There is a moment at the end of Slumdog Millionaire when the story stops being a story and turns into a celebration. The credits begin to roll, a train stationContinue readingThe Meaning of “Jai Ho” (Slumdog Millionaire)
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The Meaning of “Side to Side” by Ariana Grande
Pop music has always lived two lives at once: the one it shows in public and the one it winks about in private. “Side to Side,” the dancehall-flavored single fromContinue readingThe Meaning of “Side to Side” by Ariana Grande
The Meaning of “Silver Springs” by Fleetwood Mac
It is one of rock’s great ironies that a song can be cut from the masterpiece it was written for and still outlive most of the tracks that stayed. “SilverContinue readingThe Meaning of “Silver Springs” by Fleetwood Mac
The Meaning of “The Scientist” by Coldplay
Every generation gets a song that lets young men cry in public, and for the early 2000s that song was “The Scientist.” Arriving on Coldplay’s second album, A Rush ofContinue readingThe Meaning of “The Scientist” by Coldplay
The Meaning of “Deslocado” by NAPA
Eurovision is supposed to be a carnival of excess: wind machines, pyrotechnics, costume changes performed in the blink of an eye. So it was strange, and a little wonderful, whenContinue readingThe Meaning of “Deslocado” by NAPA
The Meaning of “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen
No American song has been so thoroughly misheard by so many people, and no misunderstanding has been so revealing. When “Born in the U.S.A.” exploded out of the speakers inContinue readingThe Meaning of “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen
The Meaning of “Kalapastangan” by Fitterkarma
There are songs that climb the charts, and there are songs that seem to climb out of the ground, as if the country itself had been waiting to hear them.Continue readingThe Meaning of “Kalapastangan” by Fitterkarma
The Meaning of “Vienna” by Billy Joel
Some songs arrive with a drumroll and some arrive with a hush, and “Vienna” belongs to the second kind: a piano ballad tucked into the second half of The Stranger,Continue readingThe Meaning of “Vienna” by Billy Joel
The Meaning of “Circle of Life” (The Lion King)
There’s a moment in the history of movies when a single voice, one human voice, rolls out over a darkened theater and everybody in the room gets goosebumps at theContinue readingThe Meaning of “Circle of Life” (The Lion King)
The Meaning of “APT” by Rosé and Bruno Mars
Somewhere in the fall of 2024, a chant swept across the planet like a fever. Two syllables, repeated over a stomping punk-pop beat, shouted in a language half the worldContinue readingThe Meaning of “APT” by Rosé and Bruno Mars