

The first part of the song is actually centered on a troubled romance the singer is in. The way the vocalist presents the situation is that he’s not happy in this relationship, and neither is his partner. Lyrics touch on a troubled Romantic Relationship Jackson (2000), Rosa Parks (1999) and even Jazzy Belle (1996).Īnd so it is with “Hey Ya!” – so much so that some listeners were startled upon learning what Andre is actually singing about in its entirety. This track is thoroughly jumpin’, and so too is its award-winning music video. But underneath all of the excitement, there’s actually some serious stuff going on here.Īnd the above is not to imply that actually reading the lyrics of “Hey Ya” on paper makes it easy, relatively speaking, to understand. And in a way, it is actually two narratives in one. The second half of the track is entirely a boogie tune, inspiring all of the ladies in the house in particular to “shake it”. So if a listener hastily concludes that this is a dance song, well, they would be at least halfway correct. Indeed unintelligible lyrics are a common factor amongst Outkast tracks, going back to the days of Ms. This is despite the fact that listeners would be hard-pressed to actually make out what the homeys are saying in their verses.
