Close Reading/Listening "Devil May Cry" by The Weekend

(First, listen to the song here, so you know what I'm talking about!)


For my Close Reading Inquiry, I chose to closely read/listen to the song "Devil May Cry" by The Weekend. I chose that song because I noticed many verses had lots of inner meanings. "Devil May Cry" tells a story about hardships and merits. It is about the way life is and how it flows dynamically is echoed in the music and lyrics. This, I think, was expressed through an 'up and down'-like fashion.

In the first few lines of the song, I noticed that the words held a heavy message that contradicted the melody. The lyrics reflected upon enduring pain, while the melody was soft and soothing. This was the first sign of the 'up and down' pattern. I think that this was intended to show how if you can survive a challenge or a hardship you've faced, you will be able to face it again. And this time, you can plow through that challenge with more experience. 

The second and the third verse was all about the 'rewards' of the hard fracas. The phrases "They will parade upon your victory," and "Home will feel like home again," both sound pretty amazing, all things considered. Also, the tune of the music changed to a wall of pure concurrent sound, which added emphasis to the song. This was definitely meant to construct an image of one those climax points in life. It's that high point of life that can usually be identified with the phrase, 'This is the best day ever!' The climax always comes after the action, and these two verses really explained that. 

There were two lines in the song that confused me for some time. "Corruption will fill your brain," and "Just learn to love pain and be patient." At first, I thought these two phrases had a kind of negative resonance to them, being that corruption is usually what drives people to do bad things and the reference back to the first verse. Their placement in the song confused me as well, when it goes from "And home will feel like home again," to "Corruption will fill your brain." But then, it hit me. The two phrases aren't negative at all. They were almost  like encouragements. "Corruption will fill your brain," is just a funny way of saying 'You will have the strength to do <action verb>.' The second line that confused me, the reference back to the first verse, was really the entire message of the song summed up on that line. "Just learn to love pain and be patient." You have to be patient in order to successfully get through life's challenges. You need you a corrupt brain to convince yourself you can.

All in all, the song "Devil May Cry" by The Weekend was all about facing hardships in life and getting through them. It warned that if you're not patient, that low point of your life can drop even lower. I also noticed that this entire song was almost like a summary of social injustice in the world.  Someone facing poverty or abuse can definitely feel life's low points, but there is a way for someone to overcome these challenges. It can be hard, or it can be easy, you can even get help from others. But on the infinite mountain range that is life itself, there will always be a way to climb higher.