Music Review: Maroon 5 "Animals"

Maroon 5

Animals

Album: V

Year: 2014

            Adam Levine won’t take no for an answer in the disquieting  “Animals.”

                 Thin synths open the single, setting a rigid tone. The chorus opens the single. She won’t answer his calls. Then, he’ll just have to find her himself and talk to her. He drives to her house. All the lights are turned off except for one. She thought she fool him. He honks the horn several times in succession. Nothing. He slams the car door and walks to her front her door. He pounds on it. He looks at the cushion on the porch swing. It’s bent in. She must’ve gone inside recently. (“Baby I'm preying on you tonight/Hunt you down eat you alive/Just like animals/Maybe you think that you can hide/I can smell your scent from miles/Just like animals/Baby I'm-.”)

             They argue all the time. They fight about dinner, his work hours and can’t agree on anything. The only time they are civil to each other are when they have sex. She makes him feel horrible about himself. But the sex is too good to really leave. (“So what you trying to do to me/It's like we can't stop, we're enemies/But we get along when I'm inside you/You're like a drug that's killing me/I cut you out entirely/But I get so high when I'm inside you.”)

             In the pre-chorus, she told him in their last conversation that they are over. He tells her she’s lying to herself if she could love someone else other than him. Her text messages of “let’s talk” negate it all. She comes over to talk and then she ends up sleeping with him again.  (“Yeah you can start over, you can run free/You can find other fish in the sea/You can pretend it's meant to be/But you can't stay away from me/I can still hear you making that sound/Taking me down rolling on the ground/You can pretend that it was me, but no.”)

                The chorus is sung again.

                 He thinks about her every second of the day. She tells him to go away and that she’s done. But he likes the fact she’s taking time to even acknowledge him. (“So if I run it's not enough/You're still in my head, forever stuck/So you can do what you wanna do/I love your lies, I'll eat 'em up/But don't deny the animal/That comes alive when I'm inside you.”)

             The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

            In the bridge, his machismo will win her over every time. She can’t enough of his body. He howls to prove his manliness. (“Don't tell no lies, you can't deny/The beast inside/No girl don't lie, you can't deny/The beast inside/Just like animals/Just like animals.”)

              The chorus is sung again.

               The bridge is sung again to end the single.

               Levine’s complacement vocals truly believe everything that he says is true. His nonchalance makes the lyrics unnerving.  Levine’s glamorization of toxic relationships reaches it apex here. “One More Night,” they both were on the page on everything, despite the screwed up dynamic between the couple. However, “Animals” is screwed up right from the start, turning a “no” into some sort of carnal urge that cannot be satsified.. It crosses the line where consent is no longer allowed. The video, rightly criticized, demonstrates it by taking it up another dozen notches.

            Rape is the implied issue here. She has already said no and he continues to bother her. He states outright that sex is what keeps them together. Guys, just because Levine landed a supermodel wife does mean his relationship advice should be followed. It will only lead to jail.

           The savage  “Animals” is proof that if a cute frontman of a band is on television, anyone can stay relevant long after the brand has expired.