{"id":1029,"date":"2023-07-17T11:58:59","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T18:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.scrippscollege.edu\/scrippsjournal\/?p=1029"},"modified":"2023-07-17T11:59:14","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T18:59:14","slug":"the-successes-of-mike-posners-i-took-a-pill-in-ibiza-seeb-remix-by-golda-grais","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.scrippscollege.edu\/scrippsjournal\/the-successes-of-mike-posners-i-took-a-pill-in-ibiza-seeb-remix-by-golda-grais\/","title":{"rendered":"The Successes of Mike Posner’s \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza (Seeb Remix)\u201d by Golda Grais\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mike Posner is a name you may only have a passing memory of, and Mike Posner knows that. Posner first emerged as an artist in 2009 with his hit song \u201cCooler Than Me.\u201d The turn of the decade was a maximalist, enthusiastic time in the pop landscape. In his article for <\/span>Vanity Fair<\/span><\/i> describing songs that defined the 2010s, cultural critic DJ Louie XIV describes the popular sound at this time as such: \u201c… everyone really craved some good, mindless fun as the decade rolled in \u2026 EDM-essentially European-style synth-driven club music \u2014 placed a vice grip on pop.\u201d \u201cCooler Than Me,\u201d with its synth-heavy production and swaggering personality, slotted well into this landscape. The song was a commercial success, dominating several charts and going on to be certified two times platinum in the United States. However, while \u201cCooler Than Me\u201d was a catchy hit, the song didn\u2019t do much to establish Posner as a pop star. His other attempts at singles didn\u2019t reach the same highs, and his name slowly dissipated from the public consciousness. It\u2019s a narrative that fits many one-hit wonders. The thing that sets Mike Posner apart though is that he managed to snag a second hit. That second hit was \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza (Seeb Remix),\u201d which was released in 2016. The song succeeded because it allowed Posner to shed his previous image while still using it as a springboard toward a more vulnerable, relatable persona. The production choices of the song work to heighten the song\u2019s meaning and Posner\u2019s new persona along with it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The transformation of Posner\u2019s persona is most evident in the way \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d is written. There are several significant differences in the lyrical choices on \u201cCooler Than Me\u201d versus \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza.\u201d In \u201cCooler Than Me,\u201d Posner describes a romantic interest that has decided that she\u2019s cooler than the speaker. The lyrics mainly focus on attacking the girl\u2019s presentation, how her \u201cdesigner shades\u201d hide her face, and how she wears too much makeup for anyone to get to know the real her. Posner sings \u201cI got you all figured out,\u201d but his petty jabs come off as insecure. The speaker craves this girl\u2019s attention, and when she doesn\u2019t give him what he wants, he lashes out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, on \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza,\u201d Posner instead turns the critique back onto himself. His insecurities are no longer subtext, but the subject of the song. Take the opening line: \u201cI took a pill in Ibiza \/ To show Avicii I was cool.\u201d This line immediately sets the song in a specific time, place, and headspace for Posner. Taking drugs at a glitzy island getaway with a famous DJ is turned into a desperate attempt for acceptance from one\u2019s peers. Other references to this are sprinkled throughout the song, found in lines like: \u201cI drive a sports car just to prove \/ I’m a real big baller ’cause I made a million dollars \/ And I spend it on girls and shoes.\u201d Status symbols such as a \u201csports car,\u201d \u201ca million dollars,\u201d \u201cgirls,\u201d and \u201cshoes,\u201d are not sources of joy or fulfillment. Instead, they are used in attempts to \u201cprove\u201d Posner\u2019s self worth. The opulent lifestyle Posner\u2019s success has afforded him rings hollow as he now struggles to maintain that facade of fame and fortune not just to others, but also to himself. In doing this, Posner\u2019s persona takes on more vulnerability than in the past, and while the story of \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d is specifically his own, it also feels far more relatable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This shift in perspective mirrors Mike Posner\u2019s maturation as an artist. Posner hadn\u2019t even graduated college when he released \u201cCooler Than Me.\u201d \u201cI Took A Pill In Ibiza\u201d reveals a Posner that\u2019s older, wiser, and more experienced. Further, Posner\u2019s critique of luxuriant pop tropes also reflects a wider trend in the pop landscape throughout the 2010s, specifically after Lorde released \u201cRoyals\u201d in 2013. Later in his article for <\/span>Vanity Fair<\/span><\/i>, DJ Louie XIV writes about the impact of \u201cRoyals\u201d: \u201c[it] opened the popular music conversation to a generation of stars who preferred introspection to overindulgence and questioned everything sold to them rather than reveling in it.\u201d \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d does just that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But Posner\u2019s lyrics are only half of the equation that makes up the success of \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza.\u201d Posner\u2019s original version of the song was a ballad with stripped-back, acoustic production. The version of the song that got popular was a remix by the Swedish production duo Seeb, consisting of Simen Eriksrud and Espen Berg\u200e. While this remix alters the structure and tone of the song, it doesn\u2019t counteract Posner\u2019s lyricism as one might expect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In \u201cSoul Sonic Forces: Technology, Orality, and Black Cultural Practice in Rap Music,\u201d Tricia Rose explores several aspects of the hip-hop genre, including its use of repetition. At one point, Rose examines the theories of French political economist Jacques Attali: \u201cFor Attali \u2026 repetition is primarily considered a manifestation of mass culture \u2026 The advent of recording technology signaled the emergence of a society of mass production and repetition\u201d (71). Rose goes on to argue against Attali\u2019s argument in the context of the rap genre. In rap music, Rose writes: \u201crepetition cannot be reduced to a repressive, industrial force \u2026 rap music uses rhythmic forces that are informed by mass reproduction technology \u2026 in ways that affirm black cultural priorities that sometimes work against market forces\u201d (72). According to Rose, repetition can be used as a tool of cultural memory to build rhythm and play with a listener\u2019s expectations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When looking at these arguments in the context of pop music, Attali and Rose\u2019s positions don\u2019t necessarily conflict but coexist with one another. If repetition is \u201ca manifestation of mass culture\u201d like Attali implies, then it makes sense that the genre of pop, whose goal is to reach as big of a mass of people as possible, would use repetition as a tool to achieve that goal. In transforming Posner\u2019s song into a pop hit, Seeb condensed the material and made it more repetitive. \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d is completely restructured in the remix. Seeb shortened the length from over four and a half minutes to just over three. The original version of the song had a bridge that the remix cuts. Seeb added in a post-chorus \u201cdrop,\u201d consisting of a dancey instrumental and chopped-up vocal samples of Posner. The tempo is upped from 74 beats per minute to 104 beats per minute. With such a dramatic change being made, it is perfectly reasonable to assume that Seeb commodified Posner\u2019s work, transforming a personal, emotional ballad into a consumable pop song for the \u201cmass culture.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But the deeper meanings Rose attributes to the practice of repetition in songwriting are also present. Another one of the elements of hip-hop music Rose defines are \u201cbreak beats,\u201d which are \u201cpoints of rupture in their former contexts, points at which the thematic elements of a musical piece are suspended and underlying rhythms brought to center stage\u201d (73-74). While Rose discusses break beats in the context of hip-hop, the description she provides also applies to Seeb\u2019s formation of the drop in \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza.\u201d Throughout the verses, Posner\u2019s vocals take center stage, underlaid with bright synths and heavily echoing snaps. This draws the listener\u2019s attention to his lyrics, which helps establish the emotional core of the song. However, with the introduction of the drop, Seeb ruptures the expectations the listener has up until that point. Similar to the way a break beat functions, during this drop, the \u201cunderlying\u201d instrumental elements of the verses flesh out, taking \u201ccenter stage.\u201d The synths that were previously used in the background now swarm around a central melody that rises and falls. Atop this instrumental, Seeb brings back a sample of Posner\u2019s voice from the pre-chorus. The lyric \u201cAll I know are sad songs \/ are sad songs\u201d is repeated throughout the drop. This one lyric stands in as the \u201cthematic element\u201d Rose describes, and both the words \u201cAll I know are sad songs \/ are sad songs\u201d and the repetition of those words elevate the mood Posner creates. While the drop has a sense of movement and progression to it, these vocal snippets remain \u201csuspended\u201d in place. These snippets have been lifted from the previous passage, the only difference being the context the vocal fragments are placed in. When all of these elements come together, it\u2019s like the listener is peeking into Posner\u2019s head, watching him dwell on his fate in a never-ending loop.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While Rose analyzes how a music phrase such as the drop works thematically within the piece of music, the format of the drop can also influence the listener\u2019s emotions. In his book <\/span>Music, Thought and Feeling<\/span><\/i>, William Forde Thompson goes over several theories about the connection between music and emotion. Thompson describes how many listeners have a visceral response to a \u201csudden dynamic or textural change\u201d (93). \u201cSudden dynamic or textural change\u201d is another apt description that suits Seeb\u2019s drop in \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza.\u201d Both structurally and emotionally, these drops offer the listener a moment of reprieve from Posner\u2019s lyrics while still incorporating just enough of his presence to maintain the theme of the song. The intensity of the groove, the danceability in these drops, allows for possible catharsis. With Seeb\u2019s restructuring, \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d is not just a pop song. It\u2019s a dance song.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Turning \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d into a dance song at first seems ironic. Posner\u2019s lyrics deride club culture, and yet, the remix, with its upbeat tempo and danceable drop, places that critique back into the context of the club. However, in changing the sound of \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza,\u201d Seeb also changes the function of it. In her essay \u201cSlaves to the Rhythm? Using Music, Space, Dance, and the Ideas of the Body,\u201d Fiona Buckland examines how dance music provides a sense of community and autonomy in queer club spaces. \u201cThe collaboration between dancers and DJs,\u201d Buckland writes, \u201cproduced pleasure through valuing exchange\u201d (66). Furthermore, \u201c… the music and space could become vehicles of autonomous invention\u201d (83). While Buckland\u2019s analysis centers on queer nightclubs, this phenomenon doesn\u2019t just apply to those spaces. Dance music\u2019s power to cultivate relationships with others and the self can apply to anyone. If the dancefloor and its accompanying music can be vehicles for self-actualization and understanding, then through changing the genre of \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d from acoustic ballad to dance track, this song about isolation transforms into a means of connection.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d translates so well into the dance space because Posner also uses the song as a means of connection to his audience. One line that best encapsulates this comes at the start of the second verse: \u201cI\u2019m just a singer who already blew his shot \/ I get along with old timers \/ \u2018Cause my name\u2019s a reminder of a pop song people forgot.\u201d In this line, Posner takes advantage of the audience\u2019s preconceived ideas about him, their recognition or nostalgia for \u201cCooler Than Me,\u201d and twists it. \u201cCooler Than Me\u201d becomes \u201ca pop song people forgot,\u201d transforming from the song that launched him to stardom into a source of regret, a reminder of how he \u201cblew his shot.\u201d The \u201cpeople\u201d in this line are the listeners themselves. Posner creates a link between himself and the listener, acknowledging their role in his story.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the only reference to the audience in the lyrics. There are several lines in the pre-chorus that reference this \u201cyou\u201d that is the audience: \u201cyou don’t wanna be high like me \u2026 You don’t ever wanna step off that roller coaster and be all alone \u2026 You don\u2019t wanna ride the bus like this \u2026 You don\u2019t wanna be stuck up on that stage singing\u2026\u201d In employing these references, Posner capitalizes on the potential recognition of the audience, connecting himself to them as he acknowledges his own shortcomings. He then uses that connection and acknowledgement to posit himself within a cautionary tale and also a redemption arc.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The public perception of Mike Posner after \u201cCooler Than Me\u201d may not have been all that positive, but that gave him room to grow. It\u2019s easier to root for an underdog than it is to root for someone who\u2019s got it \u201call figured out.\u201d In contrast to the juvenile bravado that permeates \u201cCooler Than Me,\u201d the Posner on \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d is more mature and achingly self-aware. This connection with the audience is where Posner\u2019s new persona snaps into place. On \u201cCooler Than Me,\u201d Posner kept his distance, content with pushing people away. On \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza,\u201d he\u2019s letting people in.<\/span><\/p>\n

With \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza,\u201d Mike Posner didn\u2019t just evolve into a new, more appealing image, he also managed to evolve with the times. Pop music had changed drastically from 2010 to 2016. In \u201cAre We Having Fun Yet? On Pop\u2019s Morose New Normal,\u201d written in 2018, Jayson Greene discusses how the pop charts in the late 2010s shifted away from the \u201cEDM-essentially European-style synth-driven club music\u201d DJ Louis XIV described from the turn of the decade. Greene identifies several factors that have contributed to this cultural shift, including greater accessibility to the news via the Internet, an increased demand for authenticity brought on by the intimacy of social media, hip-hop overtaking pop as the dominant genre in the U.S., and the advent of streaming. \u201cNow,\u201d Greene writes, \u201cpop music lies coiled up inside our phones alongside everything else \u2014 the banalities of friends and strangers, the horrors of the news.\u201d By 2016, dance floor bangers like \u201cCooler Than Me\u201d were a relic of a bygone era.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In \u201cPopping the Drop: A Timeline of How EDM\u2019s Bubble Burst,\u201d Philip Sherburne discusses the dwindling popularity of these kinds of song in the 2010s, identifying \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d as its last dying gasp, a song that manages to balance the propulsion of the dance genre with the morose tone taking over the pop charts. In this article, Sherburne quotes a review of the song by American music critic Bob Lefsetz, who discusses how the \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d remix subverted his anti-EDM bias with its revealing lyricism and smart production choices. \u201cWhew! This is a guy, being vulnerable,\u201d Lefsetz writes, \u201cIt\u2019d be easy to dismiss the modern pop scene, EDM \u2026 But when you uncover gems you\u2019re touched, feel as you always did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The critical and commercial success of \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d freed Posner from his status as a one-hit wonder, a sizable accomplishment in the pop sphere. Posner\u2019s subversion of the smug, insecure persona he established on \u201cCooler Than Me\u201d and of wider tropes about success allowed him to take on a more relatable persona that people could root for. Seeb\u2019s transformation of the song into a dance hit worked in favor of the song\u2019s meaning and its ability to connect with a wide audience. Ultimately, \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d showcases Posner\u2019s ability to evolve, to push his persona and appeal, and sound to not only suit the time of the song\u2019s release, but also his strengths as a performer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the success of \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza,\u201d Mike Posner has remained an amorphous presence in the pop sphere. He\u2019s continued to release music, though hasn\u2019t scored any major hits, and has also continued to work behind the scenes for other artists. If one decides to measure an artist\u2019s success through their ability to continue making charting hits, then it may appear that \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d wasn\u2019t a breakthrough for Posner at all, just another novel highlight in his discography. But sometimes, it\u2019s not just about the volume of hits, but more so how those hits stick in our memories and their ability to touch their audience and reveal new truths to them. In the annotations of the song\u2019s lyrics on Genius.com, Posner revealed the following about the writing process for \u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d: \u201c[My friend] looked at me and he said, \u2018Why don\u2019t you just tell the truth?\u2019 I didn\u2019t really have an answer for that question, at the time. But after leaving that studio\u2026 I wrote \u2018I Took a Pill In Ibiza.\u2019 I suppose that was my answer to the question.\u201d It appears as though Posner was successful in that endeavor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI Took a Pill In Ibiza\u201d may have slotted perfectly into the more morose pop landscape of the late 2010s, but the song is far from hopeless. When it was tearing up the charts, listeners all over the world got to know Mike Posner through his unique perspective on fame, regret, and loneliness. Seeb\u2019s remix opened up the song\u2019s listener base, creating community in spite of that loneliness. In that, the song might have helped those tuning in feel a little less alone themselves. If not for anything else, for that, the song is a smashing success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bibliography:<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cBPM and Key for I Took a Pill in Ibiza by Mike Posner: Tempo for I Took a Pill in Ibiza.\u201d <\/span>Song BPM<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>https:\/\/songbpm.com\/@mike-posner\/i-took-a-pill-in-ibiza<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBPM and Key for I Took a Pill in Ibiza (Seeb Remix) by Mike Posner: Tempo for I Took a Pill in Ibiza.\u201d <\/span>Song BPM<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>https:\/\/songbpm.com\/@mike-posner\/i-took-a-pill-in-ibiza—seeb-remix-00749410-b787-4649-bb75-946a445aa500<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Buckland, Fiona. <\/span>Impossible dance: Club culture and queer world-making<\/span><\/i>. Ch. 3: \u201cSlaves to the Rhythm? Using Music, Space, Dance, and the Ideas of the Body.\u201d Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. 2002.<\/span><\/p>\n

Greene, Jayson. \u201cAre We Having Fun Yet? on Pop’s Morose New Normal.\u201d Pitchfork, 8 Nov. 2018, <\/span>https:\/\/pitchfork.com\/features\/overtones\/are-we-having-fun-yet-on-pops-morose-new-normal\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Lefsetz, Bob. \u201cI Took a Pill in Ibiza.\u201d Lefsetz Letter, 29 Mar. 2016, <\/span>https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2016\/03\/28\/took-pill-ibiza\/?curator=MusicREDEF<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMike Posner \u2013 I Took a Pill in Ibiza.\u201d <\/span>Genius<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>https:\/\/genius.com\/Mike-posner-i-took-a-pill-in-ibiza-lyrics<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMike Posner \u2013 Cooler Than Me.\u201d <\/span>Genius, <\/span><\/i>https:\/\/genius.com\/Mike-posner-cooler-than-me-lyrics<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Rose, Tricia. <\/span>Sounding Off! Music as Subversion\/Resistance\/Revolution. <\/span><\/i>\u201cSoul sonic forces: technology, orality, and black cultural practice in rap music.\u201d 1995<\/span><\/p>\n

Sherburne, Philip. \u201cPopping the Drop: A Timeline of How EDM’s Bubble Burst.\u201d Pitchfork, 5 Apr. 2016, <\/span>https:\/\/pitchfork.com\/thepitch\/1086-popping-the-drop-a-timeline-of-how-edms-bubble-burst\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Thompson, William Forde. Music, Thought, and Feeling: Understanding the Psychology of Music. Ch. 5: \u201cMusic and Emotion.\u201d 2008.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vozick-Levinson, Simon. \u201cMike Posner Talks Graduating College, Scoring a Summer Smash, and Who ‘Cooler than Me’ Is Really About.\u201d EW.com, <\/span>https:\/\/ew.com\/article\/2010\/07\/21\/mike-posner-interview<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

XIV, DJ Louie. \u201c10 Songs That Explain the 2010s.\u201d Vanity Fair, 12 Dec. 2019, <\/span>https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/style\/2019\/12\/songs-of-the-decade-2010s<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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