While Kesha has certainly had her share of songs referring to no-good exes (or just no-good men in general), “Delusional” marks the first truly blatant “my ex is an asshole” track from the singer. And perhaps the reason she’s not as well-known for these types of singles—compared to, say, Taylor Swift—is because Kesha has always honed herself as a giver of “party girl anthems” (long before Charli XCX came to be the sole pop star associated with that genre thanks to Brat). Not to mention trolling anyone who would dare to come between her and her satisfaction (e.g., “Blah Blah Blah” and “Sleazy”).
As she’s evolved/“grown up” (though they say that a true millennial never really can), not to mention freeing herself from Dr. Luke’s shackles a.k.a. recording contract, Kesha has never strayed too far from her light-hearted, partying motifs, but has lately shown a more spiritual, “awakened” side. Take, for example, “Something To Believe In,” “Eat the Acid” and “Only Love Can Save Us Now”—all from 2023’s Gag Order. But even before then, with her third album, Rainbow, in 2017, Kesha was veering toward a more ethereal side, especially with “Praying” and “Rainbow.” However, with her current era of independence, complete with starting her own label, Kesha Records, it makes sense that a new side of her “party girl” persona would come out: the saucy, sassy side—the “brassy broad,” if you will. An offshoot of “party girl” that was made apparent on her first single as an independent-from-Dr. Luke’s-clutches artist: “Joy Ride” (released, appropriately, on Independence Day).
And yes, many of the lyrics on that track foreshadowed the themes of “Delusional.” For instance, in “Joy Ride,” Kesha goads, “Are you a man?/‘Cause I’m a bitch/I’m already rich/Just looking for that, mmm.” In addition to boasting, “Don’t even try to gi-give me shit, I’ve earned the right to be-be like this” and “Oh, you say you love me?/That’s funny/Well, so do I.” Her braggadocio clearly stemming from the realization that she gave a subpar bloke the time of day, let alone the key to her corazón. Having at last understood that he was the problem, not her, Kesha taunts him in “Delusional” with the lines, “Now you’re just another song on my setlist/Now you’re just another charm on this necklace” and “You should pay me/For all the hours/That I let you in the presence of my power.” Mariah Carey was of the same mind when she demanded an “inconvenience fee” from James Packer.
Kesha also goes for her ex’s jugular by referencing how little she feels for him after the breakup, singing, “No tears on my face/Not even one/Thanks for the heartbreak/It gets my bills paid.” This is reminiscent of Lana Del Rey (another primary player in the “songs about my ex” category) telling her critics on Blue Banisters‘ “Black Bathing Suit,” “By the way, thanks for the shoes/Your interest really made stacks out of it for me.” And, speaking of Del Rey, Kesha also echoes the sentiment on Lust for Life‘s “In My Feelings” when LDR taunts her ex (then G-Eazy), “Who’s doper than this bitch?/Who’s freer than me?/You wanna make the switch/Be my guest, baby.” Similarly, Kesha warns her own ex, “Baby, you’re delusional/Thinking you could ever find/Something that’s as beautiful/Someone with a love like mine.”
The Del Rey of “In My Feelings” crooning, “I fell for another loser” and “You’ve been wasting my time/While you’re taking what’s mine/With the things that you’re doin’” is also something Kesha speaks to on “Delusional.” She even briefly channels LDR acolyte Billie Eilish when she accuses, “You made me hate this town”—which smacks of Eilish on “Happier Than Ever” saying, “You made me hate this city.”
And yet, that’s the only moment where she really gets “in her feelings” about this inferior “four’s” (to Kesha’s eleven) jilting. For, as she points out, “I’ve been living the goddamn dream/My time expensive and you’re just too cheap/The way I’m single, do it so obscene/Watch me getting hotter on your cheap [that word again] TV.” This, too, reflects a verse in “Happier Than Ever” when Eilish sings, “Do you read my interviews?/Or do you skip my avenue?/When you said you were passing through/Was I even on your way?”
As for the sound of “Delusional,” it veers more toward Kesha’s riff on a pop-country hybrid (something she also did on Rainbow’s “Hunt You Down” and High Road’s “Raising Hell”). Indeed, it’s a sound (vocally and musically) that would be right at home in Miley Cyrus’ oeuvre as well. Along with Kesha’s cunty captions announcing the single: “Thanks to my idiot ex. U inspired my best song yet” and “Happy delusional day to everybody except for my ex.” But no, on second thought, only Kesha would “have the ovaries” to be that brash. And rightly so. After all, like she said, she’s earned the right to be-be like this. Especially after tolerating so many subordinate men—romantically and professionally.
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