When thinking about legends in the music industry, it’s hard not to mention the Weeknd. Starting his career singing Dark RnB, with each album he released, he slowly transitioned into Pop with electronic, synth, and dance influences. This week, we’re going to take a trip down memory lane back to his second studio album, Beauty Behind the Madness. Released in 2015, this album was the beginning of his transition from Dark RnB to Pop. There’s a nice blend of RnB and Pop songs that flow really well as you listen to the album. Specifically the tenth song of the album, “In the Night”.

In “In the Night”, the Weeknd sings about a woman who we can presume is an exotic dancer. He’s giving us the rundown of her current life situation and how she got to that point. He starts off by singing,

“All alone, she was livin’
In a world without an end or beginnin’
Baby girl was livin’ life for the feelin

And all the wrongs she committed
She was numb and she was so co-dependent
She was young and all she had was the city

© Lyrics by Genius

She kind of regrets what she’s doing, but she can’t seem to escape the reality she’s in. As the song progresses, The Weeknd reveals that the woman was taken advantage of by a man. The man was the reason why she got into the industry she was in. He sings,

“He sang a song when he did it
He was cold and he was so unforgiving
Now she dances to the song on the minute

It make her weak when she hear it
And it got her on her knees like religion
She was young and she was forced to be a woman“

© Lyrics by Genius

This reveal from The Weeknd now puts the pieces together for the chorus and adds context to why he says,

“In the night, she hears him calling
In the night, she’s dancin’ to relieve the pain
She’ll never walk away
I don’t think you understand
In the night, when she comes crawlin’ (Yeah)
Dollar bills and tears keep fallin’ down her face (Fallin’ down her face)

© Lyrics by Genius