Lucid | 5ive Songs

1. Rina Sawayama, “LUCID”

💿 SAWAYAMA (Deluxe Version) • 🏷 Dirty Hit • 📅 2020 

On 🎵 “LUCID”, which appears on the deluxe version of SAWAYAMA, 🎙 Rina Sawayama decides to dance – or at least, prompts her audience to dance! Pop hitmaker 🎙 Bloodpop definitely doesn’t fail her behind the boards. Thematically, she’s unafraid to embrace queerness 🏳️‍🌈, singing about dreaming about being or being with a dream girl. “I’ve been lucid dreaming just to see you,” she sings on the first verse, adding on the pre-chorus, “‘Cause, hey girl, you are what I’ve been dreaming of.”

The fantasies run a bit deeper, particularly on the second verse (“I’ve been searching for a lonely pleasure”), which may be where the purported masturbatory aspect of “LUCID” comes into play. “LUCID” is another bop by Rina, checking off all of the boxes: 🔥 artistry, 🔥 production, and 🔥 songwriting, adding another awesome song to the queer catalog.

2.4B, Austin Mahone & Abraham Mateo, “Lucid”

🎵 “Lucid” • 🏷 Ultra • 📅 2020

“Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh / You’re lucid, you’re lucid, no ooh / I never thought you’d come to…” Alright 🎙 Austin Mahone – thanks for that chorus that’s chocked-full of lucidity! It appears as the centerpiece of 🎵 “Lucid,” a sleek dance-pop track attributed to DJ/producer 🎙 4B, Mahone, and 🎙 Abraham Mateo.

First and foremost, 4B handles the production alongside Abraham Mateo. In addition to singing on the chorus, Mahone also performs the first verse and first pre-chorus, where he informs us, that “You move just like a queen,” and of course, she’s “a dream” (she’s lucid, just so you know).  Mateo takes the second verse and second pre-chorus, performing in his hella sweet vocals exclusively in Spanish.  Pretty sweet lucid collaboration if you ask me. 

3. Brandy, “Lucid Dreams”

💿 b7 • 🏷 Brandy Nu, Inc. / Entertainment One • 📅 2020 

🎵 “Lucid Dreams” marks one of the better songs from 💿 b7, the well-rounded if underrated comeback album by Grammy-winning R&B artist, 🎙 Brandy.  On “Lucid Dreams,” heartbreak has deeply affected her.

Brandy finds herself “Chasin’ sleep /…Lucid dream, lucid dream, abusin’ Ambien.” The relationship is done, but the struggle is clearly still ripe from her perspective.  In the context of b7, those lucid dreams have helped construct some serious tension on the forthcoming gem, 🎵 “Borderline.”

4. Thomas Reid, Snøw & Poetics, “Lucid”

🎵 “Lucid” • 🏷 Thomas Reid x Snøw x Poetics • 📅 2020

“We can take a trip / Far away / Don’t know what to say / But it’s okay / Will you come back to me someday.” 🎵 “Lucid” may be just two minutes and some change, but man, oh man, is it a total vibe! The single is a collaboration between lo-fi hip-hop singer/songwriter 🎙 Thomas Reid, lo-fi musicians/rapper 🎙 Snøw, and producer, 🎙 Poetics.

Reid sings the aforementioned, chill and mellow chorus, one of the best parts of the song.  He also ‘busts a rhyme,’ but remains relatively laid-back, as does his partner in crime, Snøw. Still, even with this cool, ‘lucid’ backdrop constructed by Poetics, there’s still a clear energy (and some profanity too).

5. Juice WRLD, “Lucid Dreams”

💿 Goodbye & Good Riddance • 🏷 Grade A Productions, LLC / Interscope • 📅 2018 

“You left me falling and landing inside my grave / I know that you want me dead / I take prescriptions to make me feel A-Okay / I know it’s all in my head / I have these lucid dreams where I can’t move a thing / Thinking of you in my bed.” On breakout, hit single 🎵 “Lucid Dreams” (💿 Goodbye & Good Riddance), late Chicago rapper 🎙 Juice WRLD keeps things pretty simple, and extremely relatable.  Clearly in a mood on this slickly produced, melodic gem, he’s being tortured by a broken heart.

“I still see your shadows in my room
Can’t take back the love that I gave you
It’s to the point where I love, and I hate you
And I cannot change you, so I must replace you, oh
Easier said than done, I thought you were the one
Listenin’ to my heart instead of my head
You found another one, but I am the better one
I won’t let you forget me.”

Also appears on 🔽:

🔗 🎧 11 Songs About Nightmares and Suspect Dreams

🔗 🎧 101 Best Songs of 2018