Music Review: Avicii "Hey Brother"

Avicii

Hey Brother

Album: True

Year: 2013

             Dan Tyminski tries to keep his family together in the conservative “Hey Brother.”

              A patronizing guitar opens the single, setting a judgmental tone.  He doesn’t know what to do. His brother refuses to listen. He’d rather party. He wishes he could convince him to go on a trip and view more of the world. Since getting married, he barely talks to his sister anymore. She spends more time with her husband’s family. She sends a text every once in a while but mostly to ask for a favor. Growing up, though, he remembers playing school with his sister. He defended her to several malicious ex-boyfriends. He hopes she remembers her family eventually. Despite his issues with his siblings, he’s prepared to help them out however he can. (“Hey brother, there’s an endless road to be rediscover/Hey sister, know the water's sweet but blood is thicker/Oh if the sky comes falling down, for you/There’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do.”)

           In the chorus, he would like to know if his brother has lost all hope and doesn’t even trust anyone. He also would like to ask if his sister if she knows what love actually is. He can only keep reaching out. (“Hey brother/Do you still believe in one another?

Hey sister/Do you still believe in love, I wonder?/Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you/There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.”)

             A patriotic beat stamps, saluting good old-fashioned values.

            In the bridge, he realizes both of siblings are scared. His brother fears not having anyone around and becoming irrelevant to the family. His sister is afraid her husband will divorce her. He promises to open his home up to then and told them to call him at anytime. (“What if I'm far from home?/Oh brother I will hear you call/What if I lose it all?/Oh sister I will help you back home/Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you/There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.”)

          The chorus is sung again.

         The bridge is sung again to end the single.

         Tyminski’s pointed vocals chastis his siblings for not living right, according to his standards. They have lost the meaning of family and are wasting their lives. If it weren’t for him, they wouldn’t even be a family. He does all the work and nobody cares.

        Avicii’s civic arrangement upholds its duty of trying to recreate the ideal family and move time back to a “better era.” Each time the recreation fails, he builds it up higher and with more gusto. But there’s a usually a failure he can’t explain, causing it lean.

       The  small “Hey Brother” is blocked entirely of black and white, leaving no room for color.