 2017 was a good year for some of my favorite R&B artists, SZA's control, Sabrina Claudio's About Time, and the surprise that was Jayden Smith's Sire, also discovering Saunders and Brent Fye as Saunders' son. But the artist who resonated with me the most is the man with the silky smooth voice, Daniel Caesar and his debut album Freudian. Daniel Caesar's Grammy nominated Freudian album is an album that focuses on Caesar's intimate relationships. Not only with his partner, but with his mother and god. But I want to focus on one particular theme of this album, and more specifically the final song also titled Freudian. And the theme I want to focus on is duality. Sigmund Freud, a clear inspiration of this album, was a renowned Austrian neurologist, and one of the frontrunners in the world of psychology, introducing many theories, just notably the theory of the id, ego and the superego, or the conscious, pre-conscious and the unconscious. Relating this to the album, in Caesar's Freudian I believe he uses this theory of the conscious and the unconscious to emulate the duality between living and death as well as light and dark. And Caesar also uses some of Freud's other psychoanalytic theories. Beginning with his first verse, the song carries a reminiscent and bittersweet tone, and he seems to be addressing his partner, but instead of talking to her, he seems to be pleading his case to her, showing his vulnerability and admitting his mistakes. But he is also telling her that she is his motivation, and she is the one who inspires him. Meanwhile, the second verse is him embracing and thanking his mother for his existence, and also telling her that he's sorry and that he will make her proud. This is made clear by the language that he uses, clearly signifying that one is the reason he sings, and one is the reason that he is alive, as well as thanking one for saving his life and thanking one for giving him life. This can also be an ode to Freud's Oedipus Complex, which states that most people find partners who remind them of their parent of the opposite sex. The third verse is a little bit more mysterious. It could be his mother speaking to him, or it could be God rallying him, encouraging him to stop displaying weakness. But the reason I say it could be either is because the background vocals, shown in brackets, it appears that he could either repair his relationship with God that we see he's lost in the interlude, or he could be making things right with his mother that we also see in the interlude. The first half of this song, he is giving thanks, he is giving praise to his lover and to his mother. The first half is even a lot happier and more uplifting sonically. It represents the light, the living, the conscious, and it is the first half of the proposed theme of duality. And then midway through the song, the transition happens, into the interlude, and it seems as though he is losing control, losing his grip on life. And as he tells his mother that he's lost his faith, this is followed by a lengthy pause, and the transition from light to dark is completed. The organ, an instrument often used in church, begins to play. But contrary to its often lighter, happier sound, this organ plays a more somber, a more haunting tune, and he begins. While the first half of the song was positivity and thankfulness, embracing the life of his relationships, this half is the death and the sacrifice of his relationship, the unconscious, the darkness, the sacrifice being the sacrifice of his and another person's time and energy. Before this sacrifice, he carried innocence, and while he understands the darkness, the blissful nature of the relationship blinded him. He got too excited and the grim reality hit him. The reality and the realization of doing things, pursuing this relationship for fun or for enjoyment, was simply not worth it. And as Daniel Caesar loses his innocence, the darkness clouds him as he realizes this. But still her innocence is shielded over her like a veil, and she keeps chasing the light. Light is often used to display innocence or naivety, and in their growth, they become the living dichotomy of life and death, innocence and reality, light and dark. He continues to say that he took the easy way out, which was not fighting for this relationship. It's easier to leave than to stay and fight for what you care about. It's easier to leave than to make mistakes and grow together. And he chooses this route, though he states he's a martyr because of the image that he portrays earlier in the first verse, Caesar states that he would take a bullet for her. But in reality he wouldn't. But he wants to charge it to his ego because it sounds good, even though he knows it not to be true. While the second half of this song displays his darkness, it also reveals that he understands his flaws. This is the duality of Daniel Caesar's Freudian, a message of gratitude, vulnerability and honesty.