Mac Miller’s Goodbye Note
His final, and most important, song
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Four years ago, Mac Miller passed away.
Four weeks before that, he released Swimming — the last album he’d see into the world.
Four years prior to that, he began saying goodbye.
Mac Miller’s life seemed to start going downhill in 2012 when he released Macadelic, a mixtape that marked a true turning point in his musical career. Up to that point, he was a “frat rapper” that appealed more to high school and college students.
In Macadelic, Miller showed major progress in his writing. But with this progress came sadness.
By this time, Miller had achieved fame and fortune. It’s glorious… for a time. In this mixtape, Miller recognizes the negative things that come along with fame and begins to question what his purpose in this life is.
Two years later, Miller followed up with Faces, a mixtape that showcases Mac’s depression.
The first song, “Inside Outside,” opens up with the hard-hitting line, “Shoulda died already.”
Mac discusses how he will die from a drug overdose throughout the album and even has a song entitled, “Funeral.”
Miller closes the project with “Grand Finale,” an obvious nod to an impending exit — and “Yeah,” where Miller says, “I made my peace, can I go home?”
This sort of discourse remained throughout most of Miller’s following projects. But Swimming, the final project Miller released while living, did the best job of showing just how torn Mac was in this life.
Swimming is a battle between darkness and beauty — a tale so true to Miller that he just couldn’t live without telling it.
The album opens up with “Welcome Back to Earth,” a song where Miller discusses his overthinking and just how depressing his life had become. It has an upbeat tone, however, as Miller discovers the root of his sadness and discusses how he can get out of his rut.
The song is smooth and calming, allowing you to be at ease and open your heart for an easy-to-digest record.
Much of the album is this way. The sound is pure and exciting while the lyrics rip a hole in your heart.
