“Believe The Lie” by Bobby Raps Bobby Raps
Review By Gabrielle Lamontagne
There is clearly a message in “Believe The Lie” by Bobby Raps. However, I’m still unsure what it is. Is this a song about being afraid to fall in love? Is it a song about heartbreak? Is it a song about toxic masculinity? There are allusions to any or all of these concepts in the lyrics, but there is no clear enough detail to define which topic it’s primarily discussing.
The music has a good beat and the vocals are beautiful. The words are mostly comprehensible, even, which is a helpful factor. They just don’t tie together in a clear way. This reminds me of the way I feel about “Pressure” by Billy Joel. It’s got a great beat and I love the song and the lyrics, but what is the basis for the concept of the song? It could be about going to war for the first time, or the paparazzi giving advice about situations they don’t understand, about a therapist, about people in general talking about situations they don’t understand because they haven’t lived through them (from war to racism to abuse, etc).
“Believe The Lie” has lyrics that mention the desire to keep from falling in love, but also mentions being one of many offerings, which doesn’t help me decide whether the narrator is afraid to fall in love or already did but got his heart broken. The way the chorus is put together makes me think that this could be a message about toxic masculinity in general – the idea that you go out with friends to meet new people, but you’re not supposed to let yourself “catch feelings”. The part about “should’ve waited to come out when it’s darker” makes me wonder again if the song is about heartache – he met someone and fell in love, but shouldn’t have, because it didn’t end well for him.
It’s a beautiful song and worth listening to, even if the message behind the lyrics is somewhat indecipherable.
