PROMPT 2: GENRE ANALYSIS & MUSIC
“Off My Face” by Justin Bieber is an acoustic-ballad. It falls very neatly into the acoustic genre because of the soft guitar used as the base of the song. Although the song is also a ballad, I do not feel that it follows the general convention of ballads in that it does not feel like a narration; I did not read the lyrics as a story. However, ballads are usually slow and romantic songs, and “Off My Face” is both of these things. Justin Bieber sings:
“Your touch blurred my vision
It’s your world and I’m just in it
Even sober I’m not thinkin’ straight
‘Cause I’m off my face, in love with you
I’m out my head, so into you
And I don’t know how you do it
But I’m forever ruined by you, ooh-ooh-ooh”
These lyrics are the chorus of “Off My Face” and they read like those of a typical love song. Bieber sings “your touch blurred my vision” and “even sober I’m not thinkin’ straight,” both statements expressing how deeply this persons touch affects him. Although the lyrics very clearly convey how much he loves this person, the instrumental music in the background seems to have sad undertones.
Depending on how much the listener follows Justin Bieber and whether or not they subscribe to the gossip surrounding Justin and Selena, this song could be interpreted very differently depending on the listener. If the audience believes Justin to still be in love with Selena, they would likely focus on the sad undertones of the instrumentals and make the conjecture that Justin is singing fondly of his past love. If this is the case, then the lyrics “I’m forever ruined by you” could be taken to mean that Justin is now unable to love anyone the same way he loved Selena, even Hailey Bieber. However, if the listener does not believe the gossip saying that Justin Bieber is still in love with Selena, then the lyrics could be read as Justin singing about his current wife, Hailey.