Scared 😱 | 5ive Songs

1. The Weeknd, “Scared to Live”

💿 After Hours • 🏷 Republic • 📅 2020

“And if I held you back, at least I held you close (Yeah) / Should have known you were lonely.” 💿 After Hours, the fourth studio album by three-time, 🏆 Grammy-winning R&B artist 🎙 The Weeknd, is filled with gems.  Following a momentous opening trio, 🎵 “Scared to Live” continues the sheer excellence, featuring some of Abel Tesfaye’s most radiant vocals of the album. Furthermore, the production (🎛 Max Martin, 🎛 Oscar Holter, and The Weeknd) and sound are quite alluring. Musically, “Scared to Live” fuses pop, R&B, synthpop; it clearly hearkens back to the 1980s.

There’s an 🎙 Elton John interpolation that’s a pretty sweet addition. “Scared to Live” focuses on the plight of love. Abel looks out for his ex, who he wronged, urging her, “…Don’t be scared to live again.”

2. The Neighbourhood, “Scary Love”

💿 Hard to Imagine The Neighbourhood Ever Changing • 🏷 Columbia • 📅 2018

🎵 “Scary Love”, a standout from 💿 Hard to Imagine The Neighbourhood Ever Changing, is one of the grooviest songs that 🎙 The Neighbourhood has ever released.  Following a brief, mysterious intro (all of four seconds), the inescapable beat takes over. “Scary Love” sounds more pop than alternative.  There are driving synths, and an electronic sound palette is clear from the jump. The vocals are mixed in the background on the verses as opposed to the forefront.  The effects-laden pipes of 🎙 Jesse Rutherford are playful, and he seems to ‘be about that play.’

“Even better when you first wake up
Than anybody else I’ve fucked
Baby, I got good luck with you
I didn’t know we’d get so far.” 

“Scary Love” indeed! On the chorus, Rutherford is front and center, fitting to the more overt, confident sound.

3. Ozzy Osbourne, “Scary Little Green Men”

💿 Ordinary Man • 🏷 Epic • 📅 2020

“Scary little green men, do you believe in / Scary little green men? It’s the end…” 🎵 “Scary Little Green Men” is definitely an interesting listen from 💿 Ordinary Man, the 12^th studio album by metal icon 🎙 Ozzy Osbourne.  The record definitely doesn’t come off as serious as the track that precedes it, 🎵 “Today is the End” – at least that seems to be the case!

As the title suggests, Osbourne references aliens/Martians/extraterrestrial beings. Yeah… Ozzy is fully invested as outlandish as “Scary Little Green Men” might be:

“They want us, they need us
They might just try to eat us.”

4. G-Eazy, “Scary Nights”

💿 Scary Nights • 🏷 RCA • 📅 2019

🎙 G-Eazy kicks off 💿 Scary Nights with none other than the title track, 🎵 “Scary Nights.” As the title suggests, the song is dark and edgy, set in a minor key. Is it particularly scary? Umm no, not really – it’s more cocky, confident, and drippy than anything else. Eazy does get a tough chorus that’s memorable enough.

“Scary nights in the city, yeah
Cut the lights in the city, yeah
They don’t wanna see the boys who came with me
They don’t wanna see us prosper, they envy...”

Furthermore, Eazy shouts out Nipsey Hussle on the third verse (“Rest in peace, Nipsey, wearing blue with that”).  Also, worth nothing is the production team: 🎛 Ben Billions, 🎛 Nils, 🎛 Boi-1da, 🎛 Jahaan Sweet, and 🎛 The Rascals 👌.

5. The 1975, “Sincerity is Scary”

💿 A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships • 🏷 Interscope • 📅 2018

“And irony is okay, I suppose, culture is to blame / You try and mask your pain in the most postmodern way…” Hmm, intellectual and poetic to say the least, 🎙 The 1975, specifically 🎙 Matthew Healy. 🎵 “Sincerity is Scary”, a highlight from 💿 A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships, features a unique sound, blending jazz and R&B.

Helping to shape that beautiful, lush and distinct sound is the use of chorus pad, brass, and piano among other instruments. Healy delivers beautiful vocals and gets a lift from a choir on the chorus, incorporating gospel influence. The chorus is the best part of the song.