Hurry Up Tomorrow: The E nd
End of a new trilogy, End of an era
The Weeknd finishes the Until Dawn trilogy with a BANG! Bringing in all types of new sounds. Throughout this new trilogy, he hints at the persona’s end with concepts of death in After Hours, purgatory in Dawn FM, and now rebirth on Hurry Up Tomorrow.
On “Wake Up” he interpolates the legendary Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” bringing a nostalgic feeling with a haunting intro to start off the album as he sings “No afterlife, no other side”. We then transition into the more hyped songs which are “Cry For Me” produced by Metro Boomin and Mike Dean, a trio that never fails to deliver a banger as seen with other songs like “Heartless” from the After Hours project. Then we get the Brazilian funk dance song with Anitta on “São Paulo” that debuted all the way back in September in São Paulo with the new classic “Timeless” that features Playboi Carti. On “Baptized In Fear” he gets real deep and personal with how The Weeknd feels on continuing making music and how it lurks in the back of his head with fear “figure in the corner I can’t quite see, I just know the shadow staring at me/figure in the corner laughing at me, water fill my lungs vision blurry”. On “Open Hearts” he talks about the vulnerability of falling in love again. In “Opening Night” he sings a scenario about how he is at a show and how he copes before performing.
On Reflections Laughing he sings about how he wants to overcome his vices, but due to fame and how it is perceived by people, he can't really escape as he is “trapped inside a gilded cage” as his reflections back at him. This song is accompanied with my favorite feature from the album from no other Travis Scott as he delivers an interesting sounding verse pitching his voice down and adding who knows what kind of effects. He raps about how he and Abel are at the top of the industry with different waves as they have a different approach and consciousness when it comes to making music as proved by fans and numbers on billboard. The Weeknd ends the song with “If they take my crown” referring to how it is going to be hard for the next artist after him to surpass what he has done. “Enjoy The Show” features Future as they both sing about how their ex should enjoy viewing their success, but while also letting them know that they are in their feelings and how that drives them to make these types of songs. Kind of a beautiful way to layout the cycle of coping with heartbreak, music and drugs, which beautifully transitions into the next track “Given Up On Me” also featuring Future as The Weeknd sings out loud to himself “Why won't you let me leave? I’ve given up on me, I think I’m in too deep”. Capturing the consequence of coping too much. The Weeknd ends this track singing soulfully “I want your company, oh lord, don't you give up on me, mercy me”
calling out for help, realizing that he does want change and now he is seeking God for help.
In “I Can’t Wait To Get There” he reflects on how people sometimes paint a negative image of him. But he responds by feeling like it is the fame that has done that to him, so the repeating “I can’t wait to get there” is alluding to him wanting to reach a place where things feel right and he can leave the vices behind. “Niagara Falls” is by far my favorite track with a timeless chorus, crafting a classic Weeknd love song. “Take Me Back To LA” refers to the impacts of love and fame in LA that led him to lose his soul and through nostalgia he hopes to make a return to feel how he once did before the fame and ultimate becoming of The Weeknd. “Give Me Mercy” is probably the most gospel-feeling song as it is a cry out to God where The Weeknd asks god for mercy and forgiveness for his sins and finally comes to terms with himself that it was a wrong way to live. “The Abyss” explores regret, acceptance, and the feel of an inescapable ending, all through the destruction of succumbing to love, featuring Lana Del Rey. In “Red Terror” The Weeknd sings from his mother’s perspective as he reflects on her history of coming to Canada, acknowledging his mother’s sacrifices for a better life. In the song's outro, he reads the poem “Death Is Nothing At All” by Henry Scott-Holand, which is often read at funerals, he follows the poem by announcing “Call me by the old, familiar name” referring to how we wants to put an end to The Weeknd and be recognized as Abel, his real name. “Without A Warning” serves as a dialogue between Abel and The Weeknd reflecting on the toll it takes to be the greatest artist in the world, “I'm stuck in a cycle, just wanna feel life from the morning, I should’ve been sober, but I can’t afford to be boring, ‘cause the crowd will scream, the crowd will scream my name, even if the world wants me to fail” highlighting the support from fans despite his struggles. And finally “Hurry Up Tomorrow” captures The Weeknd’s confession told as an anthem, “So burn me with your light, I have no more fights left to win, tie me up to face it, I can’t run away, and I’ll accept that it’s the end...Hope my confession is enough/So I see heaven after love/ I want heaven when I die/ I wanna change”. He finally ends The Weeknd by coming to the light. Whats crazy about this song is that it loops into the very first song he released under the name The Weeknd which is “High For This” from his first project “House of Balloons”.
Hurry Up Tomorrow was a great finale. It did everything it could to capture The Weeknd’s legacy as a whole through a deeply personal album of Abel singing about how he doesn’t want to be The Weeknd anymore. A beautiful album that will be played forever and ever. Congratulations to The Weeknd for an unforgettable career. Now we have the Hurry Up Tomorrow film that comes out May 16, 2025, to look forward to. And who knows, he may begin listing music under the name Abel.