When Austin sings his defiant anthem about having done what he did for "every guy who ever wanted" and "every kid who ever dared," you don't feel much of anything, except maybe relief that he's descending into the grave as he's doing so.
Borrowing this weekend's host Adam Levine as well as musical guest Kendrick Lamar, The Lonely Island reunited to present "YOLO," a cautionary anthem about truly getting the most out of life.
"It was a sort of national anthem about the land itself.
"Tonite" is a funny, self-referential dance-floor anthem about dance-floor anthems.
"Poured the poison, drank a toast to health," Mr. Escovedo sings in "Undesired," an anthem about love found and betrayed.
Her first single, Because We Want To, was a feelgood anthem about (little) girl power, and teeny rebellion.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis found Ms. Lambert through common Seattle friends and asked her to contribute to "Same Love," a hip-hop anthem about gay rights and marriage equality.
Insinuating itself as an anthem about festivals and fairs, the song unloads a personal Lollapalooza, bringing its own fun wherever it goes.
It was a hyper-pumped, sports-bar anthem about looking at women from the back, strained with torrid metaphors and a bit of hip-hop slang.
And in "Holy Mountains," an anthem about the Armenian genocide invoking murders by the Aras River, the tone is consistently serious.
Following first single Beverly comes Bad Dreams, a timeless anthem about looking back on your teenage fantasies with bone-chilling hindsight.
