Club Paradise by Drake
23 Jul 2023One of my favorite time wasters is reading song lyrics to understand what they mean. After all, we do the same for literature - analyzing things up to the colon - so maybe doing the same for well-thought music is not a bad idea.
The first song I’d like to try this with is Drake’s reflective song Club Paradise as part of the Care Package album. Keep in mind that at the end of this article I’ll confirm with more reliable sources (cough cough Genius cough cough) about whether I got the meaning correct - so don’t hyperventilate if I completely mis close read.
The lyrics to Club Paradise can be found here.
Story Line
Club Paradise tells the story of Drake having left his hometown (Toronto) wanting to come back to a home that doesn’t accept him anymore. Although not specifically stated, there are strong allusions to Drake being seen as disconnected from who he was due to how he seems “caught up in where [he is] right now.”
“No wonder I feel awkward at this Fashion Week”
Drake denies allegations that he’s changed from his original hometown persona by taking shots at all the fancy things he secretly (or now, publicly) can’t stand - notably Fashion Week or how to formally do a double-cheek kiss. He even goes so far as to defend his realness by the very fact that he knows the names of performers at a gentleman’s club.
Throughout the song, he asks the same question about “who did he leave behind”. My guess is that this is a reference to who Drake has not publicly acknowledged has helped him or not given anything back to in return. He’s desperate for reassurance that he is still the same person, as shown in the lines below:
“Yeah, just lie to my ears. Tell me it feel the same, that’s all I’ve been dying to hear”
The next part of the story confirms his identity crisis even more. Even his mom considers him a “slave to the wealth”. He explains that he’s never failed to achieve anything but is still vulnerable and most importantly needs love.
Overall, this is one of Drake’s better tracks which indicates why it’s probably less listened to (this is real.) The level of introspection present is insane.
Did I get it correct?
As promised, I would check with smarter sources if I missed anything.
This was an easy song to look at it, so there’s not a ton of discrepancies between what I found and Genius. Mostly I couldn’t recognize the subtle indications that Drake doesn’t intend to change based on his performance, and instead maintain the same sound. Club Paradise is actually not a tribute to the 1986 movie but to Drake’s favorite gentleman’s club.
More songs coming! MELTDOWN next?