Dr. Dre
A West Coast victory-lap posse cut in which Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg reassert their partnership and their region's dominance,…
regional pride hedonism and ritual (weed, cars, drinking) reunion/partnership
Seal
This is Seal's cover of the Ben E. King soul standard, reworked as a lush, string-laden vocal showcase for his 2008 covers album…
loyalty fear of abandonment cosmic/apocalyptic imagery as metaphor for hardship
Wire
A terse breakup-or-betrayal song built around a single ominous refrain, in which the speaker recalibrates a failed alliance and…
broken partnership recrimination doubt and self-justification
Neutral Milk Hotel
A meditation on love, mortality, and impermanence that blurs the line between romantic address and elegy, filtered through Jeff…
mortality and impermanence romantic devotion memory and loss
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