Meaning of “Anatomy” by Kenzie
Mackenzie Ziegler, aka Kenzie, is a multi-faceted musician who traces her professional origins back to the reality-dancing circuit. As of the release of “Anatomy”, through Hollywood Records on 21 July 2023, she’s only 19 years old yet has been in the game for over a decade.
It was also a while back, in 2014, that Kenzie’s music career commenced, though at the time she was rather going by the stage name of Mack Z. She currently has one full-length project under her belt, that being 2018’s “Emotions”.
THE LYRICS OF “ANATOMY”
Studies have proven time and time again that divorce tends to have a negative effect on children. Included in that category are some celebrities, such as Kenzie, whose parents parted ways while she was at the tender age of six. As strongly implied in these lyrics, since then she hasn’t had much of a relationship with her dad, Kurt Ziegler. So now, the songstress is letting pop dukes know that his absence does at times make her emotional.
VERSE 1
As further implied, it isn’t such that he completely disappeared from her life, as from the onset it is revealed that the two of them, in the very least, have a telephonic relationship. But Kenzie also establishes from early on, in a roundabout way, that they are far from being close, even going as far as to refer to the addressee as a “stranger”.
The vocalist further notes that he’s someone whom, up until today, she hasn’t really heard from in “forever”. And the thing that’s further cheesing her off is now that Kurt has finally reached out, he’s “acting normal”, as if his actions don’t deserve any type of explanation.
VERSE 2
The second verse goes on to illustrate just how much the vocalist has come to dislike her dad. Yes dear reader, this is a pretty personal song, and we’re not out to pry into anyone’s family business by analyzing it. But with that being noted, Kenzie’s feelings for her pops, once again as illustrated in the second verse, borderline on hate, to say the least.
Indeed, this has to be the first song we’ve ever come across whereas a child’s disdain for her parental unit is so pronounced that she even claims to have gotten cosmetic surgery in the name of looking less like him. But more generally, this reads like your classic case of someone who has come to view their father in a messed up way due to his absenteeism coupled with how he behaved when he was around, which is a sentiment we do come across kinda regularly in song.
CHORUS OF “ANATOMY”
The chorus goes on to indicate that Kenzie hasn’t cut her pops off. Instead, his lack of presence in her life is admittedly, from her perspective, troublesome. Furthermore, she’s convinced that he ‘still sees her as a kid’, not a woman whose feelings are to be respected as an adult. That misunderstanding is due to the fact that Kurt doesn’t actually know her, since he’s not around to begin with. And as for the title / thesis sentiment, it can be considered one of both love and hate.
That is to say that on one hand, the vocalist sighing that “it’s just anatomy” can be interpreted as alluding to Kenzie being compelled to love her dad the way any child naturally would, even though she doesn’t like him.
But along those same biological lines, the singer almost admits that she ‘hates’ that “half” of her DNA, if you will, is attributable to such a man. So as far as bringing it to a less-than-ideal parent goes, this song definitely isn’t as scathing as, say, “Cleanin’ Out My Closet“. But like Eminem, it’s as if Kenzie needed to get something off her chest, and we also have to imagine that Kurt Ziegler wouldn’t be too happy upon hearing this song.
THE COMPOSERS OF “ANATOMY”
To note, Kenzie did not write Anatomy on her own. Instead, its other co-writers are:
- Ellen Mary Murphy
- Elizabeth Jane Murphy
- Bill Maybury
Meanwhile, the producer of the track is a musician known as Lenii, and the video was directed by Henry DaCosta, with its choreographer being handled Maddie Ziegler, i.e. Kenzie’s big sis.
It’s a pretty, poignant song and Kenzie s/b proud. The article doesn’t say who did the music part, just the lyrics. I wish her well in her musical career and other journey’s she wants to pursue. She is multi-talented and I hope she keeps dancing and acting as well
!! Deb L.