Intro
In 2018, when I was searching on YouTube for a song to listen to I came across a remix of a song called Let Me Down Slowly by Alec Benjamin and this remix is what got me to listen to more of his songs. Although the remix was created by Fairlane in the YouTube Channel Trap Nation and not the original artist, Alec Benjamin had more songs that really got me interested in his music. In his album Narrated for you his first album that had 12 songs all with different meanings and stories behind them which came out at the end of the year close to my birthday in November.
When Alec Benjamin started to release more music on his YouTube channel I started to listen more and more of it. Over time I started to notice that his songs wasn't just really good but they all had meanings in them and each song had something of his life in it that made each song special. After hearing almost all of them I can tell from a few songs that he went through these tough times and I feel like I knew a lot about him and I want to continue listening to his music and follow him through his music and his socials on the internet.
Artist Background
Born in Phoenix, Arizona on May 28, 1994 he grew up listening to famous people back in the 2000's and was born in a normal family with no interesting qualities that they had like music or sport careers. During the time of early high school Alec would then decide to play an instrument and with one quote from TheFamousPeople, "By the time he was in high school, he had started practicing singing on his own. His father played music as a hobby. Alec once picked up his father’s old guitar and began learning to play it on his own. He did not attend any guitar classes. He would often watch ‘YouTube’ videos to teach himself to play the guitar." (People, 4). After sometime in high school he would then consider practicing singing during high school on his own. After graduating he attended the University of Southern California to gain more music experience and that's when he would upload his first viral music video.
Alec met Sacha Skarbek early when YouTube was beginning around 2011-2012 and went to London where Sacha had a studio there. While there he did many concerts and performed in many other concerts like ‘The Reeperbahn Festival. He grew a fan base there while in Europe and experienced what it felt like to be popular and have people like you. Many more people started to come to his concerts thereafter. This led him to release a mixtape called America in April 22, 2013 and this caught the attention of a big label company Columbia Records who gave him a record deal and Alec immediately accepted it. This was around when he returned to the United States. At the time this was a big opportunity to grow as an artist and release more songs Alec was hoping to release his album that he created and Columbia promised him that they would produce it. Then some unfortunate events Columbia Records canceled their deal with Alec after his album was out for more than a day and ultimately this was a blow to Alec's early career as a music artist. He decided then that he would start from scratch, although this was hard he had some help from family members and when he started to promote his music through social media he started to gain a big fanbase through the internet and this was very good because Alec was struggling to get back to his feet.
In the summer of 2016 Alec posted a new song on YouTube called Paper Crown that he created from his dorm room at the Southern University of California and the song was a viral hit with millions of views. Just what Alec needed to begin his career from scratch. This encouraged him to release another song on YouTube called The Water Fountain and this became more popular than his first song and one quote that describes The Water Fountain in "Alec Benjamin Is a Pop Storyteller for the Next Generation" by Raisa Bruner, "A delicate but visceral piece of songwriting about an early crush and the youthful mistakes that led them their separate ways." (Bruner, 6). Many people have taken into account that Alec is a very descriptive songwriter who can create such good storytelling pieces of his life it's incredible talent and courage.
Since then, Alec has been posting many new music videos and has gained many views, fans, released an album Narrated for You and has attended many more concerts and still does today. Throughout 2018 he created many of the most memorable songs ever created like Death of a Hero, If We Have Each Other, and many more after those including Let Me Down Slowly.
Song Introduction
The song that I wanted to choose to listen from Alec Benjamin is my favorite Let Me Down Slowly his fourth song in the album Narrated for You in 2018 also, came out in 2018, may 24. Produced by Sir Nolan a popular producer and songwriter from Los Angeles. The lyrics was based on Alec's past relationship with his ex-girlfriend and the whole song is based on that and with the help of Sir Nolan and Michael Pollack to find the right words and make it sound excellent they made Let Me Down Slowly.
Listen and read the lyrics of the song.
This night is cold in the kingdom I can feel you fade away From the kitchen to the bathroom sink and Your steps keep me awake Don't cut me down, throw me out, leave me here to waste I once was a man with dignity and grace Now I'm slippin' through the cracks of your cold embrace So please, please Could you find a way to let me down slowly? A little sympathy, I hope you can show me If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly
Cold skin, drag my feet on the tile As I'm walking down the corridor And I know we haven't talked in a while So I'm looking for an open door Don't cut me down, throw me out, leave me here to waste I once was a man with dignity and grace Now I'm slippin' through the cracks of your cold embrace So please, please Could you find a way to let me down slowly? A little sympathy, I hope you can show me If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly And I can't stop myself from fallin' (down) down And I can't stop myself from fallin' (down) down And I can't stop myself from fallin' (down) down And I can't stop myself from fallin' (down) down Could you find a way to let me down slowly? A little sympathy, I hope you can show me If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly
Song Analysis
The images above represent the type of themes that were in the song like heartbreak, breaking up, depressed, and sad which what was based on Alec's relationship with his ex-girlfriend and how he responded to it. Alec was asked on his breakdown of his album Narrated for You on the Genius website specifically when they got to this song, "This song is about my first relationship. I wanted to talk about one moment where I felt especially vulnerable, which is something I don’t think a lot of people talk about."
To me this song I feel calm, sad, relaxed, and I picture like rainy day or snowy day and the clouds are gray. I just don't know why I think that when this song is played but this songs just gives me the chill/sad vibes and it's a very deep song and it isn't just some random song it has a lot of meaning and why he describes it like that.
The lyrics of the song starts out him talking about or actually describing what his ex-girlfriend did and what he noticed. Then he starts going into his pre-chorus and he's singing like don't leave me so quick and like let me think this out and get it straight and done. After that in verse 2 he starts to like explain that he was trying to find an open door like a conversation and on the Genius video titled "Alec Benjamin "Let Me Down Slowly" Official Lyrics & Meaning | Verified" Alec says, "I was just looking for an open door into a conversation to talk about what was going on." Then the chorus kicks in and it sounds so catchy to me at least where he goes,
"If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly
Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down
Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down".
I feel like to me that is very catchy and he himself says that he didn't know why necessarily he did that he just thought it and left it there without another thought about it. I think that it was perfect to leave it in there. The chorus was about how he wanted his ex-girlfriend to let him down slowly because he was very fragile and he just didn't know what to do so he was asking for mercy and sympathy to let him down carefully and slowly.
In the instrument side of things I thought that the guitar in the background was a calm and smooth rhythm and it sounded so well and the melody was just so well also the piano timing with the song. The vocals in this song was so in sync with the piano and again at the end the piano timed so well with the vocals. I felt like this was like a chill beginning to gradually just getting better and well not louder but above the chill area and then it ends with a back to a softer vibe and ends there. Tempo of the song was also normal like slow, not too fast and intense but more relaxed and slow but not too slow.
Again with lyrics and the end of these lyrics and just in general of this whole song I can like see the story it's like telling me someone breaking up and dealing with it I don't necessarily can connect with Alec and how he was in a relationship. I was in a position where I told a girl that I liked her and she didn't reject but more of she wasn't ready and I didn't know how to respond to that so I felt sad and fragile about and mixed thoughts and I didn't want to ruin our friendship so I just wanted to process things out and I guess now I can sort of relate to this song now. If this pandemic ever ends and I meet someone who I like and the same process happens I might just go back and listen to this song because it relates to like heartbreak.
Conclusion
At the end this song is one of many stories Alec Benjamin is telling about his life and how he creates songs that relate to many people and can connect to one another. This song has impacted me in the way that not all things last. Love is such a great yet sad thing because you may or may not be in a relationship and love can come from anywhere just it doesn't last long enough as you would expect it. It's nice to see how Alec grew as a small creator and became a famous one and he has shown me many songs like his from many other artists and it's incredible. Let Me Down Slowly has been one of my favorite songs for a very long time ever since it was released and it will always be one of my favorites. Thanks for Reading.
Sources
Bruner, Raisa. “Alec Benjamin Is a Pop Storyteller for the Next Generation.” Time, Time, 21 June
Genius, director. Alec Benjamin "Let Me Down Slowly" Official Lyrics & Meaning | Verified. YouTube,
22 Sept. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o6frqkvM1w.
notearsleftocry, and Pessoa. “Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly.” Genius, 25 May 2018,
TheFamousPeople, Editors. “Alec Benjamin Biography.” TheFamousPeople.com, 31 Jan. 2019,
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