These Songs Aren't about You

Extremely specific love songs

This playlist was inspired by the Bo Burnham song “Repeat Stuff.” In the song, he sings:

It’s absurd and yet oddly accurate. Burnham takes the vagueness of modern pop songs to its logical extreme, parodying how artists deliberately keep their lyrics general so that any listener can place themselves or their relationship into every single song. And it works. Generic, catch-all lyrics mean mass appeal and better streaming numbers. But it also means we’ve traded specificity for marketability. Today, so many songs are written to be a blank slate—something anyone can project their story onto. But in the process, it often loses its soul.

Like Burnham suggests, where are all the songs rich with idiosyncrasy? Where are the lyrics that describe lovers in vivid detail: the smell of their perfume, the exact street where you met, the very words they said when they left? These aren’t just songs; they are sonic memoirs.

So I set out to make a playlist that’s the antithesis of those vague, one-size-fits-all hits. I call it: These Songs Aren’t About You.

The songs on this playlist have details so specific that they couldn’t possibly be about anyone. The rule I created for myself while building this playlist was that the song must include some sort of detail that was so specific that it had to be about one specific person.

There’s a gray area in some songs that use specific names, but the details about the person are a trope, making it too general. An example of this is in Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.” While the song is about Caroline, you don’t actually learn any defining details about who Caroline is, other than her name.

Some Standouts from the Playlist

“Miss Simone” by Sara Bareilles

“With Miss Simone
Singing, "Pour some sugar in my bowl, baby"
In the glow of the candlelight, we danced all night
On the rooftop, thinking no one needs to know a thing
But Miss Simone”

The intimacy of this song is remarkable and one of Bareilles’s strengths as a lyricist. This song tells the story of a couple in a brand new relationship. The blossming romance is exciting and incredibly intoxicating.

“3 Minutes” by JP Saxe

“But you got a lot of great songs 'bout a lot of shit guys
You did more with three minutes than they'll do with their lives”

In this precious love song about learning how to be in a securely attached relationship, Saxe sings about how his, then partner (also a songwriter), is so good at her job that she can do more with a song (usually around 3 minutes) than her exes will do in their entire lives.

“Late to the Party” by Kacey Musgraves

“They're blowing up our phones, asking where we are
Just say we're almost there; we ain't even in the car
You're rolling one for two and I'm still picking out my shoes
I'm never late to the party if I'm late to the party with you”

I love the picture this song paints— a couple taking their time getting ready for a party, unbothered by how late they are because when they are together nothing else matters.

“Drinkin’ Too Much” by Sam Hunt

“I'm sorry I named the album Montevallo
And I'm sorry people know your name now
And strangers hit you up on social media
I'm sorry you can't listen to the radio
And drive out to the place we used to get peaches down in Pelham”

I fell in love with Hunt’s writing style back in college (but I would like to preface that that was the time of his demo “Between the Pines,” which is vastly different than his songs that get radio time. His newer songs are actually perfect examples of the generic brownish, bluish, greenish eyes songs.) This entire song is a gut-wrenching apology from someone who knows he messed up big time.

“Rome” by Dermont Kennedy

“Do you remember when
Midnight drives when you'd sing
I'd play you songs you were in?
I just want to be there again”

Kennedy reminisces on a love that has recently ended, citing real memories. All of his songs are filled to the brim with real-life details that paint the scene for the listener.

Final Thoughts

In making this playlist, I found that the songs I love the most are the unambiguous ones. I love rich, precise lyrics filled with meticulous details that paint a picture and place the listener in the moment. (Artists like Julia Michaels, Phoebe Bridgers, and Taylor Swift come to mind.) Even if I can’t relate specifically to the exact event in question, the feelings are universal. And sometimes, it’s those specificities that create a feeling more authentic and, thus, more relatable than a song with generic, basic descriptors.

The vividness of the details ground each song in a single night, a single relationship, a single kind of intimacy that no crowd could compete with. It doesn’t feel like the singer is singing to the masses. It feels like the singer is talking to the muse directly and letting us overhear.

It’s the intimacy of the lyrics for me. Even if the details aren’t relatable, the intimacy is. It reminds me that we really aren’t that different after all. We all want the same things. We all feel the same emotions.

Happy listening!