Mr. Rager

This is a sick song from Cudi because it represents himself so well. He knows both sides of the Mr. Rager story. He was once an indie outcast on the hip hop scene where he dreamed of livin like jay-z or kanye or any other of the hip hop leaders who you see partying with models and living a fantasy lifestyle. It also could apply to life in high school where he, like most kids, kinda wanted to be one of those kids who ditched school for a sort of mysterious extravagant party lifestyle.

Now however Cudi is Mr. Rager, hence the name of his new album.

So its pretty cool that he writes this song as a dialogue between him and his former self

My view:

Mr. Rager is another persona of Cudi. Mr. Rager is the angry and frustrated side of himself that longs to become famous, well-liked, and distinguished from everyone else. Solo Dolo is the other persona, the one that's lonely and feels outcast from the world.

"Heaven" in this song is his ideal reality.

"Birds singin', flyin' around You never see them too long on the ground You wanna be one of them. Yeah"

These verses paint a picture of how he sees who he wants to be. Birds singin' are the artists/rappers he aspires to be. The fact that they fly simply means that they are free and untethered from the stresses of everyday life, and that is what he wants for himself.

The chorus continues with this theme. Mr. Rager (Cudi's ideal self) is going on adventures, living an exciting lifestyle, always on the move.

"Knocked down round for round You're feelin' like you're shot down on the ground When will the fantasy end? When will the heaven begin? Yeah"

These verses explain why the protagonist in this song is called Mr. Rager. He feels extremely frustrated. He wonders when he can stop dreaming his ideal life and actually start living it.

The name "Mr. Rager" is central to this song, and I don't think many people understand that. Mr. Rager's anger, or rage, is inherent to his character; it's what's fueling him want to become one of the birds singing and flying around, untethered to the ground. He longs for that freedom when he doesn't have it, and he is raging at how difficult it is to make that freedom, that "heaven" a reality and more than just "fantasy."

People look WAY too much into cudi's music. "raging" is just getting intoxicated possible, be it alcohol, pot, cocaine and any combination of the above. By being Mr. Rager, he is effectively -the- king at getting f'ed up. The whole album is about a dark time in his life where he got into a pretty deep addiction to cocaine, again, another form of "raging". The song is dedicated to everyone like him, people that are different, don't fit in with everyone else.

The chorus sounds like his fans and people like him calling out to Mr. Rager (cudi), wanting to go with him on his journey to heaven, but he's so f'ed up he can hardly hear his fans calling out to him. It's why the song ends on a rather sad note, and progresses right into "These Worries" where he opens right up to taking a line of coke. He's not doing too well at this point of the album.

To me, i feel like this song represents an inner struggle, particularly in regards to how others perceive you and how it affects the way you feel about yourself.

The opening lines---I'm off on a adventure... (we're good)/"This here is dedicated to all of the kids like me"/I'm on my way to heaven/"Wherever you are...Now"---signify Kid Cudi at the beginning of his journey to try and find his identity. It's especially meaningful because early and mid twenties is the time in which we mold our identities and that process can be particularly painful both personally and professionally. When we're young adults, we're still in that phase where we look up to certain figures but we're simultaneously trying to break free of others in the pursuit of finding our authentic self.

Often, finding one's authentic self begins with imitating or borrowing aspects of those we look up to. In the lines--Birds seen flying around, you never see them too long on the ground/You want to be one of them...(yeaah) x2/You might hear the birds singing flying around, you never see them too long on the ground/You want to be one of them...(yeaah) x2--I can really hear that pang and desire in looking up to certain figures and wishing you were that person instead of yourself.

In the next part--

Woah Now, HEY!, Mr.Raaager, Mr.Rager Tell me where you're going, Tell us where you're headed I'm off on a adventure, Mr. Raaager Tell me some of your stories, Tell us of your travels

HEY!, Mr.Raaager, Mr.Rager Tell me where you're going, Tell us where you're headed I'm on my way to heaven, Mr. Raaager Can we tag along, Can we take the journey

--the lyrics allow for a multitude of varied interpretations. Personally, I think this part demonstrates how Kid Cudi may have become, at one point in his life (or maybe even in the present) wrapped up in a certain image that doesn't fit with his authentic self and he has demons that he's fighting off--maybe through actual fighting, self-medication, his music, controlling certain aspects of his life in an attempt to keep his identity crisis from seeping into is conscious--the possibilities are limitless. Who knows?

When I watched the music video, I saw a dream sequence in which ever person in it was a part of himself (he gets beaten up, blinded and stabbed--all of which hints toward him fighting off parts of himself and eventually losing because he dies at the end of his dream and 'wakes up' in a therapist's office, suggesting he is finally getting help. Also telling is the jacket he wears at the end)

Then--

Knocked down round for round You're feeling like you're shot down on the ground When will the fantasy end, When will the heaven begin (yeaah) You might be knocked down round for round You're feeling like you're shot down on the ground When will the fantasy end (yeaah), When will the heaven begin (yeaah)

--this part really solidifies it for me. He's fighting against himself and wondering 'when will the fantasy end' suggesting he is coming out of denial and realizing that what he is doing to himself personally is taking an immense emotional, mental and physical toll on him. He wants to break out of his persona that he forced on himself and find inner peace 'when will heaven begin?' and so forth.

Lastly, the repeated lines that play throughout the song--

Tell me where you're going, Tell us where you're headed I'm on my way to heaven, Mr. Raaager Can we tag along, Can we take that journey..........Can we take that journey I'm off on a adventure

--are extremely important because they mean different things at the beginning and end of the song. At the beginning, I think kids looking up to Kid Cudi are asking him, Tell me where you're going, Tell us where you're headed...Mr. Rager" and Kid Cudi responds with "I'm on my way to heaven" because he genuinely believe he actually on the path to heaven since his definition of paradise is framed around being an impossible, larger-than-life figure that will be able to indulge in every excess and know every so-called 'happiness' that comes from living that rockstar lifestyle. At the end though, it seems to me he's losing the notion that being someone you aren't, even if you get all those so-called 'wonderful things,' is the path to heaven or happiness. At the end, he's just trying to focus one who he is without interference from such bullsh*t.

I think the meaning to this song is very prominent in the video for it. If you haven't seen it, then you must, or else this explanation probably won't make much sense...

Scott is unstable emotionally, as shown by him talking to a psych. Mr. Rager is Scott in the spotlight, or how we all know him, as Kid Cudi. His dreams lie at the top, and he's running up the stairs to claim them and not willing to come back down. I don't know Scott, so there's no way to tell, but I believe his dream is normalcy and sanity. But he has to fight for them, and overcome obstacles along the way in the form of critics, emotions, fate, whatever, and he's clearly overwhelmed, but not willing to give up what he wants, or rather, needs. From above Scott, the actual normal man, watches him, and he knows that Mr. Rager won't ever be able to reach him up in his sanctuary, so he goes down to meet Mr. Rager. And when it comes time for them to finally meet, Scott kills Mr. Rager, not maliciously, but gently and peacefully, because killing Mr. Rager is the only way for Mr. Rager to achieve normalcy and sanity.

It's another song for us to connect with him. That's why he says "this one's dedicated to all the kids like me" The meaning is pretty much about people that are fed up with reality and just want to get away from it anyway possible. That's why we want to tag along with Mr. Rager which I would guess often does some Raging...Sarcasm.

This song is genius, damn near inspirational. I think it can have a few meanings that parallel each other. The first seems simple, hes deciding that he´s sick and tired of seeing people be successful and live an awesome life, and that he is going to finally make the move and do it himself as well. His life is average and he wants to be a star because he knows he has the talent. Everyone wants to know what he´s doing because they notice hes starting to make a drastic change in his life.

To get deeper, maybe this can be about suicide. Cudi did mention Mr. Rager represents a dark period in his life. Maybe he thought he wasn´t going to make it and his work wasnt good enough and was just tired of taking shit from people. He wants to be in heaven and wants to get out of a tough life. Everyone asking him where he´s going or where he´s headed represents his fans. Maybe the fans saved his life because he didn´t realize that he had that many people that supported his work. They want to "tag along" with him in whatever he does because they love his work. I remember a while back he announced he would retire and then decided not to because of all of his fans that were disapointed.

That´s just what I think.

First song I connected to on the album, and an emotional masterpiece. First analyzing it as drug references(probably cause i was high), I rethought the song and felt something other than marijuana. The whole bird part may be a metaphore for how you think, or how people might feel about famous(cudi), people you look up to, or even just 'cool' people. The birds are high, but you never see them come down because you only see them when they are on top/in the sky, making you want to be like them when they are hardly different(the fantasy). I loved how he emphasized the fantasy as the make-believe ideas we ourselves create, with which the actual 'heaven' still has not come, and that the accepted idea of heaven is in itself a fantasy that we still try to believe is really true. ~ read this a couple times because I may have got lost in my thoughts, but to me it makes sense. ps hatedenemey's ideas on mr rager also seem relevent.

Mr. Rager is Cudi's "split personality". I guess saying its a split personality isn't the best way to describe it but we all have ideal personalities for ourselves. It reminds me of all the other split personality artist out there, for example:

-Slim Shady/Marshall Matthers -Nicki Minaj/Roman -Beyonce/Sasha Fierce Theres tons more but I just noticed the coincidence. I love Cudi though, he has inspired me so much to think deeper and reach for my dreams.

I believe that this song is about thee hard time he had during his childhood. His father died of when he was 11, his father passed away from cancer, and this had a big impact on his life. "This is for all the kids like me" probably refers to all the kids who may have lost their parents the same way. When Cudi asks Mr. Rager if he could accompany him on his way to heaven, he may have been refefring to commiting suicide. But, this is only my opinion.