tumblr the weeknd lyrics go tell your friends

It’s a beast with huge ambitions, most of which Tesfaye meets in confidence. There’s no place to hide on this record, though. He’s deferring to descriptions of his character by others - chiefly, his own mother - and essentially nodding along, fixing a mask to his features and hiding in plain sight. It’s all I know, never learned much more” I’ll be the same, never changed for nothin’ ”Tell ‘em this boy wasn’t meant for lovin’ ‘Real Life’, the record’s opener, is announced via distorted horns that act as the driving force for an elegant composition where piano and strings eventually unfold, underscoring Tesfaye’s words, the first of which prove telling: That, and Tesfaye’s ear for killer hooks and beats. This warring duality is what makes The Weeknd and Beauty Behind The Madness so intriguing. If he’s not bragging about his prowess or justifying his actions - ”I don’t want to hurt you, but you live for the pain”, he insists on the notably clunky ‘Shameless’ - he’s turning knives inward, unsafe in the knowledge that he’s bad news. Part celebration, part declaration, part maturation Tesfaye’s second studio album proper presents a man seemingly obsessed with the opposite sex and his role in such encounters. Can one become an all-encompassing pop cultural icon while dealing so unabashedly in wounds and grim debauchery? It’s a question that Beauty Behind the Madness ultimately poses rather than seeks to answer. Tesfaye may have tightened and maximised his sound whilst perfecting his smile, but The Weeknd is still racked with internal turmoil, still simultaneously bemused and amused by his dalliances between the sheets, of which there are apparently a great many.

He buys in.īeauty Behind the Madness is a glorious contradiction in terms as he attempts to be all things to all fans, old and new. Those who have followed him to this point would be forgiven for approaching his latest work with a certain degree of cynicism, but the truth is that Tesfaye doesn’t ‘sell out’. All of this is quite the far cry from the bleak, meandering tone of Trilogy and the icy nature of 2013’s Kiss Land. Gifted the Midas touch of Max Martin, the song is the ultimate mission statement for an act that not just wishes but absolutely intends to take the throne.

‘Can’t Feel My Face’, the bounciest ode to drug-fuelled lust you’re ever likely to hear, welcomed comparisons to Michael Jackson.

Appearances on the soundtracks of The Hunger Games and Fifty Shades of Grey, heavy association with the launch of Apple Music and public endorsements from the likes of Taylor Swift and Tom Cruise have all played their part in his ascension. Now, with pointed aspirations to be the biggest pop star in the world, Tesfaye finds himself at a neon-lit crossroads. Under the guise of The Weeknd he previously stalked gloomy, self-loathing shadows, revelling in a most seductive mire. Nobody makes wistful sleaze sound quite so compelling as Abel Tesfaye.

Tumblr the weeknd lyrics go tell your friends