Meaning of “Rush” by Troye Sivan, PinkPantheress & Hyunjin
Even though all three vocalists share equal billing on this track, which UMG released on 31 August 2023, it is actually a remix of Troye Sivan’s song “Rush“, which came out the month prior. That single did well in terms of charting across the globe. For instance, it performed well in South Korea, the homeland of Hyunjin, who is better known as part of a K-pop outfit called Stray Kids.
PinkPantheress hails from England, and the original “Rush” also made a showing on her native UK Singles Chart. Also, it fared particularly well in Sivan’s country of Australia. In Australia, it topped the ARIA Dance chart.
And to note, one major difference between the original and the remix is that the latter sports a different, extended second verse (as held down by PinkPantheress).
Also interesting to note is that Sivan, who is a publicly-recognized homosexual, recently expressed a romantic interest in Hyunjin, via TikTok. At first that move didn’t go over particularly well, as Troye has revealed that he resultantly received “death threats”. However, it was perhaps that admittance that led to this collaboration with the K-pop singer. And of further note is this being the first time any of these vocalists have worked together.
The producers of this track are Zhone, Novodor and Styalz Fuego. This trio also get songwriting credit along the following:
- Troye Sivan
- PinkPantheress
- Alex Chapman
- Leland
The Lyrics of “Rush”
The original version of “Rush” was more along the lines of a gay sex song, one that was overt yet did not resort to NSFW lingo per se. On the remix, Hyunjin’s contribution is more or less along the lines of adlibbing. He basically backs up Troye.
So it is really PinkPantheress who adds another dimension to this piece, in that her verse, though also being romantic in nature and sex-oriented to some degree, does not use any gender pronouns.
Also, her narrative is a bit more complex than the rest of the song, which basically revolves around Troye seducing and being seduced by the addressee. But in the second verse, we rather find the singer being addicted to her romantic interest’s touch more literally. He seemingly has made an effort, which has proven unsuccessful, to resist said individual in the past.
So as presented, she does obviously have a thing for him. But at the same time, another side of the Pantheress has concluded that they would be “better off just dancing”.
So via this remix, “Rush” has become a multi-layered song of sexual addiction, if you will. That is to say that from Troye’s perspective, he remains willingly giving in to the urge, celebrating this ‘addiction’ to the apple of his eye as being a “good” thing.
PinkPantheress also makes an admittance along the lines of having an irresistible urge for her lover’s touch. But unlike Sivan, it can be ascertained that said dependency does have her alarmed to some degree, i.e. recognizing that she cannot readily break the hold the addressee has on her even if she wanted to.
