A deep commentary upon society.

Jumpingzombie · 2012-06-08 21:16:30

Yes, you may be surprised and may be asking yourself "Well, that's just a stupid song." But, you obviously don't see the genius and important commentary it offers.

It is an intricate commentary about depression and the pressures of masculinity as told by the alcoholic narrator. This post is a look at those themes throughout the narrative.

His first and immediate subject is how useful the solo cup is for putting drinks in. Though it could be any beverage, in this context, it's obviously alcohol.

The narrator immediately goes on to attack other males masculinity for "drinking from a glass." It seems that the narrator, because of his financial position and some traumatic occurrence feels the need to defend his own as well as attack others' masculinity (this point will come up again later).

The speaker also seems to have come into some major financial difficulty in his life; the only thing he seems to be able to afford are red Solo cups and his house has been foreclosed upon. This seems to have led to a bout of depression which is also leading him to drink as a way of coping. He also justifies his use of the cup because they will eventually decompose.

The chorus begins; the narrator is now in a group of friends and is drinking and partying as a way to get his mind off the issues in his life.

The narrator then seems to subtle unhappiness with his financial position in life: he wishes he could afford more that cheap plastic cups. In fact, this leads to embarrassing social situations. His education his limited using the word "yucky" (possibly as a way of self censorship and curse words often have an association with people who are in-eloquent). It could also be at this point, the speaker is fairly drunk.

He then attempts to show a display of his heterosexual masculinity, describing how he hits on women and will most likely be "getting lucky" later. These lines seem loaded. On one hand, he might just want sex. However, he seems trying very hard to prove his masculinity to those around him and is assuring both the listener, his friends and himself he will indeed be sleeping with a woman soon. There is definite insecurity but also maybe some hints of depression. The idea of "rebounding" after one has gone through a break up or divorce is not uncommon. And due to his financial difficulties, it could be the speaker has recently been divorced.

Chorus repeats.

He now describes the importance of the cups specific color. Red is superior over both blue and yellow. Each color has loads of different meanings, depending on the society. However, due to the singer's current state, the other two colors may call upon negative emotions. Blue is used as a term of unhappiness ("getting the blues). Yellow is often used in terms of cowardice and possibly deceit. There may have certain deceit that occurred in his marriage, the color could also represent his feelings of hidden cowardice at not taking more risks in his life. Red, however, may have more positive meaning to him: red is the color of blood, the source of life and vitality. Red is also associated with lust, something he is currently feeling. It also represents love, something he seems to be missing.

The cup seems to be his only real friend. His depression has lead him to feel abandoned and he wishes for male bonding on a more emotional and lasting level. At the moment it feels that the cup (or more appropriately, the alcohol inside) is his only real friend. While this profession may be due to drunkenness, his depression has left him abandoned and the only true feelings he has can be expressed and taken care of by the Red Solo Cup.

The song comes to an end as he continues to party as an outlet.

Looking at this song piece by piece, there are commentaries about depression and its tied to personal problems and social pressure. (Or it's a silly song about how awesome Red Solo Cups are. Whichever)