Maroon 5, Animals | Controversial Tunes

On the 11^th edition of Controversial Tunes, we explore the controversy behind the song, “Animals” by Maroon 5. 

Bring on the controversy, won’t you? Controversial Tunes is a column that provides background information and insight into songs that raised eyebrows and totally stirred the pot.  The records that grace Controversial Tunes are old and new alike, with all genres of music welcome.  On the 11^th edition of Controversial Tunes, we explore the controversy behind the song, “Animals” by Maroon 5.

Theme & Lyrics  

Maroon 5 isn’t the first band that comes to mind when it comes to controversy.  In fact, it might be welcome news if Adam Levine and company generated some controversy given their sanitized, relatively unoriginal brand of pop as of late.  Honestly, post “Animals,” the most controversial thing about M5 has been Levine’s shirtless performance during the Super Bowl Halftime show.  It was unnecessary, but who’s going to deny Adam looked good.

Anyways, the controversy of “Animal” from the 2014 album V is two-fold.  First and foremost, it’s the lyrics.  See Exhibit A, the chorus:

“Baby, I’m preying on you tonight
Hunt you down, eat you alive
Just like animals, animals, like animals-mals...”

Perhaps if Adam were literally singing about animals, the controversy would be less pronounced, though PETA still wouldn’t be pleased.  That said, these lyrics are sketchy as albeit, considering he’s singing about a love interest.  That’s a big yikes.  If you’re ‘preying’ on a human, that’s never a good thing, right? Furthermore, add sexual subtext and the predator idea Maroon 5 are selling gets even worse.  Who greenlit this? Sure, the song is utterly catchy, but it’s problematic.

I suppose “Animal” could ‘pass’ in 2014 but approaching a decade later as I analyze this brief lyrical passage, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to believe the band would be ‘cancelled.’

The lyrics are definitely ‘animalistic’, and honestly, that might be insulting animals.

“...Maybe you think that you can hide
I can smell your scent from miles
Just like animals, animals, like animals-mals
Baby, I’m...” 

Sex itself isn’t the problem with “Animals”; it’s how it’s framed, of course.  The band has had  songs about ‘doing it’, they were just far less problematic.

Music Video

The lyrics are a driving force behind the controversy for good reason. However, Maroon 5 ‘doubled down’ when it came to the music video. Yikes! Charlotte Alter (Time) asserts that the music video “confuses violence and love”.  I can’t say that I disagree.  The happenings aren’t family friendly in the least, incorporating a mix of butchery, sex, and stalking.  The thing is, “Animals,” lyrically, isn’t an explicit song regarding language, yet it’s just a disturbing thematically and given the accompanying video.

Final Thoughts

There’s a lesson in “Animals” that musicians should take away: DO BETTER.  Sometimes, being risqué doesn’t pay off.  “Animals” was big hit, unsurprisingly, but it promotes a bad message, even if its unintentional.  Do I believe Adam Levine, or the rest of the band are bad people? No, but analyze this song and it’s a bad look for the Grammy-winning collective.

Also appears on :
11 Songs Where It Gets Steamy
11 Totally Animalistic Songs
20 Songs All About Doin’ It
15 ‘A’ Songs Selected with No Rhyme or Reason

Maroon 5 • V • Interscope • 2014

Maroon 5, “Animals”: Controversial Tunes No. 11 [: Aidan Feddersen on Unsplash, Brent Faulkner, Interscope, The Musical Hype]