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1. Can't Feel My Face by The Weeknd
The drug metaphor this works through
Is not fundamentally new.
But while it never thrills,
Between this and The Hills,
It's by far the better of the two.
2. Cheerleader by OMI
I still like this nice, mellow brew.
Beyond that, not much I can do.
It doesn't fall short.
For a fuller report,
Please refer to my prior review.
3. Watch Me by Silento
Its greed is but lightly disguised,
But it's still to slight to be despised.
Suffice it to say,
The song's a replay,
And the dances are all plagiarized.
4. The Hills by The Weeknd
A tone of dark menace is courted,
But all its attempts are still thwarted.
It's dreary and gray,
And at the end of day,
The vocals are just too distorted.
5. Lean On by Major Lazer & DJ Snake feat. M0
Though there's quality - that's understood -
It repeats itself more than it should.
To which some will say
It's intended that way,
But that doesn't make the song good.
6. Good For You by Selena Gomez feat. A$AP Rocky
The original wasn't that great,
And that looks unlikely to abate,
All they did was inject
A crackle sound effect
And a rapper who's firmly third rate.
7. 679 by Fetty Wap feat. Remy Boyz
Another song that takes a frolic,
Hedonistic and alcoholic.
I don't know what to say,
The song's not worth a play,
And the video's weirdly shambolic.
8. Locked Away by R. City feat. Adam Levine
R. City now hopes to endear
Themselves to our collective ear.
But here is my thing:
It's quite clear they can sing,
So why is Levine even here?
9. Trap Queen by Fetty Wap
I don't know how this could contrive
To get here, then go on to thrive.
It's weird as a hit
When the one catchy bit
Is the hook he can't even sing live.
10. Fight Song by Rachel Platten
The older songs from which this pours
Were almost universally bores.
Though it's got good intent,
It's a tired sentiment
With deeply uninspired metaphors.
Showing posts with label hit song review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hit song review. Show all posts
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Hit Song Review: Cheerleader by OMI
The Discerning Lyricist has moved! Look for us here to get the latest posts and essays!
I typically consume my pop songs online these days, and it's from online consumption that I derive material sufficient for my roughly monthly pop song limericks. Of late, I've made more of an effort to listen to pop music on the radio when I can, which gives me a very odd impression of what's popular at any given moment. Maybe it's just the stations I listen to, but the week after "Want To Want Me" by Jason DeRulo seemed to me to be in its heaviest rotation, it dropped out of the top ten. I hear "Talking Body" by Tove Lo all the time, but if it was ever in the top ten for long enough to get well and truly limericked by me, I must have missed it.
I say this to preface an account of my initial reaction to this song when I first heard it on the radio a few weeks ago: "Oh. Wouldn't it be nice if this became a hit?"
And now, there it is just behind Taylor Swift in a comfortable #3 slot. This pleases me.
That's not to say that I think it's a perfect song. Well, okay, that's not a fair criterion anyway, even "Uptown Funk" isn't perfect and I love the hell out of that. Let's try again: I don't think that it's a particularly great song, but I do think it's good, and more importantly I do think it's different, and different is something the pop charts always need.
Let's talk music first. It sounds like nothing else on the charts right now. The tropical drums, the sturdy chord progression, the laid-back vocals, the trumpet that busts in right from the start to steal the show, this is what charmed me when I first heard it. The lyrics could have been pretty much anything from that point and I would have been at least highly sympathetic. The trumpet's solo in the middle fills me with joy, and the fact that it keeps on riffing under the vocal line even after its allotted bars have elapsed is a trick that I always love, even when - like here - it isn't used for any particular dramatic purpose.
But my knowledge of such things is limited. Eternal Salieri that I am, I can't plausibly presume to pass judgment on the music with any real degree of authority. As such, let's talk lyrics.
The lyrics are...well, I would definitely give them a passing grade, at minimum. If you didn't bother with listening to the version embedded up top, the central notion of the song is that looks are nice, but what the narrator really loves about his girl is her emotional supportiveness and dependability. And to be fair, the first verse does a good job of conveying this.
Some of the rhymes don't land, like corner and want her, but I love the rapid-fire internal rhyme (or at least intimate assonance) of "All these other girls are tempting but I'm empty when you're gone," disavowing any interest the narrator might have in others almost as soon as he admits their merits. As you would.
But observe also how the musical emphases tend to land on the most important words. This is a common technique in musical theatre, but is more rarely observed in pop music. In this song, there are typically two emphasized words in each line, the word that gets pitch/rhythmic emphasis and the word that gets to end the line. Those words, in order, are "motivation," "solution," "queen," "strong," "always," "corner," "there," "her," "other," "tempting," "empty," "gone." In short, the key words of every line tend to get the most emphasis. This is a perfectly serviceable way of going about things that most pop songs don't exploit as much as they ought to.
The pre-chorus is fine, reiterating that there might be other girls who are just as pretty, but the narrator is uninterested. The demure, casual, "No, not really," is a lovely little detail that works perfectly.
The chorus is not as good, but it's still fine. Cheerleading is a bit of a clumsy metaphor for emotional supportiveness because cheerleading remains deliberately the most artificial and choreographed expression of team support one can observe at a sporting event, but you can at least grasp the intended meaning. It's merely an imperfect metaphor, not one that's antithetical to what it's intended to represent.
Then we get to the second verse, where things go kind of stupid. It contains my least favorite lyric in the entire song, "I'm the wizard of love/And I got the magic wand," which essentially translates to, "Hope you liked all that sincerity! Now let's talk about my penis." Also, the genie metaphor in this verse adds an unpleasant layer of ick to the scenario presented that feels out of place with the rest of the song.
The third verse, while not as good as the first, is a return to form, reiterating the most positive points of the prior material while additionally informing us that the narrator's mother gets along well with the love interest and that the narrator is getting ready to propose. Aww. And the emphases are where they should be in this verse as well, so full marks there.
Yes, it's eleven kinds of corny. Yes, it's one of those songs that expresses its ideas so perfectly in the first verse that the rest is left with nowhere to go but straight down (see Billy Joel's "I Don't Want To Be Alone Anymore" for an unsettlingly perfect case study in this). But its musical merits keep it afloat even when the lyrics are diligently trying to ruin everything, and it's obvious that more thought was put into the lyrics of this song than those of pretty much anything else in the top ten right now.
For that alone, I both commend and recommend it.
I typically consume my pop songs online these days, and it's from online consumption that I derive material sufficient for my roughly monthly pop song limericks. Of late, I've made more of an effort to listen to pop music on the radio when I can, which gives me a very odd impression of what's popular at any given moment. Maybe it's just the stations I listen to, but the week after "Want To Want Me" by Jason DeRulo seemed to me to be in its heaviest rotation, it dropped out of the top ten. I hear "Talking Body" by Tove Lo all the time, but if it was ever in the top ten for long enough to get well and truly limericked by me, I must have missed it.
I say this to preface an account of my initial reaction to this song when I first heard it on the radio a few weeks ago: "Oh. Wouldn't it be nice if this became a hit?"
And now, there it is just behind Taylor Swift in a comfortable #3 slot. This pleases me.
That's not to say that I think it's a perfect song. Well, okay, that's not a fair criterion anyway, even "Uptown Funk" isn't perfect and I love the hell out of that. Let's try again: I don't think that it's a particularly great song, but I do think it's good, and more importantly I do think it's different, and different is something the pop charts always need.
Let's talk music first. It sounds like nothing else on the charts right now. The tropical drums, the sturdy chord progression, the laid-back vocals, the trumpet that busts in right from the start to steal the show, this is what charmed me when I first heard it. The lyrics could have been pretty much anything from that point and I would have been at least highly sympathetic. The trumpet's solo in the middle fills me with joy, and the fact that it keeps on riffing under the vocal line even after its allotted bars have elapsed is a trick that I always love, even when - like here - it isn't used for any particular dramatic purpose.
But my knowledge of such things is limited. Eternal Salieri that I am, I can't plausibly presume to pass judgment on the music with any real degree of authority. As such, let's talk lyrics.
The lyrics are...well, I would definitely give them a passing grade, at minimum. If you didn't bother with listening to the version embedded up top, the central notion of the song is that looks are nice, but what the narrator really loves about his girl is her emotional supportiveness and dependability. And to be fair, the first verse does a good job of conveying this.
Some of the rhymes don't land, like corner and want her, but I love the rapid-fire internal rhyme (or at least intimate assonance) of "All these other girls are tempting but I'm empty when you're gone," disavowing any interest the narrator might have in others almost as soon as he admits their merits. As you would.
But observe also how the musical emphases tend to land on the most important words. This is a common technique in musical theatre, but is more rarely observed in pop music. In this song, there are typically two emphasized words in each line, the word that gets pitch/rhythmic emphasis and the word that gets to end the line. Those words, in order, are "motivation," "solution," "queen," "strong," "always," "corner," "there," "her," "other," "tempting," "empty," "gone." In short, the key words of every line tend to get the most emphasis. This is a perfectly serviceable way of going about things that most pop songs don't exploit as much as they ought to.
The pre-chorus is fine, reiterating that there might be other girls who are just as pretty, but the narrator is uninterested. The demure, casual, "No, not really," is a lovely little detail that works perfectly.
The chorus is not as good, but it's still fine. Cheerleading is a bit of a clumsy metaphor for emotional supportiveness because cheerleading remains deliberately the most artificial and choreographed expression of team support one can observe at a sporting event, but you can at least grasp the intended meaning. It's merely an imperfect metaphor, not one that's antithetical to what it's intended to represent.
Then we get to the second verse, where things go kind of stupid. It contains my least favorite lyric in the entire song, "I'm the wizard of love/And I got the magic wand," which essentially translates to, "Hope you liked all that sincerity! Now let's talk about my penis." Also, the genie metaphor in this verse adds an unpleasant layer of ick to the scenario presented that feels out of place with the rest of the song.
The third verse, while not as good as the first, is a return to form, reiterating the most positive points of the prior material while additionally informing us that the narrator's mother gets along well with the love interest and that the narrator is getting ready to propose. Aww. And the emphases are where they should be in this verse as well, so full marks there.
Yes, it's eleven kinds of corny. Yes, it's one of those songs that expresses its ideas so perfectly in the first verse that the rest is left with nowhere to go but straight down (see Billy Joel's "I Don't Want To Be Alone Anymore" for an unsettlingly perfect case study in this). But its musical merits keep it afloat even when the lyrics are diligently trying to ruin everything, and it's obvious that more thought was put into the lyrics of this song than those of pretty much anything else in the top ten right now.
For that alone, I both commend and recommend it.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Hit Song Limericks, Week of 7/11/15
The Discerning Lyricist has moved! Look for us here to get the latest posts and essays!
1. See You Again by Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth
While I no longer find this one fun,
I'm glad that it's had a good run.
It's sweet and it's mild,
And behind "Young & Wild,"
It's the best thing Wiz has ever done.
2. Bad Blood by Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar
T. Swift is fine, as a rule,
But this is the dregs of that pool.
I think you can tell
It wouldn't do as well
If the video weren't so cool.
3. Cheerleader by OMI
It's a slightly clumsy metaphor,
But there's so much that I still adore.
With no beats to thump it,
Just a roving trumpet
To keep the thing sweet at its core.
4. Trap Queen by Fetty Wap
Fetty has much cause to rejoice,
As the people's unanimous choice.
Not bad for a guy
With weird tones and one eye
Who sings in Kevin Rowland's voice.
5. Shut Up And Dance by WALK THE MOON
Before, this song's jubilant shout
Would outweigh my niggling doubt,
But since many a day
Of intense overplay,
Its welcome is getting worn out.
6. Can't Feel My Face by The Weeknd
His last had orchestral pretense,
Of which this is glad to dispense.
Which can work a treat,
Though the central conceit
Just doesn't make a lick of damn sense.
7. Watch Me by Silento
There's nothing especially wrong,
And yet any listen's too long.
It's just a big blend
Of prior dance trends,
And, as such, is just barely a song.
8. Uptown Funk! by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
Next time I do this, it'll be gone,
But I'm very glad that it held on.
The cream rarely rises,
When someone devises
A track that's this carefully drawn.
9. Good For You by Selena Gomez
This song is what you would engender
Mixing Goulding and Lorde in a blender.
Too bland for romancing.
Too quiet for dancing,
Too overproduced to be tender.
10. Hey Mama by David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha, & Afrojack
It's hardly a new record-setta',
But it's still churlish to expect betta'.
Its Caribbean beat's
Such a genuine treat,
I can scarcely believe that it's Guetta.
1. See You Again by Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth
While I no longer find this one fun,
I'm glad that it's had a good run.
It's sweet and it's mild,
And behind "Young & Wild,"
It's the best thing Wiz has ever done.
2. Bad Blood by Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar
T. Swift is fine, as a rule,
But this is the dregs of that pool.
I think you can tell
It wouldn't do as well
If the video weren't so cool.
3. Cheerleader by OMI
It's a slightly clumsy metaphor,
But there's so much that I still adore.
With no beats to thump it,
Just a roving trumpet
To keep the thing sweet at its core.
4. Trap Queen by Fetty Wap
Fetty has much cause to rejoice,
As the people's unanimous choice.
Not bad for a guy
With weird tones and one eye
Who sings in Kevin Rowland's voice.
5. Shut Up And Dance by WALK THE MOON
Before, this song's jubilant shout
Would outweigh my niggling doubt,
But since many a day
Of intense overplay,
Its welcome is getting worn out.
6. Can't Feel My Face by The Weeknd
His last had orchestral pretense,
Of which this is glad to dispense.
Which can work a treat,
Though the central conceit
Just doesn't make a lick of damn sense.
7. Watch Me by Silento
There's nothing especially wrong,
And yet any listen's too long.
It's just a big blend
Of prior dance trends,
And, as such, is just barely a song.
8. Uptown Funk! by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
Next time I do this, it'll be gone,
But I'm very glad that it held on.
The cream rarely rises,
When someone devises
A track that's this carefully drawn.
9. Good For You by Selena Gomez
This song is what you would engender
Mixing Goulding and Lorde in a blender.
Too bland for romancing.
Too quiet for dancing,
Too overproduced to be tender.
10. Hey Mama by David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha, & Afrojack
It's hardly a new record-setta',
But it's still churlish to expect betta'.
Its Caribbean beat's
Such a genuine treat,
I can scarcely believe that it's Guetta.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Hit Song Limericks, Week of 3/14/15
1. Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
As rare as the old Golden Fleece
Is a hit whose appeal will increase.
And though not every line
Is one we should enshrine,
The song is a straight masterpiece.
2. Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran
It's one thing if a music star
Makes a hit that's bad and yet bizarre.
But I'll lose my shit
If I hear one more hit
With a dude and his goddamned guitar.
3. Sugar by Maroon 5
I trotted out this one to flout it,
But if I had more to say, I would spout it.
All of that's null.
The song is just dull,
And there's no more to be said about it.
4. Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding
The song's meant to have some allure,
But becomes just a chore to endure,
Though lodged in the sound
They seem to have found
The perfect insomnia cure.
5. FourFiveSeconds by Rihanna & Kanye West & Paul McCartney
Although the song is oddly brief
In its working class angst and relief,
The nice, laid-back chorus
A Beatle made for us
Serves as a pleasant aperitif.
6. Take Me To Church by Hozier
As gloomy as a British fen,
An ironic chorus of amen,
And its lack of cheers
Sets it out from its peers,
So I'm glad it's still in the top ten.
7. Style by Taylor Swift
The song has a charm I'll ascribe
To its driving pseudo-80s vibe.
A pleasant low synth
Puts it up on its plinth,
And makes me happy to imbibe.
8. Blank Space by Taylor Swift
Blank Space is still pleasantly bleak,
With a certain psycho-ex chic,
But loses its heat
In the dull-as-mud beat
That ends up being where it's weak.
9. Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey) by The Weeknd
Earned It tries to simmer and steam,
But is lacking the requisite gleam.
Though it might be lacking,
The orchestral backing
Does make it sound like a Bond theme.
10. Time Of Our Lives by Pitbull and Ne-Yo
Pitbull has just not got the stuff
To sound either clever or tough.
But though it doesn't stun,
The beat is well done
And the sentiment's pleasant enough.
As rare as the old Golden Fleece
Is a hit whose appeal will increase.
And though not every line
Is one we should enshrine,
The song is a straight masterpiece.
2. Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran
It's one thing if a music star
Makes a hit that's bad and yet bizarre.
But I'll lose my shit
If I hear one more hit
With a dude and his goddamned guitar.
3. Sugar by Maroon 5
I trotted out this one to flout it,
But if I had more to say, I would spout it.
All of that's null.
The song is just dull,
And there's no more to be said about it.
4. Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding
The song's meant to have some allure,
But becomes just a chore to endure,
Though lodged in the sound
They seem to have found
The perfect insomnia cure.
5. FourFiveSeconds by Rihanna & Kanye West & Paul McCartney
Although the song is oddly brief
In its working class angst and relief,
The nice, laid-back chorus
A Beatle made for us
Serves as a pleasant aperitif.
6. Take Me To Church by Hozier
As gloomy as a British fen,
An ironic chorus of amen,
And its lack of cheers
Sets it out from its peers,
So I'm glad it's still in the top ten.
7. Style by Taylor Swift
The song has a charm I'll ascribe
To its driving pseudo-80s vibe.
A pleasant low synth
Puts it up on its plinth,
And makes me happy to imbibe.
8. Blank Space by Taylor Swift
Blank Space is still pleasantly bleak,
With a certain psycho-ex chic,
But loses its heat
In the dull-as-mud beat
That ends up being where it's weak.
9. Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey) by The Weeknd
Earned It tries to simmer and steam,
But is lacking the requisite gleam.
Though it might be lacking,
The orchestral backing
Does make it sound like a Bond theme.
10. Time Of Our Lives by Pitbull and Ne-Yo
Pitbull has just not got the stuff
To sound either clever or tough.
But though it doesn't stun,
The beat is well done
And the sentiment's pleasant enough.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Hit Song Review: "Wide Awake" by Katy Perry
Katy Perry is, and has always been, incredibly lucky to be
where she is. If nothing else, her story depressingly proves that a musician
need not be fettered by lack of singing talent in their quest for the hit
parade. Ms. Perry doesn’t strike me as particularly bright, nor particularly
well-endowed vocally.
That said, I have enjoyed a surprising number of her songs. “Hot n’ Cold,” “Teenage Dream,” and “Waking Up In Vegas” are all songs that, while decidedly not perfect, manage to find a nice balance between catchiness and actual songwriting merit. It’s a pity that they have to be sung by such a gasping, grating vocalist (illustrated below).
She is also a decent lyricist (or co-lyricist, as I suspect is most often the case). Her verse is by no means revelatory, but by the dismal standards of pop music it might as well be Wordsworth.
But enough about good music, let’s talk about “Wide Awake.” Katy Perry has been heading toward this for some time, ever since “E.T.” That song seemed to indicate that she had exhausted her store of hummable melodies, but at least it was weird enough not to be boring. Not so for “Part of Me,” a painfully tedious song with insultingly simple lyrics and a profoundly unmemorable tune. It’s not a terrible song, it just barely exists.
“Wide Awake” is basically that, but a tiny bit more heartfelt (at least lyrically). Why did I waste most of this article talking about other Katy Perry songs? Because there is nothing interesting to say about “Wide Awake.” It is like an undiscovered planet, identifiable only by what surrounds it, conspicuous only in its absence.
That said, I have enjoyed a surprising number of her songs. “Hot n’ Cold,” “Teenage Dream,” and “Waking Up In Vegas” are all songs that, while decidedly not perfect, manage to find a nice balance between catchiness and actual songwriting merit. It’s a pity that they have to be sung by such a gasping, grating vocalist (illustrated below).
She is also a decent lyricist (or co-lyricist, as I suspect is most often the case). Her verse is by no means revelatory, but by the dismal standards of pop music it might as well be Wordsworth.
But enough about good music, let’s talk about “Wide Awake.” Katy Perry has been heading toward this for some time, ever since “E.T.” That song seemed to indicate that she had exhausted her store of hummable melodies, but at least it was weird enough not to be boring. Not so for “Part of Me,” a painfully tedious song with insultingly simple lyrics and a profoundly unmemorable tune. It’s not a terrible song, it just barely exists.
“Wide Awake” is basically that, but a tiny bit more heartfelt (at least lyrically). Why did I waste most of this article talking about other Katy Perry songs? Because there is nothing interesting to say about “Wide Awake.” It is like an undiscovered planet, identifiable only by what surrounds it, conspicuous only in its absence.
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