goosebumps (feat. Kendrick Lamar)

In 'goosebumps', Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar navigate a world where emotions, desires, and fears collide. The song delves into a space of yearning, where the thrill of love and lust mixes with the numbness of escapism, creating a dynamic filled with tension and release.

Travis opens the track with "I get those goosebumps every time, yeah, you come around, yeah, you ease my mind, you make everything feel fine." Here, the sensation of goosebumps, often associated with excitement or fear, symbolizes how this person triggers both comfort and exhilaration in his life. They ease his mind, a temporary reprieve from the overwhelming thoughts and anxieties that plague him. Yet, there’s an underlying sense of addiction—of needing this person to calm the storm within.

The mention of being “way too numb” and describing things as “way too dumb” adds a layer of emotional disconnection. It speaks to a feeling of detachment from the world, perhaps a result of substance abuse or emotional exhaustion. Travis seems to be caught between feeling too much and not feeling at all, searching for moments of intensity—“goosebumps”—to remind him that he’s still alive, still capable of experiencing something real.

When he says, "I need the Heimlich, throw that to the side," the reference to the Heimlich maneuver suggests he feels choked, suffocated, possibly by his emotions or the substances he’s using to numb them. It’s an urgent plea for relief, whether from the intensity of his feelings or the effects of drugs. The goosebumps, then, could also be a physical manifestation of withdrawal or craving, showing just how intertwined love and escapism have become in his life.

Kendrick Lamar’s verse takes a slightly different approach, reflecting on both materialism and existential struggle. “Put the pussy on a pedestal” refers to placing physical pleasure on a high, almost unreachable level, yet Kendrick quickly shifts from this glorification to a deeper reflection on wealth and power: “I can justify my love for you, and touch the sky for God to stop debating war.” Here, the duality of his desires—both worldly and spiritual—comes to the forefront. He’s torn between indulgence and a higher calling, reflecting the broader theme of the song: the tension between feeling deeply and the need to numb those very feelings.

In the end, 'goosebumps' is a journey through the highs and lows of desire, where love, lust, and the search for peace become inseparable from the struggles of escapism. It's about finding brief moments of exhilaration amid the numbness, but also the exhaustion that comes from chasing those moments. Travis and Kendrick invite us into their world, one where the lines between pleasure and pain, connection and detachment, are always blurred.