn't hurt that she's beautiful.  

In a way, I kind of feel sorry for her former boyfriend, Gabriel Glen.  He's a competent musician, but I don't think he's quite good enough to be a star.  He probably should have realized that neither Paris nor her fans were going to tolerate her being his descant long term.  It was a great first album experience for her, though.  

I think of the irony of his having been amazed at how well she blended with him. Yeah. MJ's daughter.  He was a fabulous background vocalist, as well as lead singer, as demonstrated by the multiple tracks of him singing background on his own albums.

Poor Gabe  He should have realized that the important thing was not how well she blended with him, but how well he blended with her.  He demonstrated that on one track, but not overall.  Still, he is to be congratulated on helping her get out of her shell.  I am grateful to him for that.

I kind of doubt that he's going to be famous in the future, but I could be wrong. I love his hair.  He looked great next to her in pictures.  Maybe he'll pull it off, or become a producer.

I notice that the second guy she worked with, Andy Hull, got it.  He's there making the album magical, but featuring her.  He's got his head on straight.

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” – Harry S. Truman

@parisjackson "Wilted"

 Ok, let's be honest here.  Why am I following this woman on twitter and buying her albums?  It's because at one time I was obsessed with her father, who she looks so much like that they could almost be twins.

There's this breathless anticipation: is she going to make me as excited as he did?  Has he left something significant on this earth that will go on creating the path he started?

I've been waiting for this.  From the moment I first set eyes on her, I thought there was something special about her, something riveting, something her father had, but I don't know that her siblings do, except maybe Omar in Norway (or was it Sweden).  

What is that?  David Foster said that you can tell a star, because when they're on the stage you only see them, not anyone else who is on the stage with them. Yes, I feel that way about her.  She draws my eyes.  I want to stare. 

An emotional darkness, a physical beauty, a sense of mystery.    He was big into creating mystery -- and, tantalizingly, she puts up videos of herself playing the guitar, but not showing her face -- just the very sort of thing that MJ would have done -- hide his face.

The last album/EP merely whetted my appetite.  She sang descant.  She did that uncanny blending that her father did, when he recorded backing tracks for his albums out of his house.  I wonder whether she may have heard any of that.  Of course, the genre was totally different; Indie/folk/rock -- not pop, r&b, soul or dance music.  Yet, I heard enough of him to stay hooked.

And now the second album, a different sound again more alternative/perhaps almost modern classical.  That's good.  She isn't limited to a single genre.  MJ was known for creativity, for breaking molds.  Yes!

Her music video "Let Down" is gory.  The illustrations on the album are eerie, dark, dismal.  Actually the drawings on the EP were a disjointed, giving an impression of madness. One can see a connection in the type of mind that would do "Wilted" with the type that would do "Thriller."

Sometimes I think that only insane people have enough innate drama to be able to reach international prominence.  Her father had that -- some madness that led him to various peculiar behaviors. 

Yes, she has that as well: madness.  There's something fascinating about that.

I had had fond hopes that she might be the celeb who would take up my #QuixoticQuest for the world anthem.  After all, the idea came from her father -- and his "Cry" music video. There doesn't seem to be anything like that here. 

That's an issue I've been noticing.  A lot of the Jackson family continues to perform.  None of them seems to have the idealism that MJ sometimes displayed.  

Yet, this album is very beautiful. I love this type of sound. I love modern classical, weird stuff.  It's too bad that I only had the option mp3 download, rather than a cd, because CD's say who the collaborators are and what instruments are being played don each track.  I wonder to what extent the sound on this album came from her and to what extent it might have come from collaborators.  

Is she the source of her sound, as her father was, or are people coming in and doing arranging and editing for her?  Is she a the football in the game, where industry professionals are looking out to see who is a social media influence?  Once they decide that a performer has potential in terms of gathering large audiences,  they'll create all kinds of things to showcase her.

Warning: this is hypnotic.  Be prepared to be lulled to sleep.  I'm not saying that as an insult.  It's just very somniferous -- not boring, but rather mesmerizing.

She has a very complex, expressive voice. She definitely holds up as a solo artist.  The unusual thing is that she also blends so well.  That was a characteristic of her father as well.

@parisjackson EP, The Soundflowers

I’ve mostly been following Paris Jackson, because I was fascinated with her father. It wasn’t just his music and his dancing. He was a fascinating person—almost like a Howard Hughes: a mysterious genius.

At first I bought into those people who said that his children were adopted. Then, when I saw them at the funeral, and saw that their skin was darker then most white people’s skin and that Prince had vitiligo, I realized that those rumors were just lies. They were clearly his children. I wrote a blog about this before. 

http://straightarrow372.blogspot.com/2017/11/how-can-they-say-she-doesnt-look-like.html

After a while, I saw that, whatever that X Factor thing is, Paris has it. She wasn’t as graceful in her walk as the other models at the Victoria’s Secret show, but when you sit down and listen to her speaking, you can’t take your eyes off of her. David Foster said you can tell a star because, when they’re in the room, everybody else disappears. You only see them. She has that. Whatever that is she has it. She must’ve gotten it from her father.

I’ve been wanting to hear her perform. There’ve been some tantalizing clips on YouTube. Frankly, she didn’t sound that great. I was surprised. She sounded hesitant in her singing. She didn’t sound like she had good breath control. I thought it was too bad that her father was so anxious to avoid putting the kind of pressure on her that he had a child that he would completely avoid giving her voice lessons.

Now she came out with an EP. Surprisingly to me, it’s a folk indie style performance. Even more surprising to me, was that Paris mostly sings descant. She has one song that she wrote. She has some solos in the other songs.  Still, I hear the guy (Gabriel Glen)  more than I hear her.

Glen stated that she blends with him much better than anyone he’s ever sung with. I feel like she’s too quiet, but that’s appropriate when you’re singing descant. 

In thinking back on Michael Jackson—the father she looks so much like— and what he was known for, I think of him as a charismatic performer, with a solo voice, and extraordinary dancing skills. That’s my first impression.

Yet there was something else that he did. In his recorded music, particularly later in his career, he created many complex layers of rhythms and harmonies. He sang choirs of harmonies with his own solo tracks. A lot of the distinctive sound of his music comes from the work he did making layers of tracks. If you listen to the recordings, the blending of the different tracks is seamless. You can’t hear separate voices or instruments very much. It’s all just an extraordinarily precise and coherent whole.

When I think of that context, I realize she does sound like him. She doesn’t sound like his solo tracks. She sounds like his harmony tracks.  She's very precise and, when she adds her voice, she adds a layer of excitement that wouldn't be there without her.

I’m thinking too of David Foster who chooses to create complex music, but puts a singer upfront to entertain the audience. The audience doesn’t necessarily even notice, consciously, the sounds of the orchestra behind the singer; but that is the domain of the genius of David Foster.

Michael Jackson had that kind of genius as well, but also the solo voice that David Foster doesn’t have and the dancing that David Foster probably never even considered.

Sometimes genius can be recognized, not in standing out, but in laboring to create a more accomplished product in conjunction with others. It seems that Paris has decided to go this route. I don't know if she is a genius.  Time will tell.  Still, there are definitely times when her harmonization is quite extraordinary.

When I've seen them performing, it's just the 2 of them, and usually only one is playing the guitar at a time. Yet, on the EP, there is at least one other instrument: a drum.  My ear is not good enough to discern if there are more, but there certainly could be. It remains to be seen how many instruments would be in the band if they go to tour.