What is the meaning behind “I’m tryna put you in the worst mood, ah”? Starboy by The Weeknd (Ft. Daft Punk)
- by imrk
- April 13, 2023
Though the song carries a palpable swagger, Abel states immediately that this is not a song to make us feel good. By proclaiming later in the hook, “Look what you’ve done” he implicates his consumers/audience, suggesting we’re complicit in cosigning him to the material excess and emotional disconnection he’s built his career off of. The sentiment here is deeply reminiscent of Abel’s song “Kiss Land” from his debut studio album of the same name. In the outro of the song, after solemnly considering all of his half empty new possessions like “a brand new place” he’s seen “twice all year” , he somberly and repeatedly croons to the listener “this ain’t nothing to relate to.” Both there and here, he shares the pain and emptiness he still feels even behind all of his accolades and possessions and urges us to stop praising and desiring his lifestyle as he’s become aware of the darkness that comes with it.