The song “Sunflower” is a single released on October 19, 2018 by American rappers and singers Post Malone and Swae Lee. It is included on Post Malone’s third studio album, Hollywood’s Bleeding (2019), and is part of the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) animated film soundtrack. It received critical acclaim and peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs Chart, becoming Malone and Lee’s first song to do so.
The song also reached number one in Australia, Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand and was a diamond in the US, Canada, Australia and Mexico. In November 2022, the song set the record for the most certified song of all time by the RIAA, being certified 17x platinum in the US for sales of 17 million copies.
In addition to earning a new 17x platinum status, Post has also received 14 more RIAA certifications for 2017’s “Congratulations” and a 10x platinum certification for “Psycho” and “White Iverson,” his debut single.
History of the song
Post first premiered the song on Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on October 1, 2018. He then confirmed on Facebook that Swae Lee would be in the song. Two snippets from the lyric video were shown on both of their Instagram accounts on October 15, 2018.
Post says that throughout the song, he saw “Sunflower” cheer up sad people and make happy people even happier. The song reached number one in several countries and has reached almost two billion views on YouTube to date.
Sway spoke about working with Malone on Sunflower. He said that they worked in a studio in Los Angeles all night and just went crazy with boredom. Cooked food and drank a lot of beer. They recorded six or seven songs. Then the directors of the movie “Spider-Man” came to the studio. Upon hearing the song “Sunflower”, they immediately chose it for their film.
The Meaning of “Sunflower” – Post Malone, Swae Lee
The protagonist is in a relationship and feels that if he does not stay close to his partner, she will feel very lonely. He admits that he often comes and goes, making her sad, but he wants to change everything. He tries to convince her that his love is too strong. She does not need to be afraid of the unknown and trust him.
The sunflower is a symbol of fidelity and longevity due to the flower’s ability to maintain its beauty in the face of adverse environmental factors that would cause other plants to wither. The sunflower in this song represents the girl, the woman who persevered despite the lack of affection shown to her. However, sunflowers also deplete nutrients from the soil much faster than other plants and can inhibit their growth. Post Malone’s poems may imply that the person he is in a relationship with is constantly in need of his help and attention. But he is unable to give him all this.
This mysterious girl ends up being the subject of a Post Malone and Swae Lee song. In their verses, it seems that the girl is much more invested in this relationship than either of the two heroes of the song. However, even after mistreating her, she forgives everything and stays with them until the end.
Parsing the meaning of strings
Sunflowers are known to quickly weaken the soil by taking away nutrients. Sway and Post use this as an analogy for the impact that multiple personalities have on a person, which overwhelms and at the same time motivates him throughout his life. This is identical to how the sunflower is harmful and yet evokes something beautiful. With this comparison, the singers show loyalty to the heroine of their song.
Even though she was mistreated by the song’s characters, Post and Swai, she still decided to stay with her.
Swae Lee portrays the girl he now sees as troubled. She desperately seeks attention and refuses it if she doesn’t get what she wants from it. However, despite this, Lee does his best to keep her under control and give her some attention. She yells at him, gets jealous, and goes crazy when she sees him with someone else. Sway seems like she really goes out of her way to show him her affection. And in response, he calls her a sunflower, who loves him too much.
Every time Post Malone tries to leave his clingy partner to his advantage, he fails. He’s been through this many times already. Even though he tries to be around her, he finds no reason to be around her at all. Like Svae, he cannot reciprocate this woman. Every time he tries to leave her life, he is attracted to her again. He senses her unhealthy obsession with him. However, he always enters and leaves her life, and the suffering does not end there.
In his verse, Post details a relationship that he has doubts about, sometimes wants to leave, but realizes he can’t because he truly loves her. The feelings that he shows for this girl throughout the verse illustrate his love, and how much she is like his “sunflower”.
So they sing in the chorus,
“Then you’ll stay in the dust if I don’t stick with you.
You’re a sunflower, I think your love will be too strong
Or you’ll stay in the dust if I don’t stick with you.
You are a sunflower, you are a sunflower
The chorus says that the girl is given hope. He wants to stay with her no matter what because of the love he has for her. These words give a good mood to the song, and are accompanied by a pleasant melody. Here you have to give credit to the music, which is undoubtedly the best part of the song. From soft drums to synthesized horns, the melodies and harmonies are so beautiful that it’s easy to get lost in them. The producers of this track have definitely been successful with this sound.
Conclusion
The lyrics of Post Malone once again prove that in life a loved one constantly needs help and compassion, but not every partner can fully surrender to this feeling. The paradox is that the girl turns out to be a major problem for both Post Malone and Swae Lee. She puts more effort into this love affair than either of the two singers. However, despite all the absurdity of the situation, the girl agreed to be in this relationship. All in all, this is a good song. The instrumentation in it is strikingly beautiful, and the voices of both artists sound better than usual.
