The Real Meaning Behind Levitating By Dua Lipa
The meaning behind one of Dua Lipa's most popular songs will leave you "Levitating" with joy!
2020 was a great year for English singer-songwriter Dua Lipa, or, as Wendy Williams would say, "Dula Peep." The superstar released her '80s disco-tinged album Future Nostalgia, which saw her do a "full 180," as she sang on "Don't Start Now," going from a rising pop contender to an all-out hitmaker. With hits like "Break My Heart" and the previously mentioned ear-worm "Levitating," Lipa has become not only a household name but a pop music force to be reckoned with. Future Nostalgia has been nominated for six 2021 Grammy Awards, including Album of The Year, and she even strutted her stuff on Saturday Night Live. Lipa has come a long way from her "New Rules" days, when she was still finding her footing (literally; if you check out her, no offense, mannequin-like early dance moves). It's hard to resist her sleek, catchy tunes and whole dynamic vibe!
Out of all of Future Nostalgia's great songs, "Levitating" has certainly been one of its standouts with fans. The spacey, futuristic track even got an extra-terrestrial music video in October 2020, alongside a feature from DaBaby, which, at the time of writing, has racked up over 79 million views. It also has a pretty charming backstory behind it. Yup, knowing how the down-to-earth seeming Lipa writes her otherworldly tunes will make you like her even more! Trust us. Scroll down to find out the meaning behind Dua Lipa's "Levitating."
Dua Lipa's "Levitating" was partly inspired by... Austin Powers?
So what's the story of Dua Lipa's hit song "Levitating"? The Future Nostalgia track began with, well, nostalgia. "I wanted to touch on my childhood influences," Lipa explained on the podcast Song Exploder. "And a lot of my childhood influences are really songs and music that my parents listened to. A lot of Jamiroquai, Prince, Blondie. And when those songs are played now ... all I wanna do is dance".
But those aren't the only throwbacks that influenced "Levitating." The song was also inspired by... Austin Powers! "We had the visual of being in an Austin Powers movie," she added on the podcast. "And having Mike Myers doing some random levitating dance ... that was just helping give us like, a mood." Lipa also noted she ordered doughnuts for her production team while working on the song, and they all "started writing" and "were literally levitating from the sugar rush." That jolt of energy clearly made its way onto the song!
"It's about having fun and meeting someone and falling in love and thinking, 'You've probably met me at the perfect time, let's just go for it.'" Lipa told Apple Music, per CapitalFM. "It's the feeling when love makes you feel like you're levitating. It's otherworldly."
Meanwhile, "Sugar Boo," a pet name from the tune, isn't a reference to boyfriend Anwar Hadid. Per Song Exploder, it's actually a "joke" name Dua Lipa gave one of the track's producers. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah!