Common
Common builds a triumphant victory-lap track around a sampled ELO hook, using the sky as a running metaphor for ascent,…
ambition realized spiritual gratitude celebrity and success
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris narrates the entire life of a childhood friend from rural Alabama, from adolescence to an early, unremarked…
rural poverty thwarted ambition female friendship
Billy Joel
A weary older voice counsels a driven young person to ease off the throttle, arguing that ambition pursued without patience…
ambition versus patience fear of mortality burnout
Paul Simon
A bitter recollection of a suffocating hometown, stripped of color and possibility, sung as a reunion piece by Simon and…
small-town claustrophobia loss of faith inherited identity
Radiohead
A speaker invokes a childhood fantasy of cosmic justice to punish people who irritate him, then realizes partway through that…
petty vindictiveness corporate/institutional conformity self-recognition and guilt
Van Halen
A breezy, party-anthem celebration of seasonal freedom, cruising, and casual flirtation, delivered with the loose-limbed swagger…
youthful escapism seasonal freedom casual romance/objectification
Yes
This is Yes's 1980s pivot toward radio-ready pop-rock dressed up with the band's characteristic layered vocals and structural…
romantic dissolution self-reinvention emotional numbness