FEAR.
What happens on Earth stays on Earth
I love FEAR. by Kendrick Lamar so much, it ended up being my second most played song this year. Despite being 7:41 minutes long, it feels more like a 4 minutes song if I'm being honest. Don't fret, I won't be doing an analysis of the song or anything but rather, I'd like to list down what I love about the song.
Firstly, the opening instrumental and vocals never fails to give me chills. It's a perfect way to begin a song titled FEAR. Then I love the reversed intro, it's weird but it oddly works. Narratively, it's Kendrick's way of signaling that he's rewinding to the past and possibly a reference to speaking in tongues which is possibly a bit of a reach.
The song FEAR. is structured in three parts, the time when he was 7, 17, and 27, each listing his biggest fears. I simply love how despite the extensive length of each verse, he never sounds boring. His cadence is always changing at each stage of the song. In the first part, he mimics his mother's voice which is fear-inducing. In the second part, he takes on a pessimistic, depressing tone. Lastly, in the third verse which is no doubt my favorite part, Kendrick is at his most vulnerable and rawest (as if he wasn't in the first and second part). Thematically speaking, the third verse is the song's climax and the album's climax.
I have plenty of favorite lines from the track but if I were to pick one, just one line that hits me the most, it would be
'Fear, what happens on Earth stays on Earth
And I can't take these feelings with me, so hopefully, they disperse'
There's so much power and catharsis in this verse, it's hard to explain. You really have to listen to it for you to understand what I mean. Safe to say, FEAR. is probably the only rap song that could make me cry. Nowadays, I don't listen to the song that much anymore but whenever I listen to it again, it never fails to amaze me.