ANTHONY MAYZEL – Page 2 – English 2100 x 81: Fall 2020

Breaking Down “Molly” by Lil Dicky ft. Brendon Urie

0:00-1:18 Dave (Dicky) gets bombarded by his friends’ remarks as he gets ready for what seems to be his wedding.

1:19-1:32 Dave is visibly nervous on the car ride there as he reminisces through past pictures on his phone.

1:33-1:50 Dave introduces himself to family members and friends at the church as he slowly makes his way inward to get in place for the wedding.

1:51-2:50 As Dave gets into position, we can see the bride coming from behind him. However, she walks past Dave towards a groom. As the couple kisses and the crowd celebrates, we see a frame of Dave being noticeably upset.

2:51-4:56 At the dinner party, we can see Dave with people surrounding him, all enjoying themselves; meanwhile, Dave keeps getting bothered by the fact of his best friend getting married.

4:57-5:37 The video finishes with an interaction between Dave and his best friend – a final farewell as Dave walks offscreen gloomy.

When I first saw this music video, my heart sank. Not because of how it was produced, but because of the reality of the situation. Lil Dicky performs one of the most profound songs in his career with this, largely due to its personal resonance with him. Normally seen as a “jokester rapper”, Lil Dicky tackles on an undiscussed issue and shines with his thoughtful lyricism and powerful cinematography.

The video reflects on the premise of losing someone you love, not through death, but through a past full of mistakes and mishaps. During the course of the song, Dave speaks on breaking the relationship with the love of his life, Molly, due to the launch of his rap career and distancing issues.

“But when the fact is I always put you second to rap/ I’m not mad that you wouldn’t come”

Dave accounts for this failure primarily due to not spending enough time with Molly because of wanting to place his aspirations before his love life. However, it’s clear that with Molly, Dave wanted to place more emphasis on what could’ve been, not what had been.”

Throughout the course of the video, you can see that Dave prioritizes on the intensity of his lyrics and his emotions. The wedding, which acts as a celebration, is full of cheery and jubilant attendees; however, the attention is shifted towards Dave, the outlier. He constantly expresses sorrow for not being Molly’s groom, and distracts himself from the lively atmosphere with flashbacks to his seemingly forgotten relationship. The scene with Molly walking past Dave in the churchroom hits especially hard because it displays all of Dave’s regrets coming together: seeing his favorite girl marry his friend. The final interaction between Molly and Dave signifies the final send off of their relationship, and with Dave falteringly moving on.

Lil Dicky denotes a lot of inspiration for this song from his actual past relationship with Molly, which was cut short by his desire to chase his aspirations.

“So the decision wasn’t the difficult part. It was living with the realities of the outcome.”

The underlying message here is: to live in the moment, to enjoy what you have and not to fret about what you don’t have, and to keep your head straight. Many of us, including myself, are trapped in the bubble of analyzing our regrets and past decisions over and over and are obsessed with delving deep into what the future could be, when in reality, the importance truly lies in the life we live now. Because,

you won’t know if you are in the good times until it’s actually over.

Language is Key

As I was finishing up on Balko’s piece, I finally realized the true link between it and Parker’s poem. Although different in style, with Parker being more subtle compared to a more informative article from Balko, the message is still the same: language is key. Often times, wording can establish perspective; the changing/removal of even one word can shift that perspective drastically. For example, the poem is a direct reference to former President Barack Obama and his treatment towards black issues. A black president should be able to place his attention and care towards those sorts of problems, right? The absence and replacement of the word ‘black’ in the poem says otherwise. If we take a look over at the article, we can see the wording authorized by the police department in contrast to the local news department. The result: a retelling of the same scenario but two different perspectives. What has this taught me? If words are not precise, not carefully spoken, then the message intended could be blanketed by another, misleading one.

Also, it’s necessary to point out words that are in fact not said, as they hold as just the same importance. Words hold value through information, and when they are not mentioned, those details, and in turn, their value is lost.

“38”

This poem isn’t a poem designed to be romantic, or beautiful, but rather to tell a deep dark story that has been untold for generations. It’s about a group of people who were ridiculed and punished for rebelling in the interests of protecting and saving their people, who were unbeknownst to the government slowly dying. In the end, the pressured Dakota made their statement, but not without severe losses.

First off, the way this poem is told is very unorthodox. Layli Long Soldier describes the event of the Dakota 38 as if it were a research project, by recounting those events and trying to piece them together through the limited information she had. Normally when I read a poem, I expect to be introduced to lines of leaves rustling in the breeze, and blue lakes shining in the sun. However, this writing piece is purposely designed to be a straightforward and gritty tale with little to no play on words. Even in the beginning, Soldier’s statements about following the rules of capitalization and punctuation gives readers a sense of unambiguity.

This clarity doesn’t come without intentions, though. Combined with the fact that Soldier literally elaborates on her usage of italics and parentheses, by doing so she shifts attention away from wordplay and more on the storytelling itself. The way the narrator speaks is somber and comprehensible, devised to add emphasis on the context of the words. The finale finishes with a peculiar touch; Soldier spaces out the words more and more until they are completely separated – as if the words are “swinging”.

I thought of the meaning of the phrase “everything is in the language that we use” as in the answers are in the words. The context behind this phrase is that sota in Minnesota, which translates to turbid, accurately describes the scenario that the Dakota faced in those moments.