Composition
A concept album,[6] Man on the Moon: The End of Day is an autobiographical track series of moody dark material that is separated into five acts that all surround "Day 'N' Nite" with an arcane account.[2][7] One reviewer summed up the story to be: "[a] lonely guy sits in his room and dreams of success. He uses drugs to calm his fears and fend off night terrors. He eventually gets recognized as the star he always knew he was, and lives the superstar life… or maybe he’s still dreaming about that stage of his life, and we’re just witnessing what his dreams sound like."[8] According to Cudi, more lively songs had to be added so that listeners did not feel like they were listening to a "slit-your-wrists album".[2] It was observed by a reviewer that on Man on the Moon: The End of Day, Cudi does neither rap nor sing, instead he goes "puzzling through some third way: a sort of loose, hazily melodic talking."[9] Musical collaborators included West, Ratatat and MGMT, among others, and the record is narrated by Common. Lyrically, he raps about anxiety and his frequent nightmares.[2]
The album's first two songs are a one-two introduction to the rapper and what he is up to. There is a gloomy interior monologue about success, the lack of it, and Cudi's inner conflicts, where he welcomes listeners by saying they are in his dreams.[8] "Soundtrack 2 My Life" is a more courageous theme song where he proclaims, "This is the soundtrack to my life". In it he states that his family did not see the sadness in him[9] and that he has not been right since his father's death. The third track, which is part of the second half of the introduction, has an outer-space style, which is due in part to the Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark group sample, and showcases the rappers readiness to experiment.[8]
Following the opening three-track introduction, there is another three-song section of Man on the Moon: The End of Day where Cudi is confined in his solitary world. Like his current state, the music is appropriately obscure.[8] This chapter of the album is the marijuana section, while in next part the rapper is on psychedelics. References to both drugs are abundant throughout the record, but the latter's part carry "the blind-to-the-world quality of the former." They are internal tracks, where Cudi's mind's state of being is the subject at hand.[8]
"Day 'N' Nite" is the album's turning point, where it transitions from the drab theme of loneliness to vitality.[8] Among the brighter songs are "Enter Galactic (LoveConnection Part 1)", an "trippy disco anthem" that is inspired by when he and a female friend ate shrooms and listened to music by The Postal Service together.[2] "Make Her Say" includes a sample of pop singers Lady Gaga's 2009 smash hit "Poker Face"[2] and features verses from West and Common. It takes Gaga's naughty, mischievous central hook and turns it around to be an unrefined oral sex reference that makes it a "hyper-catchy, forward-looking single."[8] He channels André 3000 in "Cudi Zone".[9] Man on the Moon: The End of Day's closer is "Up Up and Away", an escapist drug anthem single. Unlike other music's common theme of drugs being used as an escape from the unpleasant realities, this however, is about breaking free from the rough reality of someone's own mind and heart.[8]
