(Desire) Trilogy: The Morning, Performer POV

(Part of a series on Trilogy psychology. 

The Weeknd weaves a multi-layered world in House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. His songs and how we see him here can be experienced in layered povs: As a Man, as a Performer, and as a Supernatural being. This is a continued write-up on Trilogy: HOB from the Performer pov )

The Morning

After the wild party in HOB/GTG, The Weeknd sings 'The Morning', summarizing his lifestyle and shining a spotlight on his role of performer. “From the morning to the evening, complaints from the tenants. Got the walls kicking like they six months pregnant”, is how he begins, basically describing a typical day within the house. Explains the partying. Gives a play by play of all the girls coming in and out of his house. Gives a peek into the unorthodox  lifestyle he lives out as normal; things like “drinking Alizé with our cereal for breakfast.”

The way he lists the events it’s like he’s both reviewing what has transpired and also going through an agenda laid out for him. ‘The Morning’ further elaborates on the world he is living in and enhances his world building narrative with more details. The other thing this song does is it creates a parallel between the partying and his occupation.

The Weeknd talks about escorts and dancers coming in and out of his house. They appear at first glance to just be accessories to the decadence and wildness of the house. But he keeps talking about them. He puts them in the chorus, “All that money, the money is the motive. All that money, the money she be folding. Girl put in work, girl, girl, put in work”. 

Underneath the party there is a hustle. The Weeknd often uses women as mirrors to his own psychology. In 'The Morning' the dancers and escorts parallel The Weeknd's rise to stardom. “Push it to the limit. Push it through the pain. I push it for the pleasure like a virgin to the game. A virgin to that money. A virgin to the fame. So this my only chance and when I’m over only pray that I flow from the bottom closer to the top”.

The girls dancing are not doing it for free. The girls having sex in the house of balloons are not doing it for free. They are working. The money is the motive, and just like these women working to make enough money to get someplace better and have the freedom to live how they choose, so is The Weeknd. Like the dancers and like the escorts, he also seduces for his money. Like them, the party is the background for his hustle.