A friend asked me what I thought of a particular track on The Weeknd’s latest album,  Beauty Behind the Madness. Big mistake.

So after more than a couple more listens. It's actually really really interesting dynamics at play here. In Shameless, The Weeknd is playing the role of the victim, though he's not at all innocent. If you take the whole track as a whole, here’s how things play out.

He cares for her just enough to not want to inflict pain. He can stay, he can leave, or he can exist somewhere in between. It's whatever she wants. It really doesn't matter, he just doesn't want to hurt her.

This 'pain' she feels is important because by definition it's the very opposite of 'shameless'. He knows he should let her go, but he knows he's still the best thing going for her. She wants more from him, more that he is 'unable, but not unwilling' to provide.

Yes, she's in it for the physical, but now also for this very pain that he lacks. While she is making attempts to move on, she can't simply because she's afraid to be loved. Something he, by nature cannot do.

So she comes back to him since he's the one person that can't love her, and he stays because he no longer has any shame, any of the pain. Is it him that's unable to fix her or is she that's scared to be fixed. Did they bring this on each other? Regardless, she now lives for this pain. He sees this. He's there, he's aware.

This really does call into question Stubborn Love by The Lumineers. "It's better to feel pain than nothing at all. The opposite of love is indifference." She feels pain. He's indifferent.

They each start at opposite end of a spectrum, but now coexist at a benumbed state. Shame is an extension of pain which is an extension of love, simply look at the etymology of the word 'passion'. Yes, he can't love her, but to his credit, he does care for her. In her defense, this pain is familiar, and arguably a lesser evil than consequence of love. It's common practice to self-inflict a consistent stream of pain than to endure it in it's sharper more severe forms. This is what she's choosing. It's comforting, and she can't be blamed for that. They cancel/balance each other out. There's a drop of each within the other. Yin and yang.

What makes the song fascinating is The Weeknd tries very hard to blur the line between who's playing what role. One can easily flip most aspects of this song and both characters will be just as much to blame. Cue Wicked Games and his own version of Trust Issues (he swapped "on one" with "popped one" or a few).

I did a piece a couple years ago chronicling the concept of love/shame as it breaks down a relationship. What’s happened here is not all too different. 

// This piece is fascinating, in and of it self, as a chapter within the album as a whole, and more importantly how this fits within The Weeknd’s evolution. I really want to explore this in more detail. I’m a fan of watching artists evolve. There’s so many parallels between him and other artists, (Gambio is just one) when comparing mixtapes, freshman, and now sophomore album. There’s a shift in persona as the chaos in which these artists are formed condenses. Not always for the better, but it’s always facilitating.

You go to loud places to find someone who will take you higher than I took you. Your’re in ecstasy without me. When you come down, I won’t be around..

Would you believe leave me if I told you what I've done? Would you need me if I told you what I've become became?

Stone Mountain, you raised me well I’m stared at by Confederates but hard as hell.