I still associate this song with the Pineapple Express commercials. It was the only place I heard it considering by this point I didn’t listen to the radio anymore. If you’ve only heard it through those commercials, you’ll notice that the track sounds a bit different than in the ads. With added gun effects and the use of the word weed instead of seed, it gives a bit of a different effect.
History: Paper Planes was released in 2008. It doesn’t seem like that long ago, but it was. The song uses backing tracks like The Clash’s Straight to Hell for the unique sound that tones down the dance style of the song. The song would gain a lot of critical success though, and accolades.
It’s interesting that Paper Planes was the last single released from the album, Kala. The others were released over the span of 2 years before this one really garnered attention. Understandably, Paper is crafted uniquely and it does have a catchy sound that is hard to pass by if you hear it.
I get the talent of sampling backing tracks in the song ,and making them work in a new song, but for some reason I’ve never been a huge fan of that. I think this is because I already show preference to different genres where that isn’t as popular to do. Knowing the backing track is a sample of another song does take away from it for me.
There are some unique things about the song though. The female vocalist has voicing and a rap that does make it stand out among recent songs released. The song does feel as if it is repeating itself by the end of the 3 minutes though. There is also a lot of sound effects involved like a gun, which also took away from the song for me.
I can understand why people enjoy this song though. It has a unique and even artsy vibe. This isn’t a tune you’ll turn on the radio to, and hear at anytime either. It marches to it’s own beat, and it’s gotten recognized for that.
An Innovative Pursuit 