by Danielle Bulhoes

Ava Max’s song “So Am I” is a fun, poppy hit that’s pretty formulaic in its sound. Max tries to distinguish herself with her lyrics though, selling the listener on how it’s okay to be unique and different when the music to her song does none of that. It’s a very odd mixture of lyrics and melody.

I’ve heard songs that mix happy lyrics with sombre or haunting melodies, or sad lyrics with upbeat tunes. Those times, these songs I had listened to had a duality to them. I could appreciate both sides of what the artist was trying to do and how the blend of expressions allowed for a more nuanced listening of the track.

Max’s track doesn’t really do that for me. To me, it sounds like she’s trying to fit in with the ‘hipster/outcast’ crowd in order to sell her music. It comes off as a little inauthentic and contrived. It’s filled with cliched lines of how it’s fine to not fit in while the buoyant music very much tries to fit into the popular music scene.  

I think my favourite lines from the lyrics are, “Do you ever feel like an outcast? /You don’t have to fit into the format/ Oh, but it’s ok to be different/ ‘Cause baby, so am I”.

Really?

And that message of being different and not having to “fit into the format”, is the most effective when paired with a high energy pop beat that’s probably being blasted through a neon-lit club right now?

“So Am I” by Ava Max is an okay track that’s perky and fun, but the lyrics are seriously out of place here, creating a disconnection between the form and the message. It is ok to be different, but I don’t think the best way to be different is to conform to popular music just to sell your single.