In late 2019, the Weeknd dropped two new singles in anticipation for his upcoming album titled Chapter Six, which is yet to have a release date. These two singles titled “Heartless” and “Blinding Lights” are 80’s nostalgic up-tempo songs, with prominent synths and the Weeknd’s charismatic crooning. But what are at first typical party anthems obtain new meaning at closer inspection, especially in tandem with the newly released videos for each single.
The song Heartless at first describes the hedonism (relentless pursuit of boldily pleasure) of the Weeknd’s party life, full of glamor and sex, and this is in part represented through the music video, which displays the Weeknd in a colorful red tuxedo, shades that can only be described as egregious, and an overall rambunctious demeanor. These aspects take place in the setting of an equally obnoxiously Las Vegas Strip, full of numerous lights and flashy displays. Heartless however, has a deep undertone of sadness, as the Weeknd implies that he himself is Heartless, lamenting his inability to love.
The song takes an unexpected turn when it slows down at one point, representing the Weeknd’s drug-induced haze, where he takes a directly introspective stance and sings more candidly about his problems, most prominently his fear of his own heartlessness and insanity.
The next song, Blinding Lights describes the Weeknd being blinded by the symbolic lights of his celebrity life. The lights are again a symbol of glamour, lights and flashy displays being prominent in the Vegas Strip where the video for Blinding Lights also takes place, but also the lights of the stage where he performs. The lights become all encompassing in the Weeknd’s life, taking over both his time spent working on stage and his time spent in recreation, out on the Vegas Strip.
The blindness prevents him from seeing anything else besides the allure of sex and drugs. His blindness is seen in the music video in his almost copulation with a female singer in a Chinese restaurant. He ignores the social rules and seeks the immediate gratification of sex, and this gets him beat-up by the bouncers in the restaurant.
The video symbolizes the impending end of the Weeknd through its use of foreshadowing. A combination of the bloody scene in the beginning and the subsequent scenes of the Weeknd racing through the streets in his Mercedes Benz, bring a sense of suspense and imminence to the video; the watcher is left wondering when the Weeknd will crash, when the reckless speeding will catch up to him, when the Weeknd will finally feel the impact of his inertia.
The Weeknd reveals his current mentality with these two singles. Heartless lays out his dynamic hedonism and its motivations, while Blinding Lights further extrapolates on it. His affinity for drugs, sex, and danger, like the racing Mercedes, can only give him cheap thrills, and he is balancing on the blade of a knife, constantly on the edge of losing his mind.
The song Heartless at first describes the hedonism (relentless pursuit of boldily pleasure) of the Weeknd’s party life, full of glamor and sex, and this is in part represented through the music video, which displays the Weeknd in a colorful red tuxedo, shades that can only be described as egregious, and an overall rambunctious demeanor. These aspects take place in the setting of an equally obnoxiously Las Vegas Strip, full of numerous lights and flashy displays. Heartless however, has a deep undertone of sadness, as the Weeknd implies that he himself is Heartless, lamenting his inability to love.
The song takes an unexpected turn when it slows down at one point, representing the Weeknd’s drug-induced haze, where he takes a directly introspective stance and sings more candidly about his problems, most prominently his fear of his own heartlessness and insanity.
The next song, Blinding Lights describes the Weeknd being blinded by the symbolic lights of his celebrity life. The lights are again a symbol of glamour, lights and flashy displays being prominent in the Vegas Strip where the video for Blinding Lights also takes place, but also the lights of the stage where he performs. The lights become all encompassing in the Weeknd’s life, taking over both his time spent working on stage and his time spent in recreation, out on the Vegas Strip.
The blindness prevents him from seeing anything else besides the allure of sex and drugs. His blindness is seen in the music video in his almost copulation with a female singer in a Chinese restaurant. He ignores the social rules and seeks the immediate gratification of sex, and this gets him beat-up by the bouncers in the restaurant.
The video symbolizes the impending end of the Weeknd through its use of foreshadowing. A combination of the bloody scene in the beginning and the subsequent scenes of the Weeknd racing through the streets in his Mercedes Benz, bring a sense of suspense and imminence to the video; the watcher is left wondering when the Weeknd will crash, when the reckless speeding will catch up to him, when the Weeknd will finally feel the impact of his inertia.
The Weeknd reveals his current mentality with these two singles. Heartless lays out his dynamic hedonism and its motivations, while Blinding Lights further extrapolates on it. His affinity for drugs, sex, and danger, like the racing Mercedes, can only give him cheap thrills, and he is balancing on the blade of a knife, constantly on the edge of losing his mind.