Songs that are about regret, holding grudges, or being sorry always run the risk of being repetitive and unappealing. This is because even if you can relate to the problem presented in the song, most people do not want to feel negative emotions for an extended amount of time if they can help it. So, artists who decide to tackle these topics either have to have stunning instrumentals and melodies, or deep or uplifting enough lyrics to keep the audience from leaving. NF’s song “let you down”, succeeds in both of these areas.

NF is an American rapper, that has gained more popularity in the past few years. He started to make music in 2010 and raps about very personal topics.

The great thing about this song is how it fixes the problem of only using one of the previous experiences. The song focuses on the specific subject of parent and child relationship and the emotions that arise when those relationships go bad. This allows the piece to bring forth a lot of subtopics because parents can have various different influences on their kids. Going into the type of struggle that everyone deals with just in different doses.

When it comes to the instrumentals they are pretty consistent. The use of piano in the chorus is the same as the verses, but the percussion makes up for the lack of contrast. Usually, the amount of variety of pop songs is crucial, but here the lyrics are definitely more important so it is easy to let that go.

The lyrics are very straightforward but in the best way possible. Deep metaphors are always great to analyze, but very few of those can beat the raw emotion of this kind of song. The lyrics are also very versatile and can be put into different perspectives in some spots. The verses are rapid-fire statements on how the parent has always looked down on the kid, and how the kid is tired and fed up with it. When the song goes into the chorus, the lyrics can be from the child’s point of view or the parents. Saying “It’s like we’re on the edge right now/ I wish that I could say I’m proud/ I’m sorry that I let you down” can be interpreted as an apology from the parent or from the kid as a way to say “even though you hurt me, I’m sorry for disappointing you.”.

If I want to get really nitpicky, I could talk about how each verse stars out with the same word. Which is a bit irritating. Or I could talk about how the song’s chorus has a very predictable rhythm, almost the same as songs like “Superheros” by the Script. These things definitely do not make the song a bad one but are still very glaring weaknesses that stand out amongst the good elements.

Overall, the song was a very emotional one and had many different layers of lyrical depth. It talked about a topic not many people want to talk about. At least not in a serious way. So, I give this one a 4.1 out of 5 stars. While it might be hard for some people to get over the similarities to other songs and the repetitive chord progression, The real focus here was message and storytelling over everything else. So, going in with that mindset makes this song an amazing experience, and certainly will get people hyped for NF’s 2018 tour.