There are always songs that make you feel better, make you feel happier. When you’re feeling really awful about life, they lift you up and make you want to dance around, screaming the lyrics as you spin around with your arms over your head and clapping your hands. Or maybe that’s just me. When I first heard this song, that’s what this was to me. It kind of still is.
But then there are those songs the lyrics really hit home; they touch something inside of you and speak to you, and seem to have some sort of universal truth to them. They make you think, and they make you reflect. That’s one of the many things I really love about music - they touch people in different ways, and music is such a diverse, wonderful world that no matter what your situation is, and how you’re feeling, there will be a piece of music out there that speaks to you.
To me, Unbelievers by Vampire Weekend is both. My first impression of this song was the first kind of song; I just remember immediately thinking, “This is really catchy. I really like this. And it’s so happy!” Having only heard songs from their first eponymous album beforehand, I sort of had a sense of their style; I knew they were an indie rock group, which I loved, and their stuff was always catchy.
Something I really love about indie music in general is that there are so many layers to it, and a lot of the time it incorporates a lot of different genres in its style. Vampire Weekend is a perfect example. Ezra Koenig and the other bandmates all met at Columbia and experimented with African music before finding their own sound, and they incorporated a lot of that into their music, especially their earlier songs. A lot of their songs found commercial success early on, and I think a really big part of that is because their songs, along with being just really catchy, are well-written and well thought out. Fundamentally, their music is interesting and their songs generally (with the exception of a few songs on Contra, their second album) have a strong beat and hook.
I really enjoyed a lot of their songs from the very beginning, particularly Oxford Comma, Mansard Roof, Walcott, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, and A-Punk. I really only sang along to the choruses and knew the melodies, because I didn’t really pay attention to the lyrics. I couldn’t really tell you why; I guess the fact that they had written such captivating melodies satisfied my brain enough so that I didn’t think that the lyrics were that important.
But looking at the lyrics of Unbelievers specifically, you can see so much more depth in the song:
Got a little soul
The world is a cold, cold place to be
Want a little warmth
But who’s going to save a little warmth for me
We know the fire awaits unbelievers all of the sinners the same
Girl you and I will die unbelievers bound to the tracks of the train
If I’m born again I know that the world will disagree
Want a little grace but who’s going to say a little grace for me?
The lyrics of this song pretty much blew my mind when I first looked them up. I definitely did not initially see this song as a commentary on our social constructs and the growing skepticism in society, as well as the importance of one’s conviction.
The lyrics describe one’s fruitless search for warmth (I saw this as a synonym of love or fulfilling relationships in this case), and in the second verse, the lyrics describe society’s skepticism and inability to accept or agree with new things. For me though, the lyrics that hit me the most are the lyrics of the pre-chorus:
We know the fire awaits unbelievers all of the sinners the same
Girl you and I will die unbelievers bound to the tracks of the train
For me, the first line is basically saying that no matter who we are, or what we do, or what we believe when we’re on earth and we’re alive, the same fate awaits all of us in the afterlife. Not everyone may agree with that, but these lyrics definitely made me think. And in the second line, the lyrics declare conviction and determination to stick to what you believe in.
This song, in my opinion, contains countless thoughts, reflections, and opinions about today’s society that a lot of music today lacks. I’m not going to criticize any artist specifically, but I’m just saying that Vampire Weekend, and the song Unbelievers in particular, provide not only good music, but the kind of social commentary that I think is really important in music.
Thanks for reading!
-Victoria
turnnoffyourmind
yousharknotpass
prguitarman
baratheonpilled
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