Song Review: Marceline by Willow

In Willow Smith's album of December 2015, ARDIPITHECUS, the artist strikes a resilient and unexpected chord within listeners while emulating a feeling which most resembles the style of the artist Sia. In track 9 of her album, entitled "Marceline," Willow shows the mainstream music world that she is not merely here to blend in to the overexploited electro-rap-pop scene that many viewers can tune into 102.7 KIIS FM and saturate themselves with. Although it appears, upon further study, to have a lack of depth in lyrical meaning, "Marceline" is the kind of song that would catch your ear in a typical Spotify Discover Weekly playlist. However simple it is, though, "Marceline" proves catchy, even if it does not prove to be relatable lyrically.

Willow begins by confiding in her audience that she is sick of living in a world riddled with violence, and she wishes only to be surrounded by positivity, community, and love, and seems to find these qualities in Marceline and Adventure Time. She wishes to escape the world around her and finds almost elementary-like solace in escaping to this fictional reality. In this song, Willow sings of the character Marceline Abadeer from the popular show Adventure Time. On the show, Marceline is a half-demon/half-human vampire aging over a thousand years old. Through referencing Marceline in the chorus, Willow voices that she wishes to be alongside this fictional character, "flying so high," and riding a "Lady Unicorn." Although goofy and playful, this proves as only comic relief for Willow's greater distresses as mentioned in this song's verses.

Although this song lacks emotional depth as well as complexity of thought, musically Willow produces an auditory quality that feels more intimate than the lyrics seem to lead on. "Marceline" provides a simple beat with a rhythm that proves easy to not only catch onto, but feel drawn toward. Here, Willow's voice has a reeling and almost compelling draw on its audience, and here, Willow shares this resemblance to Sia. The auditory aesthetics of Willow's voice throughout "Marceline" almost counterbalances her lack of lyrical depth, therefore somehow compelling her audience to sing along to her trivial lyrics. Without even knowing who Marceline Abadeer is, without even understanding the presence of a reference to Adventure Time, a passive Spotify listener is suddenly drawn to this song.

lyrics to "Marceline" by Willow Smith