One of my blog posts from last semester was all about Mac Miller. In that post, I talked about a brief history of his life, his discography, a few of my favorite albums and songs, and his impact on the music world. Today I will be talking about two particular songs from the album GO:OD AM from 2015.  Mac calls GO:OD AM “the first album I recorded while being happy in a long time”. These are two of my favorite songs ever and pair together very well. The songs are “Ascension” and “Weekend (feat. Miguel)”.

Both of these songs are in stark contrast to Mac’s earliest works which are happy and lighthearted. “Weekend” and “Ascension”, while fairly upbeat, both touch heavily on death and drug use. Listening to this song knowing that he would pass away from a drug overdose just three years later makes them hit even harder. You can really see his struggle with working through his depression and contemplation about life and the future in these songs.

Ascension is an incredible five minute song that I think is about Mac’s own struggle with his mind and thoughts of changing being overruled by his substance abuse. In albums previous to this, he went from a jokey kid to a seeming to be in a very dark place. GO:OD AM is revered as a symbol of Mac entering a new phase in his life but I think that “Ascension” is a testament to the fact that his struggles were very real and evidently never really went away.

“To look into my parents eyes when I’m scared to die
My eyes same color as a cherry pie
Woah, see I’m terrified
Crucifix heavy, who gon’ carry mine?
Yeah, what’s with all this talk about Hell and Satan
And sleep deprevation
If this is planet Earth, than my hell’s a basement
Ascension
A brand new me”

These lyrics show a fear of the inevitable end of life and how drug use may impact that, and shows a desire to become a “brand new” him (at least in my opinion). “Ascension”, paired with “Jump” and “Festival” show a metaphor for entering Heaven, but that’s a whole different theory and songs.

“Weekend” is a super-upbeat song that if you didn’t listen to the lyrics would probably not seem sad at all. It talks about a phenomenon that I believe most of us can relate to on some level- living for the weekend.

“Everythin’ good by the weekend (yeah)
Everythin’ will be good by the weekend (alright, by the weekend)
We goin’ out tonight, yeah, we goin’ out tonight…”

On a darker level, it seems to be about breaking up the monotony of life and dealing with pain through substances, and to always be chasing the next high to deal with the lows that the week bring. To me, this song symbolizes the wasted week days piling up in to years as he chases highs on the weekends and is ultimately left unsatisfied.

“I been havin’ trouble sleepin’
Battlin’ these demons
Wonderin’ what’s the thin’ that keeps me breathin’
Is it money, fame or neither…

…Wonderin’ well, wonderin’ how I got this high
Fell and asleep and forgot to die,”

I encourage you to listen to both of these songs and give them your own comparison.