B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams–Airplanes

Released April 3, 2010 (US) and August 9, 2010 (UK)
Billboard: #2.
UK Charts: #1.

Based on some of my previous posts, it’s probably no secret that I do thoroughly like this song. Honestly, it’s somewhat difficult to explain the reasons behind my liking of it; I enjoyed it the first time I heard the song, was somewhat intrigued by the title (Airplanes? What would you sing about airplanes, of all things?) and despite hearing it played many, many times over the radio, it hasn’t really grown old on me.

Musically, comparing this song to Nothin’ on You, B.o.B’s first single from his debut album, it seems just a little bit weaker, honestly, though that’s largely due to Bruno Mars’ excellent voice. Hayley Williams is pretty good, but the fact that she only sings a few lines that are repeated several times fails to make the ‘pop’ part of this song stand out. Then again, viewing this as just another pop-rap song and placing expectations on it might not be so appropriate too – at least, it’s not as generic as Nothin’ on You was. In terms of rapping voice B.o.B seems slightly better here than on Nothin’ on You, though probably because he sounded a little bit out of place at times when doing the “n-n-n-nothin’ on you baby” parts in the chorus.

I gave Nothin’ on You a 7.5 rating, however this one will go beyond that, because of the quality of lyrical depth. Up to this point, however, if you look at the songs I’ve rated highly (other than Nothin’ on You), we do have We Dance On, What’s My Name? and So Sick – and if you take a little look at the reviews concerned, these songs do bear some intelligent quality about them, whether it be the skillful use of a Pachelbel Canon sample to put forth a positive, if slightly trite message, a witty comment about the square root of 69, or a song that emphasises the pain of the singer because he is singing it in the first place. Airplanes seems to carry a decent level of openness to interpretation which allows some thought, without the extreme open-ended-ness of some songs

So now we talk about lyrics, let’s go in and have a little look.

(Hook) Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars?
I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now… (x2)

Okay, there’s a superstition held by some people that wishes made on shooting stars (meteorites falling to Earth, or other foreign debris passing by) will come true. Pretty clearly, “wish right now” implies some sense of urgency, and thus the speaker cannot wait for the shooting stars. However, one wonders if they’re really as rare as they seem, as they can be calculated upon too, with notable meteor showers such as the Perseids and Leonids allowing people to catch quite a few of them… Then again, maybe this emphasises the right now bit; they can’t even wait for so long. In a modernised context, airplanes would probably be flying every night, so to see the airplanes in the night sky, you’d only have to wait for, well, night. (Unless there’s a sandstorm, very bad weather, etc…)

The airplanes in question are vehicles for hopes and dreams – given that they want to pretend that they have the capacity to be wished upon. I can’t quite put my finger on it, though… It does seem a little bit unusual; surely the airplanes bear some symbolic meaning beyond just being vehicles? Speaking of which, B.o.B seems to associate his persona with shooting stars, considering the way he titled his tour – and furthermore, this isn’t the only song where this idea is mentioned (Don’t Let Me Fall – “I was shooting for stars, on a Saturday night” and of course Airplanes Part 2). Plus points for that – I do like the image.

Okay, now we’ve dealt with the hook, let’s get into the verse and see what’s going on.

Yo, I could use a dream or a genie or a wish
Okay, this is pretty much in line with the “shooting stars” that are mentioned in the hook – things to wish upon, or to place hope in, at least.

To go back to a place much simpler than this
Because after all the partying and smashing and crashing
And all the glitz and the glam and the fashion
And all the pandemonium and all the madness
Theme-wise, this is nothing ground-breaking. The desire for simplicity and his noticing of the price of fame and worldly success is… well, not too uncommon a theme in literary works, and not too uncommon in music as well. However, it’s a breath of fresh air from the glut of songs about clubs, girls, money, sex or dancing – instead, it highlights the problem with such lifestyles – after it’s over and you wake up hungover, what’s next? Questionable rhyme in “crashing” and “fashion”, unfortunately.

There comes a time where you fade to the blackness

And when you staring at that phone in your lap
And you hoping, but them people never call you back
Okay, so he’s a man on a mission, I guess? The phonecall in question seems to be from a record company or the like – because he describes the people to call as “them people”. He may be referring to his party mates as well, but I doubt it given how he describes the after-effect of partying as fading into blackness, probably implying obscurity here.

But that’s just how the story unfolds
You get another hand soon after you fold
And when your plans unravel and descend
What would you wish for if you had one chance?
Hmm… okay, a poker reference, and I guess if you know you’re going to lose it’s right to fold. “Unravel and descend” is clearly related to the airplanes failing, as again which makes much more sense than the “Unravel in the sand” that I heard at first, for some reason.

Interestingly, in the above section for some reason there is a shift in pronoun – from “I could use a dream…” to “There comes a time when you fade into the blackness”. Is he trying to engage the reader listener? Well, that would be a cliched IB English A1 answer… It seems a little encouraging and also a little introspective, getting the listener to think…

Airplane, airplane sorry I’m late
I’m on my way so don’t close that gate
If I don’t make that then I’ll switch my flight
And I’ll be right back at it by the end of the night
Follows the idea of “encouraging message” that I put forth above, when he questions “What would you wish for if you had one chance?” – he’s not going to give up, he’s going to do his best to be resourceful to chase his dreams (he’d “switch his flight”). By saying he’s late for his “airplane” – he may be suggesting he was late in starting his dream, perhaps of being a rapper (though it’s hard to say exactly what he thinks of it, having complained about the pandemonium and the madness of such a lifestyle).

The second verse seems to take the more general verse 1 and applies it in specific to B.o.B…

Somebody take me back to the days
Before this was a job, before I got paid
Before it ever mattered what I had in my bank
Yeah back when I was trying to get a tip at Subway
Back when I was rapping for the hell of it
But nowadays we rapping to stay relevant
Thus, we see his idea of a place much simpler than the place he is now in, now that he’s clearly become more famous and is somewhat of a hip-hop/pop/rap star. He’s fearful that he’ll be shifting towards turning profits, sales, etc… instead of expressing the messages which he wants to express. Well, I guess after all what record companies and the likes are chasing ARE those dollars, so… The lack of pressure he had in the past seems preferable in some way to him, and this is echoed in the later part of this second verse.

I’m guessing that if we can make some wishes out of airplanes
Then maybe oh maybe I’ll go back to the days
Before the politics that we call the rap game
And back when ain’t nobody listened to my mixtape
Well, because he could have fun and not let his artistic visions be constrained by public (or record company) perceptions or expectations.

And back before I tried to cover up my slang
But this is for Decatur what’s up Bobby Ray?
So can I get a wish to end the politics
And get back to the music that started this shit?
Okay, this is a bit puzzling, because I’ve not encountered any unfamiliar slang terms in analysing the lyrics of this song! Anyway, it’s pretty clear he has been contrasting artistic integrity and individualism that he desires in his work with the commercialisation that he expects… Interestingly though, him choosing to explore this tension can be viewed as a calculated, commercial plan as well. Who knows what B.o.B is really thinking??

So here I stand and then again I say
I’m hoping we can make some wishes out of airplanes
Interesting. It’s clear to see that he desires to go back to, or at least revisit quite a bunch of things that were different in the past.

The closing part is pretty similar to the hook, as always, though with B.o.B rapping a bit more; and the song closes with –

I could really use a wish right now
(Ohh~) I could really use a wish right now
A wish, a wish right now (wish right now)

Which I guess is in some ways a reflection of B.o.B’s impatience, his hunger to improve the situation. Thinking about it, the song may have more similarities to Part II than I thought – at first, I saw Part I as a piece on the stresses of outward worldly success, and Part II as basically a fable on the value of industriousness. However, B.o.B’s industriousness – at least in the form of his hunger – is also revealed in Part I, as he cannot accept waiting idly for lucky breaks to come in the form of shooting stars; so he wishes on airplanes, doing what he can do that could work too.

This could be “Song of the Year” 2010 for me – it’s going to be real hard to top as it appeals to me on a musical, emotional as well as intellectual level. Props to B.o.B, Hayley Williams, and the guys producing this track too. It’s a very solid release.

OVERALL RATING = 9.0 / 10
Airplanes is an intelligent combination of skillful vocals by Hayley Williams and rapping by B.o.B. To me, however, this song shines in its lyrics – they are thought-provoking and loaded with goodies leaving VERY much potential for interpretation.