If you know who Kanye West is, you have probably seen his new video for “Bound 2” (or, at the very least, James Franco and Seth Rogen's parody of the video).

As a Kanye West fan, I hope that you have not seen either. The video is a pretty trippy experience: in between rapping to the camera wearing “plaid on plaid on plaid,” West takes a topless Kim Kardashian on a magical motorbike makeout session across a green screen that loops images of the archetypal desert landscape (complete with mountains, stallions and eagles). Somewhere in the future, North West is already bearing the brunt of her peers' ridicule...

In searching for some explanation behind this terrible video, I came across an article by Hari Sethi for sabotagetimes.com. Sethi argues that West is “reappropriating” stereotypes associated with white culture (citing examples such as West including Confederate flags on tour merchandise, or West's song “I Am a God”). While it may sound like a stretch, the explanation that makes sense, taking into consideration “Bound 2” was released as the second single off Yeezus just after “Black Skinhead.”

However, the more I thought about the video, the more I ended up thinking about the song itself. “Bound 2” is the closing track on Yeezus, a song that acts as a gift to fans who miss the days of The College Dropout, a sigh of relief for listeners who couldn't tolerate the claustrophobic synths that infiltrate the whole album. The fact that “Bound 2” acts as a reprieve on an incredibly dark album, paired with the repetition of the hook (“bound to falling in love”), gave most people the impression that the track is a love song. “Bound 2” is not a love song — well, it is, and it isn't.

Too often, people make the mistake of thinking that West lives in a narcissistic bubble, completely unaware of what is being said around him. In “Bound 2,” West not only addresses some of the rumours about his relationship with Kardashian, but also manages to poke fun at the way relationships are portrayed today in both pop music and the media.

West paints himself as the “controlling madman” (“when a real n**** hold you down, you supposed to drown”) and the sex-crazed cheating boyfriend (“can you ask your bitch for other bitches?”). As the song ends, West references Jerome, a character from the '90s sitcom Martin, who represents the typical trope of a womanizing pimp. The reference seems to be West's way of addressing his own self-awareness of his philandering persona; whether it is actually a part of him, or a role he plays into, no one will really ever know.

Looking at West's discography, his talent cannot be called into question, yet one of the lyrics in this song, the song supposedly dedicated to his future wife and the mother of his child, is “I wanna f*** you hard on the sink/After that give you something to drink.” It is impossible to take this song seriously. But because the track is set to a soulful beat with a nostalgic sound, most listeners do (but, in comparison, overlook harsher songs like “Blood on the Leaves” and “Guilt Trip,” which both have deeper lyrics).

At the same time, the song does have notes of sincerity. The chorus of “tired of loving, of loving/With nobody to love” presents a pretty lonely existence. The first verse narrates Kanye meeting a woman in a club who “rock[s] Forever 21 but just turned 30.”

Perhaps the lyric is meant to be complimentary, but it still invokes this image of an adult who is forced to hold on to her beauty and youth because it is all she has left. West and his romantic interest fight and bicker, but he still holds on to this hopeful naivety, rapping: “Hey, ayo, we made it: Thanksgiving/So hey, maybe we can make it to Christmas.” The lyric, as simple as it sounds, still strikes a chord in a generation where relationships tend to be short-lived.

Yet, similarly, the repetition of the hook, “bound to falling in love,” makes romance seem trivial and inevitable: as long as water runs downhill, humans will fall in love, break up, and fall in love once more. Everyone just wants somebody to love, and that's why “Bound 2” resonates with listeners.

Similarly, while Yeezus is bound up in anger and frustration, Kanye is also bound to love. Whether tongue-in-cheek or completely sincere, the closing track acts as a sweet note of surrender that reminds the listener that even someone who has reached the same orbital fame that Kanye West has is still human — still bound.