The Darker Meaning Behind HEY YA!

one two three hey I might just be the happiest sounding song released during the 2000s for nearly 20 years it's had people shamelessly dancing and singing along with every listen it's a song that single-handedly made Polaroid cool again hey I was a crossover hit sitting on top of the hot 100 for nine straight weeks going platinum in a number of regions around the globe he became the first song to ever reach 1 million paid downloads on iTunes eventually winning the Grammy for Best urban alternative performance the single was seen as a breakthrough for the hip hop industry being one of the first hip hop songs to be widely played on adult contemporary stations but the catchy funk too is one of the most deceivingly happy sounding songs recorded Andre 3000 goes to great lengths improving that most people don't care about the deeper meanings within songs they just want to dance let's take a look at the darker meaning behind hey yet coming fresh off their fourth album Stankonia Outkast decided to divide and conquer with their next album each member would spend the next two years creating solo albums releasing them as a double LP under the Outkast name when Speakerbox and the love below arrived in 2003 its two sides were very different albums big boys cameos featured jay-z and Ludacris and some dirty southern hip-hop stylings while andre 3000 side was all sex jazz funk and more sex it would become their most commercially successful album and at large part due to the first single they released originally titled thank God for mom and dad Andre 3000 wrote the track during the making of their Stankonia record it wasn't until December of 2002 when he'd head into studio to record the track he was inspired by bands like The Ramones and The Smiths and used an acoustic guitar to lay down the groundwork improvising lyrics along the way the love below is about the quest for love with each track representing a different woman none of them are autobiographical just fantasies or tangents based on real life at its core haiya is an ironically bleak track about the current state of relationships let's break this thing down for just a few seconds straight off the top the narrator tells us that his girl won't cheat on him because she loves him and he really believes that but he thinks that maybe she's only faithful because she's afraid of being alone he goes on to comment on past generations and how they managed to stay married for decades while this new generation is seeing divorce rates soar he's stuck in this relationship with a woman he no longer loves and it's becoming clear that she's lost that feeling for him as well the protagonist wonders what the purpose of continuing the relationship is but the song masks its messages with alternating falsettos and frequent repetition to the point where we don't comprehend its true meaning our protagonist Ponder's over if they're staying together out of tradition ignoring their real feelings and sacrificing their happiness for many people stay in unhappy relationships rather than doing what's right for them and for a moment we think it's over the entire audience should get it by now but they don't we're in denial and aundrea calls us out for it but it's buried in the beginning of another course and he was right many people still see this as a happy pop rap song ignoring its true nature the video is further commentary on how the world reacted to the single just pure unadulterated adoration the videos overwhelming positivity and enthusiasm also overshadows its themes with the song does something interesting musically as well it uses what's called a deceptive or interrupted cadence see each phrase of the song is split into six measures and has a chord progression of 1 4 5 6 [Music] the first 4/4 measure is in G major with the second and third 4/4 measure in C major Andre then uses a deceptive cadence with a 2/4 measure of a D major chord before quickly jumping into two four four measures of an E major chord traditionally the five chord D major in this case wants to resolve back to the one but it doesn't we are then deceived it invokes the song with a hanging or suspended feeling and its use here perfectly encapsulates the lyrics themes of hanging on to relationships the narrator moves on and then tells us what they do want to avoid a serious relationship and to be with someone they can simply have fun with and without context the lyrics that do stand out sound like typical rap fodder finally the song wraps up telling listeners and maybe that's to listen to your gut to avoid unhappiness and if that means getting out of a bad relationship when love and emotions begin to fade you should know what to do it doesn't make sense to stick together when those emotions are gone and if they are still present then just enjoy each other and avoid complicating things hey-ya is one of the best tracks of the last 20 years not only for its irresistible groove but because of its cheeky way of making a statement on modern relationships and the music we enjoy thematically it covers a lot of ground that appeals to a lot of people and maybe we ignore it because music should be an escape and we don't want to hear it we know what the right thing to do is but maybe we just want to keep dancing and for what it's worth you're not actually supposed to shake polaroid pictures it's time to start focusing on yourself we spend a lot of energy and attempting to make others happy while sacrificing our own self-improvement you can turn a motion into empowerment with this week's sponsor Skillshare inter-class drawing a self discovery Mari Andrew can guide you in beginning to heal through art you can get full access to the class using the first link below skill share is an online learning community for creators they have more than 25,000 classes in productivity lifestyle music making anything you'd be interested in pursuing a premium membership gives you unlimited access to join the classes and communities that are just right for you and your goals a subscription is less than ten bucks a month but you can use the link in the description to get a two month free trial so you can process your emotions and pursue self-discovery today thanks for watching ladies and gents if you enjoyed this video give it a like subscribe to learn more about the stories behind the music you love consider supporting us on patreon for an inside look behind the making of these videos and tell me whether songs do you know that are deceptively happy other than Pumped Up Kicks and that's it for me again thanks for watching and keep listening

Channel: Middle 8

Views: 6,879,946

Keywords: Outkast, hey ya, outkast hey ya, the love below, hidden meaning hey ya, darker meaning hey ya, hey ya lyrics, hey ya analysis, shake it like a polaroid picture, andre 3000

Id: J_fHZkgk980

Length: 6min 50sec (410 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 01 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Hobo-and-the-hound]

This video proves that you can make a video essay on any topic. The lyrics in Hey Ya aren’t deep metaphors, the message behind the song is obvious to anyone who listened to more than the chorus.

[u/Then-Lettuce-8405]

Got It!