PREFACE

My top five tracks from 2013 are all from Drake’s Nothing Was The Same, because nothing else I listened to this year even came close to being as good as these tracks. I listen to Nothing Was The Same very frequently. I can be seen walking around gesturing my hands about spitting lyrics from this record. I’m at Whole Foods purchasing some organic asparagus and perhaps a seitan steak - what am I doing? I’m singing/rapping Drake tracks. Even when I’m at the gym on the elliptical, I will be singing/rapping Drake tracks. I usually like to sing “Started From The Bottom” since the elliptical is elevated off of the ground. I don’t think anyone has gotten that joke yet. Nevertheless, I find it hilarious and that’s all that matters.

I have listened to a lot of Drake over the years. I believe it’s gotten to a point where it has shaped my personality, essentially making it very Drake. I should note that Drake and I have a lot in common. Drake’s only a few years older than me. We are the same height, we love hockey, we love our mothers unconditionally, and we were both born in October. Maybe that has something to do with it. My top five favorite tracks off of Nothing Was The Same are listed below, and each track includes a brief and concise lyrical analysis.

1) “Too Much”

“Too Much” is about never giving up on your hopes and dreams. Drake is basically like “sometimes shit hits the fan but you got to hang in there you just have to believe in yourself.” This is without doubt the best advice Drake has ever given. I’m sure many others around the world feel the same way as I do about this advice. In addition, we now know that Drake attends (or has attended) potluck dinners thanks to this track. I am a huge fan of potlucks; they offer a great opportunity to taste different food made by friends and/or family. I wonder what Drake makes for the potlucks he attends. Baked mac & cheese? Risotto? We may never know. The frequency of this sort of lyrical cliffhanger is one of the reasons why I love Drake so much.

2) “From Time”

First of all, I would like to state that you could easily just take quotes from Drake’s verses in “From Time” and teach a self-help class.

Anyway, “From Time” discusses how sometimes Drake has trouble dealing with his fame. It also uses Drake’s favorite theme: time travel. Time travel is one of the main themes in all of Drake’s records, all of them allude to his yearning for traveling to a parallel universe to be with those who have come and gone. Personally, I believe that time travel will be achieved some day. I remember discussing time travel in my theoretical physics class back in college and it is definitely possible.

This track is about how Drake would like to use a time machine to go back to a simpler, but possibly an equally stressful time in his life. Conceptually, it makes the listener evaluate their own life - is being rich really worth it since it tends to complicate things? Is it better to have less and appreciate what you have? This track is possibly the rawest and most real track on Nothing Was The Same. I find it extremely gut-wrenching. Also, I never took Drake for a Corona guy, but hey you learn something new every day.

3) “Come Thru”

On “Come Thru,” Drake reminisces about a past relationship. Drake raps about how he wishes he could turn back the hands of time [time travel] just so he can be with the girl he alludes to in this track. At this point in Drake’s songwriting career, it is obvious that he is an emotionally dense person, and that he tends to dwell on things for years. We have seen tracks similar to this on past records. It is very possible the girl he is talking about in this track is a high school sweetheart that he never got over, and he wants her to “come thru” [pass through] his life again.

In my opinion, “Come Thru” is one of the most important tracks on Drake’s newest record, due to the fact that he states his love for the dance known as “twerking.” I know I have been pondering for some time (literally months) about Drake’s stance on “twerking" and when Nothing Was The Same dropped, we finally all found out the truth.

4) “Hold On We’re Going Home”

This is no doubt the catchiest track on Nothing Was The Same. It is about painful yearning for a girl, one who Drake says is trying to act bad but is actually good on the inside. Are you a good girl? Do you know it? Drake may want to take you home. Drake is crazy about these types of women, stating he wants their “hot love and emotion endlessly”. Again, Drake uses the word “endlessly” drawing a connection to time travel, so he can increase the magnitude of time spent with a girl. If you really look into the lyrics here you’ll realize that Drake drew a lot of inspiration from the movie Inception, specifically where Leo’s character describes his time spent living in a “dream world” forever with that French girl he was in love with to that girl from Juno. Remember when they built their own house by making it with their minds, and all the architecture was really ugly and pretentious? Who would want to live in a world with no other people in it? That is psychotic to me. Anyway, this is the world Drake imagines when he says “hold on we’re going home.” If you are a woman and Drake says this to you, I would definitely not go with him. We all know how Inception ended.

5) “Furthest Thing”

“Furthest Thing” is about Drake stealthily wallowing (“on the low”) because of girl that he once dated [again], because he kind of fucked up and didn’t realize what he had was so great at the time [again]. According to the lyrics of this song, Drake definitely does not wallow in a healthy way with all of that drinking of alcoholic beverages. If Drake wallows as much as he talks about in his tracks, he may have serious liver problems in the future. This is very concerning to say the least. The last verse of this track is scored by some upbeat music, symbolizing the transition from wallowing to feeling better and back to normal. Near the end of this track, Drake raps: “Donate a million to some children / that's just how I'm feeling.” I wish I could donate a million dollars to a bunch of kids when I finish wallowing but I haven’t made that much money on my Twitter stock yet.

AFTERWORD

“And I just spent four Ferraris all on a brand new Bugatti /
And did that shit cause it’s something to do /
Yeah, I guess that’s just who I became dog /
Nothing was the same, dog”

-Drake

Lou studied Marine Engineering at the University of Rhode Island, and currently manages his dad's business. Interests include going to the beach, working out, traveling, eating, and watching indie films. E-mail Lou at louiskishfy at gmail dot com