Post Malone’s Mourning: A Summer Hit With a Dark Twist

I have to admit that I am not a big Post Malone guy. I took a look at his previous record Twelve Carat Toothache and it really didn’t hook me. However, I saw that he was putting out another record only a year after that album, so I had to see what the creative explosion was. Well, this track did get its hooks into me and has some interesting things going on under the hood.

Musically, the track has a Sublime – esque heavy bass mix with summer campfire acoustic guitar. In fact, this track is incredibly bass heavy and it is almost at its detriment. At times the bass blows out the rest of the track and you really can’t concentrate on anything. Not that there is a ton to concentrate on. Generic trap synth percussion is mixed with overdubbed vocal flashes, claps and some effective acoustic guitar. All and all, the best part of the arrangement is the guitar, which is largely drowned out and relegated to the back of the mix. Having said that, it does what it needs to do, which is create a general summer flow vibe that carries throughout the track.

You may have read that last paragraph and thought “Wow, I could have sworn I saw the word ‘hit’ in the title and I thought Dave liked this song…” Well, the lyrics and vocal save this song and put it over the top, which are words I thought I would never say for a Post Malone track. First of all, the vocal goes down smooth and you get brought into Malone’s buzz. It has this light airy quality that all great summer tracks have. You can picture yourself listening to this track as you roll down in Malibu. I am not a huge fan of Malone’s vocal, but it is really working for me in this track and the bridge / chorus has a great hook.

Lyrically, this song has a ton going on. Amidst the light vocal are some extremely dark verses about regret, self – destruction and emotional pain. Like most of Post Malone’s tracks, this is about copious drug use and parties. However, this endless summer buzz is fuelled by his attempt to run from his emotion pain, which is so crippling the only way he can manage it is through extreme drug use. He is not signing about getting a buzz with friends by the campfire, but using for the sole reason of not being sober. His buzz in this track is often alone or with friends he doesn’t know, while he continues to stay high in order to avoid his life. This is not about using during the good times, but an addiction that has him caught between drugs being the only way he can manage his life and self – destruction. In essence, the answer to his emotional problems is killing him.

I may be reading too much into a Post Malone song, but the title Mourning is a hint that this cruisy summer track is far from what it appears on the surface. I like seeing the depth in this track and it has really connected with me emotionally. Even though this song is largely paint by numbers, the vocal and lyrics elevate it above your average generic summer track. I will have to give the rest of this record a listen.

Listen to Mourning