ERICDOA - SEARCH & DESTROY

I have probably listened to this song a good 50-70 times in the past week that it has been out. Crazy I know, but let's get into it. Ericdoa rose to fame in 2020 during what most people would call "The Hyperpop Era". This is when the term "Hyperpop" made it's first appearance and was on the rise thanks to a handful of artists, Ericdoa being one of them. Strap in, because this ride will have some rambling but it is all important for the meaning behind this track, trust me. This is the first song that fans have gotten since 8 months ago when Ericdoa dropped his last album titled "DOA". In between that time, Ericdoa has kept up with his fans by live streaming on the platform Twitch. He would do things such as gaming, singing, and other things. Doing these live streams, built him an even bigger platform across all social media. This all has led up to one big moment, which was his live stream titled "Locked in". This was a stream that took place for 2 weeks, non-stop. Yes, you read that right, non-stop. The whole basis behind the stream was to work on an album from scratch and essentially live in the studio. Eric brought in multiple artists that provided both production, vocals, and even just feedback. Meanwhile, fans could also be a part of it by chatting live and watching every creative move be made. One of the most memorable songs that was created was this song here. Now that you have the context, let's dive in from the beginning of the track.

Let's first look at the title, "Search and Destroy". If you didn't watch the making of this song on the live stream, you may or may not have gotten it right away but the title is a direct reference to the video game "Call Of Duty" and its game mode "Search and Destroy". The entire song essentially follows a match from start to finish with the lyrics but I'll dive into that later. The track starts with a 20-second intro that fades into and shines throughout the rest of the production. This intro is full of granular synthesis methods to create various glitch-like textures. This section was produced by an artist known as Pluko, who is known for these textures in all of his tracks. During this section, we get into the lyrics before the pre-chorus. The lyrics read:

Throw a flare, we gon' meet back here

I've been told that love is war, I don't need no tears

Good to go, I'm strapped in

Call into control, ready for extraction.

These lyrics make a comparison to the game and real life, specifically in the line "I've been told that love is war, I don't need no tears". My assumption is that this is Eric relating love in real life, to war in the game by using the metaphor "Love is War". The next lines refer to the game as a whole, "Good to go I'm strapped in, call into control ready for extraction". This is basically saying that he is ready to go into the match. In this song as a whole, this serves as a "get ready" for the next part of the song. In this next part, the other producers, Zetra, Glasear, and Mochila take over the production and transition from the glitch-like textures to a house-inspired dance instrumental. Which I assume Pluko had influence on as well. The drums have a more early drum and bass feel to them as the plucky synths shine through. The lyrics in this section read:

You know there ain't no respawn

gun got a sensor I can see him as a heat dot

Give me a signal, then he'll go missing

These are more references to the game. In the game when your gun has a sensor on it, you can see the targets through thermal vision. The signal line could be referring to getting a signal on the mini-map in the game, meaning you can see what radius a player is in a specific area. After these lyrics, the pre-chorus transitions into the chorus with a sample that says, "You're all that remains, finish the mission." This sample is directly from "Call of Duty Search and Destroy", specifically when you are the last one standing for your team. This is where the chorus hits and the lyrics read:

I'm with my soldier we deploy

You're the last one left, search and destroy

Hope the suppressor kills the noise

I drown my cup to fill the void

These lines go back to relating the game to the real world. First off, the first two lines are a direct reference to the game. The last two are where it could get more interesting. "Hope the suppressor kills the noise" is pretty straightforward but refers to the fact that when you put a suppressor on your gun, it cancels out the gunshot noise. I assume that the lyric "I drown my cup to fill the void" is Eric's real-life version of this, he drowns his cup to get rid of the void he is feeling, while a suppressor gets rid of the gunshot noise. This chorus is repeated twice before moving into the second verse.

During the second verse, the production calms down a bit. Everything goes away except for the plucky-like synths. But this is only for one line. It picks right back up to where it was at the same time the vocals do. The second verse lyrics read:

I'm pulling on the rope, get the rest it's time to go

I know a place where we can hide, a couple clicks right down the road

I gave them my soul but they still treat me like a boy

My father always told me that a gun is not a toy

Got a little quiet, they're the ones we should avoid

These lyrics have the exact same agenda that the rest of them do. One theory I found via Genius, specifically about the line "I gave them my soul but they still treat me like a boy", says: "This verse could be talking about how veterans make all their sacrifices and do their services but still sometimes get treated unfairly with lack of respect." The line "My father always told me that a gun is not a toy" goes back to the relationship between the game and real life. This line still keeps the same theme as the other lyrics but still references to his real-life situations.

Now as for the production in this section. It is super cool and is probably one of the most memorable things that makes you want to listen more. When the words, "go, road, boy, and toy" hit at the end of each line... the production cuts out. Adding small details and more emphasis to the track as a whole. He also does this well by adding the vocoder to his vocals throughout the track. After this, the chorus repeats one more time, and the same intro made by Pluko is used again as an outro.

Overall, I love this track because of its attention to detail on all sides. This is not the first time Eric has done this kind of referencing in his songs. He did this on his song "the cake is a lie" from his album "DOA". That title references a part of the game "Portal". Needless to say, Ericdoa is a genius when it comes to his creativity. I also love this song because of the overall experience that is attached. The fact that fans got to hear this song fully made from scratch and go through the entire process that is making a song, is just so neat. This isn't the only track, either. In total, 11 songs were made throughout this 2 week period. Eric has already announced that the full-length album will be dropping in October. I am very excited about this personally.