Music
18 The Weeknd Lyrics You Can Use Every Day
It's a cold world out there — Mr. Starboy himself is here to show you that even seemingly fun stuff can be very, very sad.
Abel Tesfaye has lived the wicked-sexy life of a Roman emperor — but all he wants you to know is that it makes him really sad. As The Weeknd — with typical sonic assistance from producers Illangelo, Doc McKinney, Max Martin and, recently, Daft Punk — Tesfaye has treated his music as a moral black hole of sorts, going so full-on tragic with his licentiousness that he must assume his debauchery inhales all tamer debauchery in its orbit, promoting his “dispatches” from the Dark Side as representative of the kind of lifestyle he’ll live so you don’t have to. He’s learned the hard way, you see, imbibing his way to the bottom, but only for the express purpose of reporting back what the bottom’s like so you can understand that, as he understands so well, doing stuff that apparently makes you feel good also makes you feel really bad.
Keeping that in mind, listeners must navigate the Toronto R&B singer’s grim soundscapes carefully, never forgetting that all the threesomes and luxury he describes are not fun — definitely not as cool as he makes them seem — but are stumbling blocks on the slippery slope toward damnation. To make sure you can find your footing, we’ve gathered 18 of the most useful of The Weeknd’s worldly lyrics, covering everything from illegal substances to other stuff that isn’t an illegal substance.
1. “ Even though you don’t roll / Trust me girl, you wanna be high for this”
Song: “High For This”
Lesson: Sometimes the sheer majesty of life can only be experienced while under the influence of mind-altering substances, and taking advantage of such majesty — opening that conduit between our world and a more transcendent realm — should surely take precedence over more puritanical concerns.
2. ”If it hurts to breathe, open a window”
Song: “House of Balloons”
Lesson: Windows — nature’s exhaust system — provide a hole through which nauseous fumes or various pulmonary irritants can escape and disperse, making a once-enclosed space a much healthier environment. Simultaneously, in any situation which may have you feeling claustrophobic, it’s important to remember that a “window” can always be opened — don't panic.
3. ”So baby take your clothes off, a chance like this / You may never get to show off, show off”
Song: “Loft Music”
Lesson: A life lived to its fullest is merely a string of existential chances/choices met with one word: “Yes.” To deny yourself the validation of being appreciated for your looks by a maturity-stunted pop star with no real solid sense of decorum or even consent is to say “no” to a world of pregnant possibilities.
4. ”And nothing ever, ever your fault… / Well baby, you don’t need your best friends / ‘cause I got everything you want”
Song: “Lonely Star”
Lesson: If you’re trapped in a shame loop, best find yourself a rich sponsor — preferably one who only demands corporeal favors in return for the money you need to support your lifestyle — lest you actually have to confront your self-destructive behavior.
5. ”I don’t want to die tonight, baby / So let me sip this slow”
Song: “The Zone”
Lesson: Everything with moderation.
6. ”Don’t make me make you fall in love.”
Song: “The Birds (Part 1)”
Lesson: There is no choice in love when it comes to an "alpha male" — there is only acceptance of his virile power and the inevitability of seduction.
7. ”Another room, you hear your mom cryin’ / ‘cause she found your bag stuffed in the laundry”
Song: “XO”
Lesson: If you’re planning to live rent free with your mother, take extra pains to conceal your partying lifestyle from her so as not to jeopardize your arrangement.
8. ”Don’t show the world how alone you’ve become”
Song: “Tears in the Rain”
Lesson: If poor people sense weakness in their wealthy betters, they will, as Karl Marx once warned, revolt.
9. ”But I’m always getting high / ‘cause my confidence low”
Song: “Love in the Sky”
Lesson: Using drugs makes The Weeknd feel good about himself.
10. ”And I’m always in a rush / Ain’t no time to f*** slow / And even if I try / It’s not something I would know”
Song: “Love in the Sky”
Lesson: Sex is merely an interaction between corresponding crotches and all else, such as romance or pace or intimacy or mutual recognition of desire, is a literal waste of time. Also, sex immediately ends at the moment of male ejaculation, whereupon a male’s brain functionally resets and forgets all he “would know” from the experience. This is science.
11. ”Heaven only lets a few in / It’s too late for me to choose it”
Song: “Real Life”
Lesson: Heaven is like an exclusive country club; make sure you don’t miss that application deadline!
12. ”We live with no lies / Hey, hey / You’re my favorite kind of night”
Song: “Earned It”
Lesson: If you consider a potential sexual partner as more of a loosely defined period of time than a human being with genitals, you might as well be honest about it.
13. ”Tryna keep it up don’t seem so simple / I just fucked two bitches ‘fore I saw you”
Song: “The Hills”
Lesson: Erectile dysfunction is a sign that you’re a true baller.
14. ”My white god, he in my pocket / He got me redder than the devil ‘til I go nauseous”
Song: “Often”
Lesson: Like Abraham ready to sacrifice his son, sometimes you just have to do cocaine until you barf.
15. ”Got up, thank the Lord for the day / Woke up by a girl, I don’t even know her name”
Song: “Party Monster”
Lesson: Be sure to thank god for your successful womanizing every day you wake up or one day you might just not wake up at all.
16. ”She loves everybody / She gets off all the time / It’s a dark philosophy / And it haunts her constantly”
Song: “False Alarm”
Lesson: Hedonism is bad unless you’re The Weeknd or someone with whom The Weeknd wants to fuck. In that case, hedonism is hella sexy.
17. ”Tell me the truth / Baby girl, who else been with you? / It’s gon’ come to my attention either way”
Song: “True Colors”
Lesson: It’s never unreasonable to expect a woman whom you already implicitly infantilize to be transparent about her comprehensive sexual history even though you rarely deign — if ever — to do the same. Nor is it unreasonable to threaten that person into doing so.
18. ”You don’t have to waste your energy / We can just be rockin’, yeah”
Song: “Rockin’”
Lesson: Putting effort into stuff is stupid.
