“Am I Wrong” by Nico & Vinz is a welcome change to most of what’s in the Top 40. It can be interpreted as a spiritual, political or self-empowerment song. (Photo courtesy Warner Bros.)
Spiritual and political songs don’t get on the Top 40 charts often. But songs about self-empowerment sometimes do. “Am I Wrong” by the Norwegian duo Nico & Vinz is a song that sure sounds spiritual and political.
But because it can be interpreted as a song about self-empowerment, that probably explains why it’s in the Top 40. America seems to be a culture that embraces self-empowerment, but is a lot more dismissive about spirituality — and political statements that don’t follow the norm.
But in the end, I don’t think you have to decide if “Am I Wrong” is either political, spiritual or about self-empowerment. Sometimes they all overlap. They’re not all separate entities.
If we have a spiritual perspective or experience can’t our political outlook sometimes change? Or won’t we feel more self-empowered?
Motivated by faith
I think the start and the basis is usually a spiritual awakening. But it’s also possible for people to come to spirituality through their belief in social justice or through an epiphany of self-empowerment — that nudge we get that we’re not going to follow the crowd or the culture on a moral issue.
“Am I Wrong” features an alternative to economic and social paralysis: doing something about it. Most Top 40 songs just call for hedonistic escape. (Photo courtesy Warner Bros.)
So in the end, we might feel spiritual, political and self-empowered all at once. And I think this song embodies all three.
But at the core of all three is faith. A faith that something can be better. And gives us courage and confidence. Something that takes us away from the dominant culture and its self-imposing beliefs. That makes us “walk by faith and not by sight” as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians. Which seems to be embodied in the chorus of this song:
“So am I wrong for thinking that we could be something for real?
Now am I wrong for trying to reach the things that I can’t see?
But that’s just how I feel, that’s just how I feel,
That’s just how I feel trying to reach the things that I can’t see.”
Is it a mystical experience guiding him? A call to arms politically and socially? Or an awakening to self-empowerment? It could any of them or all of them combined.
“You’re not alone,” he says, seeming to reassure himself and others who feel they’re on a different path. And this leads to an awareness that one must reject what other people or the culture may say about you: “Always do what you decide, don’t let them control your life,” is one powerful line from this song.
An alternative to escapism and hedonism
In America, with an economy that’s a semi-Depression for much of the population, this kind of spiritual and social self-empowerment is needed. I listen to what’s in the Top 40 every month and the main trend I see is escapism from economic and social reality. I don’t see America as a culture confronting the issues that are restraining some of us and destroying others of us.
The Norwegian duo Nico & Vinz have scored a worldwide hit with their song “Am I Wrong.” The dynamic song has a message of spiritual self-empowerment that’s reached across many cultures.
Instead, I see a desperate attempt at partying, pursuing of sexual partners and materialism as an escape and a solution to emptiness in many of the songs in the Top 40 each month. The celebrities that write these songs — and the media that supports them — are basically telling us: “don’t even think about your problems, or that something may be wrong. Just indulge in partying, having sex and buying stuff.” And that comes in all genres: R&B, rock, rap, dance music and country.
There’s little that’s countercultural anymore in most Top 40 music — no matter how cool or rebellious the singers look. Which makes a song like “Am I Wrong?” stand out. Any song that doesn’t have partying, pursuing sexual partners and materialism as its message is going to be an anomaly.
Showing a positive African perpective
Nico & Vinz also defy convention by setting their music video in Africa. This gives it a larger cultural context. And goes way against the norms of booty shaking, product placement, and self-glorification of the singer shown in most music videos.
The music video also shows a side of Africa that’s not usually shown. People who have some pride in their surroundings and have something to offer the modern world. It doesn’t show the misery of poverty.
Singers Nico & Vinz both carry a portable TV around for some of the video which seems to represent the modern world. But they see the sense of community and happiness in the African people. I’m not sure it represents a dismissal of technology or modernity as much as it says tradition and modernity must somehow co-exist. It’s also reflected in the song itself which is a combination of African music and Western rap and R&B.
“Am I tripping for having a vision?” Vinz asks. No, he isn’t. We need more of this type of vision.
Here’s the music video for “Am I Wrong”:
