Song Analysis: Justin Bieber - Intentions
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| Justin Bieber – Intentions ft. Quavo | source: vevo |
Critical Discourse Analysis Of Justin Bieber's "Intentions" feat. Quavo
Intentions is one of my favorite Justin Bieber’s songs. This song was released on February 7, 2020 as the second single from his recent album ‘Change’. Featuring rapper Quavo, Bieber created this R&B song which received lots of love from their fans respectively. This is evidenced by the single that successfully topped many music charts. Billboard even chose this song as the best song of 2020 and was nominated in lots of music awards.
Set to a catchy and upbeat tune, Intentions was actually written to be dedicated to Bieber’s lovely wife Hailey Baldwin and Quavo’s girlfriend Saweetie. They compliment their ladies through this song. However, as Bieber said in the MTV interview he also wanted to highlight the social issues that are happening in the world. People are often overlooked and forget to set intentions. Regardless its deep meaning, the single beat seems to invite us to join in dancing with Bieber and Quavo. Having R&B and Pop as the genre, Intentions use many modern pop music production elements such as sidechain kick bass, transitions, snare drums, vocals and more. Not only is Justin Bieber’s vocal that something catchy, the rap of Quavo also has the funky soul. There are two versions of the Intentions’ official music video, the long and the short version. Within a few hours after it was released the first music video had reached millions of viewers and became a trending topic on twitter.
Simply put, Intentions is a love song. Through this song that is written in the lyrics “Picture perfect you don’t need no filter,” we know Justin Bieber and Quavo are praising the looks and face of their ladies which are beautiful without needing any filter. These lyrics also show that women all around the world are beautiful with their own characteristics. Women nowadays are using many filters to take pictures, but they should know that they don’t need those things to be beautiful. They don’t need to be insecure because each person has their own uniqueness and everyone’s beauty standards are different. Love the way who you are. "Shout out to your mom and dad for makin' you", Bieber also thanks Baldwin's parents for raising their child who has a “heart full of equity”. These also intended for the upright and independent nature of women worldwide. According to the music video on YouTube, Bieber and Quavo visited Alexandria House and set a different intention by sharing the stories of three struggling women (Mamo, 2020). Alexandria House is a transitional residence which is focusing on the women and children. Bieber tries to show the world that we need to help each other. In the video both of them are seen helping Bahri, Marcy and Angela who are parts of the house to achieve their goals and expectations. So, even though this is a love song Bieber and Quavo used the occasion to support a more righteous cause. At the end of the video, it is known that Bieber also donated $ 200,000 for the house through an Intentions Fund he established.
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| Justin Bieber purchased Bahri a new car. |
As I mentioned above, through this song Bieber not only praises her wife, but also cares about society. He and Quavo are really paying attention to the women and children’s difficulties to move from crisis to stability. Referring to the official music video, they collaborates with Alexandria House which is an LA non-profit organization based in providing resources for women, children, and the surrounding community. In the video, Bieber also purchased a new car for Bahri who is a Saudi Arabian immigrant, to support her dream to become the first graduate from college in her conservative family. Then, he gave some backpacks full of supplies to Marcy, a young mother whose intentions are helping foster youth and find them the resources they need. The last, Angela is a grandmother and an artist who has experienced homeless. She wants to spread awareness about homeless women and children through her songs. At that time, Angela can share her spoken words to the world because Bieber booked time at a studio. In conclusion, from this music video we know that both Bieber and Quavo have their intentions to highlight the social issue about women and children. They also invite us to do charity and indicate us to help others. “Thank you to the Alexandria House for opening your doors and your hearts to Bahri, Marcy and Angela and the entire community in times of need,” said the team.
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| Justin Bieber and Quavo with Alexandria House families. |
References:
Mamo, H. (Feb 19, 2020). Here Are the Lyrics to Justin Bieber's 'Intentions,' Feat. Quavo. Billboard. Retrieved from <https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/lyrics/8551459/justin-bieber-intentions-lyrics-quavo>
MTV. (Feb 8, 2020). Justin Bieber Reveals the Meaning Behind 'Intentions' w/ Quavo | MTV. Retrieved from <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_QRb0j17TQ>
Osei, S. (2020). Justin Bieber & Quavo's Moving "Intentions" Video Has Twitter in Its Feelings. Highsnobiety. Retrieved from <https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/justin-bieber-quavo-intentions-reactions/>
Carras, C. (Feb 7, 2020). How Justin Bieber’s new song, ‘Intentions,’ helps women in Los Angeles. LAtimes. Retrieved from <https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-02-07/justin-bieber-intentions-new-song-quavo-video>
Mcdonald, A. (Feb 7, 2020). Justin Bieber – Intentions Ft. Quavo | Lyrics Review and Song Meaning. Justrandomthings. Retrieved from <https://justrandomthings.com/2020/02/07/justin-bieber-intentions-ft-quavo-lyrics-review-and-song-meaning/>
Helloo Dias! :) such a great blog, as always hehe! Well, I'd like to ask, regarding to this issue, if you have friends who are not confident in themselves, always feel insecure, etc., what will you do? What motivation or things would you give to help overcome this kind of issue?
ReplyDeleteHello there! Thank you for visiting my blog :) Well, actually I'm not a confident person and also feel insecure when I have to do several things. However, I will give my great effort while doing something because I think we must do our best and show others that we can do it too. Based on your questions, I will accompany her/him and say we will through this together, no need to be worried. As someone said "we were born to be real not to be perfect."
DeleteAmazing! I wish I could do the same as you; try and do my best :) Ohh, I remember that! Great quote from Ralph M !! Thank you, Dias, for the answer. I hope we can make this happen, understand and help our friends who feel insecure or other things that make them feel down :)
DeleteMy pleasure. Should you have any other questions or suggestions regarding my blog, please let me know. You can also use the 'Find Me' feature to contact me on other platforms. Thank you and have a nice day!☺️
DeleteHello, Dias! I just knew this song also discussing about women and children. I would like to ask. If we look at the way Justin and Quavo brought message through this song which is about women and children. How can we as college students implement it in Indonesia?
ReplyDeleteHi, Lydia. Such a good questions! Well, we as college students can join an organization based in providing the needs of neglected women and children. As I know there is one kind of this organization in Malang. We can also donate what they need or even become a volunteer as a teacher in an orphanage. Not only that, we can act decisively when there is injustice for women out there. Thank you.
DeleteThank you for your suggestion Dias! I do agree, we as a college students need to speak more about this issues by involved in volunteering action.
DeleteMy pleasure. Should you have any other questions or suggestions regarding my blog, please let me know. You can also use the 'Find Me' feature to contact me on other platforms. Thank you and have a nice day!☺️
DeleteHi Dias! I'm very happy to read your great blog! I want to ask, what your suggestions for people who are still not confident to they self? I hope you can answer my question, thank you!
ReplyDeleteHello, Arinaa! Glad to hear that :) As I wrote on Brigita's comment above, I will cheer them on. Saying you are not alone, we were born with our own uniqueness. Try to understand yourself without looking at other people's perspectives. Living your purpose is where you will find your joy!
DeleteHi Dias! thank you for selecting this nice meaningful song, I want to ask you about your opinion after understanding the meaning, how do you feel after you listen the song and understand the meaning? Do you think this song can help women and children even they are in their very difficult situation and they don't have any optimism to solve their problem? Thank you :)
ReplyDeleteSure! Bieber is a talented singer as well :) In my opinion, I feel happy while listening to this song. The song which has modern pop music and simple lyrics can give us encouragement and also help homeless women and children. Intentions is one of worldwide artists’ work who care about social issues. We all know there are still many people who set high beauty standards and vying to get attention. However, beauty is not always about face but also attitude. I’m not really sure about whether this song can help the women and children’s problems because I think they also need to convince themselves that they can face the world like women in the music video. Thank you.
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