Trey Songz and Summer Walker's Song, "Back Home," is Pure Weaponized Nostalgia--in a Good Way

I've written about weaponized nostalgia as well as songs taking other songs and making something new-ish from them multiple times here on my blog. I wrote about Trey Songz doing it with, "About You," and Summer Walker doing it with, "Come Thru." Now, there is a new song with both of them that not only samples another popular song ("Oh Boy") which has itself been in a newer ditty ("What You Did"), it says bits of lyrics from an even older song. It is like a hit of pure nostalgia.

"Back Home," features a sample of the lady saying, "Oh boy," in the classic Cam'Ron song at a really sped-up level and has Trey Songz in the chorus saying, "If it isn't love, why I keep coming back? I keep coming back, back home," a direct re-jiggering of the lyrics in the classic New Edition song, "If it Isn't Love," which goes, "If it isn't love, why do I feel this way, why does she stay on my mind?" It's subtle, but the way Trey says his lines they have the exact same tone and speed as the words when you hear them in the New Edition song.

Trey Songz and Summer Walker.

So, we've got the song, "Back Home," sampling a rap song from the 2000s and lyrics reminiscent of the 1980's while featuring an artist who rose to prominence in the 2010s (Trey Songz) and one who just emerged as we entered into the 2020s (Summer Walker, and yes, she had a commercial mixtape in 2018 and her debut album dropped in late 2019, but I'm counting it this way). We have the perfect mixture of newer artists and a fresh song that also appeals to younger Baby Boomers and older Generation X by alluding to lyrics those who enjoyed the '80s will adore and sampling a hook those of us who came of age in the 2000s (like yours truly) will adore. This song has basically covered all its bases, hence my assertion that, "Back Home," is a powerful hit of weaponized nostalgia--and of course a pretty solid song all on its own too.

As for what my point is in all this, I'm not sure I have one beyond that there is something powerful in taking our love of old media and tweaking it to work in a new setting. Whether it is movies preying upon our love of the past (like, "Jurassic World," taking us back to the park,) or video-games with their remasters of classic titles, or songs as in this case, folk love when their new stuff evokes their love of old stuff, for better or worse.

Being the Neighbor of Someone Trey Songz Has Sex With Sounds Very Annoying

I enjoy the music of Trey Songz AKA Tremaine Aldon Neverson, but one of his new jams makes me wonder if it would actually really suck to be a neighbor of someone he's seeing. The song, "Neighbors Know My Name," involves him singing about how he and a ladyfriend have such loud and rambunctious sex it results in the neighbors banging on the wall (I assume they are in an apartment or condominium) and even coming-over and pounding on the door to demand that Neverson and his partner quit having such loud relations.

Lyrics in the song discuss how they go, "So hard," they damage a new headboard on the bed, and she often shouts a number of things from obscenities to, of course, his name, "Tremaine/Trey." One verse involves Neverson outright stating that while the neighbors, "Be dreamin', you be screamin' now they bangin' on our door," which is Neverson essentially admitting that he and his female lover  chose to have sex late at night knowing full well based on past evidence it would be disruptive.

"Good morning! Sorry about all that noise last night."

Now, I don't want prevent Neverson from having sex as many of his quality songs involve the subject of love-making and I want him to continue having inspiration for his music. I also admire that he wants to make sure both he and his partner are satisfied as sex is of course something that should be enjoyed by all parties involved (too many heterosexual relationships involve men solely focused on their pleasure and not the lady being happy too). That said, I would maybe suggest that if he is going to be so thorough in his romantic encounters with this woman that perhaps they have sex during the day when it wouldn't wake people up, or maybe if he does not live with this woman (the song never specifies if he's a resident there or just visits often) maybe this ladyfriend can come over to his house/apartment/condo sometime and his own neighbors can put-up with the loud sex (I'd assume they are used to it).

I know this is just a song and I imagine Neverson is a thoughtful enough person he would make sure his sex is not actually disruptive to others. Still, anytime I hear this on the radio I can't help but wonder how enraging it might actually be to live next door to whomever Neverson is having sex with; at least, that's my general takeaway from this ditty. Laslty, I like the line where he says the woman's body is, "A Problem," and that, "They call me the problem-solver," which doesn't relate to the noise-issue, but is a very clever line.

Cover, Remix, Sampling, or Something Different? The Anomaly of Trey Songz New Single, "About You."

Trey Songz new single, "About You," is an interesting song. Before I discuss it further, in order to fully understand what I'm talking about you should probably give it a listen, here (the song starts after a short intro promoting his newest album):

How was that? Catchy, right? Well, if you're older or just someone who likes music a lot it may also sound familliar at some points, as the lyrics about a person thinking a song is about them of course were first sung by Carly Simon some time ago in her hit single, "You're so Vain," that to this day she continues to refuse publicly disclosing whom it was about (it was Warren Beatty though, obviously Warren Beatty). Again, press play and enjoy:

Another good song, eh? Well, clearly Trey Songz is riffing on the idea of this song, but has cleverly turned it from an insult-jam to a love-ditty. The question becomes however, would this count as a cover in any way? I mean, it is way different so that wouldn't make sense, just as calling it a remix would feel a little incorrect. Then again, this isn't just sampling Simon, as when I hear the word, "Sampling," I think more-so taking a few beats, a riff here, a melody there, etc.

Therefore, perhaps this is arguably something different. It isn't entirely original, but it also can't be called a cover, remix, or a simple case of a sample. I guess the best way I would describe it is with the oxymoronic, "Derivatively Original," with that not meant negative. Instead, I am just pointing out that this is an original song, but one that derives from something else. Yeah, let's go with that idea.