Oh my god thank you professor skye I needed this Edit: AVAA this billy woods verse is probably my favorite of his and I am always amazed by his ability to illustrate the human mind as buildings or cityscapes
AVAA This song jostled something in me and your academic appreciation of Woods is so satisfying-please take my follow. Music journalism is deteriorating and we need high-level breakdowns like this. Hoping I find some Brownsville ka in your library as well 👀 one of his actual rivals
This song kind of sounds like a fuzzy, dark version of Bending Hectic. Super super drab and emotional, and makes me think of how horrible January weather is. AVAA Professor, this song is gonna be legendary I know it
i know i sound like a nasty music nerd goblin bringing the smile into a rap artist song review but it seriously does remind of it. idrk what else to compare it to lmao. i guess its sort of like a Caretaker track but with vocals which is pretty fire if you ask me
This is one of the best things I've heard recently. Best thing I've heard from Armand Hammer, not that I've heard everything, or am any kind of expert.Love the singing along with the spoken word, and wobbly, disorienting, psychedelic arrangement.
AVAA I'm so happy you did a full analysis on this because wow is this track just so superb. I always love seeing your analytical takes on some of my favorite music and you really went above and beyond to give a new perspective with this review. Love you Prof!
AVAA This song escaped any kind of deep analysis for me the first 15 times I listened to it when it came out. Since I’ve let it marinate it’s developed its own deep meaning for me. I always appreciate these videos because they open up the songs like crazy and I get so much more out of it. Thanks prof
AVAA, this song really has grown on me as one of the greatest of my lifetime so far. it just paints its picture so vividly and in a way i’ve never seen or heard before
Seriously I’d heard it before but just truly listened to it for the first time yesterday and there’s this thing woods does where I completely stop hearing the words and it all becomes a series of images and feelings.. I had to rewind a lot to appreciate the writing because the images completely took over.. especially when he goes in his mind.. woods is an absolute master at what he does.. I feel like calling him a rapper is an understatement. It’s a lot more than rap or even music going on here
You work fast! The song was pretty long and I am going to dissect it some more later. I definitely didn't expect a song of this magnitude right now. The work ethic of Armand Hammer is stupendous! I really hope they take over the rap game sooner rather than later. It seems that they scratch both the quantity and quality itches perfectly. How do they manage to keep that balance!? Truly inspiring.
I think you slightly missed the mark as far as the last few bars of Billy Woods verse go. Rather then simply sharing communion and 'breaking bread' with his friends. I believe Woods meant for you to picture a family get together for the lunch that immediately proceeds a funeral. I think that's why he specifically made a point of saying, 'LONG table set'. The long table specifically being used for large family get togethers. Which when put into context is likely why he was making the soup. I think it's more likely that it's funeral day for a very close loved one for him. (Given the generational nod with his son, I think Father. But I know I could wrong about that.) But anyway, I think this entire song is Woods reminiscing on the day of the funeral for someone very close to him, about how he got to this point and referencing his inner grief with the locked doors in his mind. Spaces which are far too painful for him to visit at this time. So when you say the song is 'about nothing' really, I don't think that's accurate. Just my thoughts. I really liked the video though, keep doing your thing. You're easily one of the best on RU-vid doing music reviews.
The burners aren't heating the apartment, he's cooking when he gets the call (or begins ruminating). "Stockpile pile high" - literally the soup he's stirring a few bars later.
There was another common space vestibule line in “No Hard Feelings” off of Aeithiopes, where he’s like “Guess who in the vestibule like, ‘You can't smoke that here mister’ Nah man, you can't smoke that here.” Again it’s a place where smoking breaches the agreement of the communal space, man there is no one who articulates space and feelings about space this well
AVAA this song is an incredible tonal compliment to the album itself. Also worth adding that birds themselves are symbolic for angels- I would suggest reading the inimitable Peter Kingsley for more on this.
Liminal spaces have become huge in the internet era way outside of academic interests, there are great videos by Solar Sands and Clark Elieson video on the subject. Also they're are the core of the "Backrooms" horror phenomenon/mythology (?) that causes huge amounts of excitement among people like my cousin. It seems like an embodiment of the in-between that the internet puts us in, through liminal pictures, the sense of uneasiness of transiting through a place that doesn't seem like it can fit in the right place within our animal and spiritual brains.
I saw them in Atlanta, and got both to sign BLK LBL!! I was hoping to pick up the Shrines repress too, but I ordered that one online since they were only selling the one album
I just came across your channel, and I know nothing about you but you mentioned Fantano and I can already tell you are a thousand times cooler than that dude who own personal bias and stubbornness get’s in the way far to often to be even considered a real reviewer anymore.
#AVAA you’re were right. I wouldn’t say “album” like you said I would say “poem” but we mean the same thing here. I would describe it like this. The poem "Dove" seems to be an emotional or metaphorical representation of time and haste, possibly in the context of farewell or loss. The line "They called like 'Come now, he doesn't have long to live'" could refer to the urgency of hurrying to see or support someone in their final stage of life. The following line "I dress slowly" could symbolize a delay or hesitancy, possibly out of sadness or unwillingness to deal with the situation. The metaphor could be that the act of dressing slowly symbolizes the speaker's inability or unwillingness to deal with the urgency and seriousness of the situation. It could also suggest that the speaker is slowly detaching from something or someone as they prepare to say goodbye, similar to dressing slowly before an important event or life change. The analogy could be that the action of slowly dressing resembles a slow flight of a dove that remains calm and deliberate despite being told to hurry, much like the speaker who slowly prepares to say goodbye while the world around him is in a hurry.
the thing about liminal spaces is kinda funny because liminal spaces kind of became a meme and i feel like most young people know what liminal spaces are now
When you mention the hobby bar you say it was from wu tang which is correct, BUT billy woods uses the same bar on "spongebob". I'm sure this wasn't known to you but I still find it pretty ironic.
