Is Fifth Harmony’s First Single Without Camila About Fake Friends?
As the clock struck midnight and Thursday decided to send its thirsty ass to bed, Fifth Harmony decided to release their first single as a foursome to their hungry fandom.
On the one hand, it’s a straightforward song about the kind of ride or die relationship that makes you wanna commit perjury, but if you look closer, you’ll see there’s more to “Down” than meets the ear that first time you listen to it.
Just as easily as it could be about a romantic boo, it could also be an anti-fake friends anthem.
You sweatin’ over there, Camila?
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In light of Camila deciding she’d rather go crying in the club than work from home one more time, it’s understandable that Fifth Harmony would use their first single as an opportunity to send a little message to their former bandmate.
That message is: we’re fine without you, bb. And we won’t rest until the world knows that. Trust.
If “Down could be distilled down to one central nugget of truth, it would be this lyrical snippet:
“When push comes to shove / you show me love / when push comes to shove, aye / long as you’re holding me down, down, down / I’m gon’ keep lovin’ you down, down, down.”
If you would have asked the girls of Fifth Harmony last year if this was the kind of love Camila had for them, they all would have answered in an enthusiastic chorus of, “Yeah, totes.” But as it turned out, when push came to shove, Camila was like, “JK, y’all can walk home bitches.”
And “Down” crystalizes the fact that that’s not the kind of relationship 5H is looking to repeat.
Take a look at this shady little passage sung by Lauren:
There ain’t no kinda situation
Where I wouldn’t cross a line for you
FBI interrogation
I would get up there and lie for you
Yes, this could be about a boyfriend — but it could also be about a bestie who’s not holding down her end of the deal.
And if Camila doesn’t want to keep holding them down, they don’t need to keep holding her down.
While the average listener might not be able to pick up on this subtlety, true Fifth Harmony stans LOVE to read between the lines. They don’t miss ANYTHING, so you can trust they’re picking up on what 5H is laying down.
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Then again, “Down” could also be a love letter to their fans. After all, that’s essentially what One Direction’s first single after Zayn flew the coop, “Drag Me Down,” was about.
“All my life, you stood by me / when no one else was ever behind me / all these lights, they can’t blind me / with your life, nobody can drag me down,” the boys intoned in unison as the song reached its chorus.
See, after a boy band or a girl band loses one of its members, the pressure is always on them to deliver, so it really means a lot to them to have their fans stick by them.
No matter what the press has to say, their true fans never leave their side. So it’s a really nice gesture to have the first single you release in that critical time be something that rewards fans for their loyalty.
Either way, read into “Down” what you want, but read into it.
If you can’t scrutinize a pop song, what are you really alive for, you feel?
And check out our cover story with Fifth Harmony here.
