If you bought the album the old fashioned way the first thing you'd notice is the cover, which is a naked Rihanna from the waist up covered only by a word splash.
From the cover I would expect stripped-down, honest storytelling. One eye is blinded by the word "Love", clearly this is done intentionally.
Phresh Out the Runway
The opening track is a club banger that seems to serve as a reminder, nay, a warning, to everyone that Rihanna isn't always nice and sweet and that she will snap any twig in her path. The line "how could you be so hood, but you're so fucking pop" perfectly illustrates Rihanna's abhorrence of labels.
Diamonds
Diamonds is an amazingly beautiful and uplifting song. Underlying this song is the notion that humans are social creatures, and taking that idea to it's logical conclusion, we need other people to reflect the good within ourselves. There's good in all of us and others help us see that. Diamonds don't actually sparkle, it is the reflection that we see. If you were the last person on earth it wouldn't matter what you did because there would be nobody to witness your goodness; nobody to do good for and reflect it back. Rihanna is celebrating the union of souls raising each other to a higher plane than one alone can achieve. Rihanna speaks to how elusive this connection can be "you're a shooting star I see". A connection to someone can last for a moment or a lifetime.
Rihanna sings a line that you need to pay careful attention to "when you hold me," then breathily "I'm alive" she is symbolizing the momentary surrender to the warmth, and when she sings the chorus "shine bright like a diamond" that is a command - seek the good and be good - so you can feel the love and be lifted. That's what love is, the mutual recognition and celebration of the goodness within each other.
Numb
Numb is lament about pain we feel when we've been hurt or disappointed. We want to make it go away and we don't want to feel anything else because the risk is too great, we're in a fragile state and one more crack and we could break. Going numb is the defense we play to protect ourselves.
Pour It Up
This is a sad song. Despite singing about strip clubs, dolla bills, shots of Patron, and ballin out, the mood of this song is melancholy. The true nature of the song is revealed in the lines "the look in yo eyes I know you want some" and "all I see is dolla signs...money on my mind". Rihanna seems to have an endless supply of money and while this may be cause for celebration - you can't listen to this song and tell me she's celebrating. She is saying "I still got MORE money", meaning that despite how I ball extravagantly, ultimately, it's worthless. She is lamenting that money is a distraction from real happiness. This song is a reminder to refocus on what's really important.
Loveeeeeee Song
We can all relate to this song. Rihanna and Future have what is essentially an open and honest discussion of their needs. We need some sort of recognition from others to know that we are important to them. Even if we could read minds we wouldn't want to because it's nice to hear that we mean something to each other. Rihanna's character lets Future know that she doesn't have unreasonable demands, that he is good enough to please her, but it takes effort. Sometimes guys think women are impossible to please and Rihanna tries to dispel that myth. Future's character also explains his needs by saying that despite a brawny exterior men need "love and affection" too. There is comfort in appreciation and affection. It's unfortunate when two people don't realize their potential because they're afraid to say how they feel, this song is a testament to the benefit of good communication. We must not be afraid because there's nothing to fear.
Jump
I already know the move I'm going to bust out at the concert for this song because I already do it at home, a high crack-the-whip motion in a quickening pace when the song is about to jump off. This track gets me amped. Rihanna comes from a point of strength and says
I ain't running around chasing no dude
Think somebody else like me gon' come around
Boy you got it misunderstood
Clearly, Rihanna realizes her value and says "come and jump on it". She's not going to waste her time with someone that's fooling around and this boy better recognize before it's too late. Pretty straightforward, and tempting. Then Kanye blows up the scene and adds another side to the story. I guess the idea here is that nobody is necessarily right, but that we tell ourselves stories that make situations more acceptable to us and blaming other people can be a way to avoid responsibility for our actions.
Right Now
Tomorrow's way too far away
And we can't get back yesterday
But we young right now
We got right now
This track points out the importance of the present and comes with a beat that makes you want to get up and do something. Just take a look at the news - bombings, crashes, fires - life changes instantly and constantly. Time is an unforgiving forward march. You can do nothing or something, it's up to you.
What Now
This is the song that I predict will bring down the house. Rihanna sings about love and you can feel her frustrations and confusion as she belts out the chorus. Rihanna knows what love is, but like life love changes too, and when love breaks it can feel like a glass ball shattering. This song is about those feelings when we have to put the pieces back together.
What now? I just can't figure it out
What now? I guess I'll just wait it out
What now? Please tell me
What now?
Sometimes the the best thing to do is wait it out, but 'wait it out' as a term is too oversimplified and contradictory. To wait it out really means to move forward with the faith that what happened is for the best and that what is to come will be better.
Stay
Stay is about attachment, attachment leads to suffering. When we expect things not to change then we will suffer because things do change, always. We beg for something to be different, to be the way it was, and we suffer because we are attached to an idea of the way something should be, but it is only that way on our minds. When we think we "can't live without" something - we are mistaken because we have to.
Nobody's Business
This dancey track featuring Chris Brown sends a clear message - it ain't nobody's bidness 'cept me and my baby. This song works because of the past history between Rihanna and Chris Brown, but how would we feel if it wasn't them singing this song?
Each of us has, to different degrees, a will that we want to see manifested in the world. With more and more media and technology to track our every step our lives become more public, which means more people are going to have opinions about what we do, so it is necessary for each of us to have the strength to tell people "ain't nobody's bidness", or else individuality and eccentricity are in danger. It is good to have people that think and act differently because they show us new ways and that makes us better, alternative thinking create progress. So, I guess the message of the song is important, tell people to fuck off more often. If they can move on we should too.
Love Without Tragedy/Mother Mary
Love Without Tragedy is about the profound effect one quick event can have on a relationship. Whether Rihanna is talking about Chris Brown or not I don't really care because it could just as easily be us with our partner, brother or cousin. You leave to go for a drive and you come back changed, new people, new relationship. This song is about the power of that one event that can change things, maybe you find something out, maybe you lost control, either way something irrevocable has happened and it changed you.
The gapless transition between the songs serves as an existential awakening. Rihanna seems to be reflecting on the journey she's taken, humbled by her fame, and looking for guidance to move her spirit. Mother Mary seems tailor made to open a concert. I can picture Rihanna emerging and rising to the stage as it softly opens.
Get It Over With
Get It Over With is an excellent metaphor about the weather and our emotions, and how we cycle through them. Denial, anger, depression, acceptance. Clouds, thunder, rain, sunshine. After the rain the sun comes out, so Rihanna is encouraging us to purge the emotions so we can be free and clear again. The sooner we process what is upsetting us the closer we are to that sunny day. Rihanna wants to lift us up out of the bad place.
Look up, the sun it's just a cloud away
No Love Allowed
A playful song with a reggae feel. I find this song both hilarious and tragic. The song begins with a 911 call claiming that Rihanna has been "murdered" by love and she wants the man charged with the "143" and that a broken heart is the case.
This song is also tragic because the reason we are sometimes afraid to take chances is because we are afraid the other person might not love us back. Rihanna is hurt and screaming murder, literally. However, the greater point is that - yes, love can hurt, but you have to take chances or you'll never have it, you have to be fearless.
Lost in Paradise
"What am I supposed to do with this heart
How do I take it off if I love it on
it's like a work of art
I know how Rihanna feels, I also want to ferociously attack the world with my love and I can't put this flame out. For people like Rihanna and me all we want to do is spread our love to heat up this cold world. Rihanna sings "in love we all will fall" but what's great about love is that it will never run out, so when she sings "all my fears are gone tonight" then it's time to try again. The world is a paradise because opportunities for love abound, it is a canvas to be painted with the brush strokes of our hearts.
If we love harder than you, we don't have to apologize.
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