Date: May 12, 1984
Weeks: 2
I spent a year imagining what review I would do for the first anniversary of my blog. I finally decided to just note the occasion and let the random number generator carry on. But apparently the random number generator felt the need to mark the milestone, too. So for review number 201, I randomly got tasked to review my second song by the very first artist I reviewed, Lionel Richie. I couldn't have found a better review topic if I'd come up with one intentionally.
On the other hand, I don't care for this song. It's just so slow and painfully earnest that I can't quite take it seriously. I think it's mostly the combination of the really soft and gentle piano and Richie's loudly-whispered vocals that really gets me. Then factor in the synthesized flute that plays throughout and I just avoid getting a creepy vibe from this song.
Not helping the creepy vibe is the lyrics. "I've been alone with you inside my mind. And in my dreams I've kissed your lips a thousand times." This isn't about love as much as it's about obsession. And it just goes on from there. There's something about the line "I long to see the sunlight in your hair" that gets me. It sounds like something a troll or vampire or other mythical creature that literally can't go out in sunlight would say to the object of their obsession. And then, even if I ignore all that, I'm left with the chorus "I want to tell you so much, I love you." Okay, so... why don't you? Seriously, what's stopping the singer of this song from telling the other person how he feels? The song doesn't even attempt an explanation. My best guess is plain old fear of rejection. So he writes a song that explores that fear of rejection without even the self-awareness to name it. He doesn't write a song explaining why he's in love with this person specifically. He clearly doesn't even know them very well: "I wonder where you are, and I wonder what you do." I suppose exploring this kind of obsession and a crippling fear of rejection is valid material for a song, but the fact that this seems to be intended as a love song makes it comes off creepy.
Which brings me back to the music, because the minor chords and synthesized, soft instruments just amplify the creepiness. This live rendition isn't nearly as creepy, because of increased use of natural instruments. The piano isn't as quiet, and Richie's voice isn't as whispery. It feels a bit more authentic and genuine.
My verdict: Don't like it. Even if I decided to ignore the intended message and tried to enjoy it as a song about obsession, the instrumentation just makes this song a chore to listen to, rather than fun.
Showing posts with label Lionel Richie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lionel Richie. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Song #587: "Say You, Say Me" by Lionel Richie
Date: Dec 21, 1985
Weeks: 4
I guess my random generator decided to start me off in the deep end of 80s soft synth-cheese. This song makes no apologies for the synthesized sounds. "Boing boing boing", it says, "I sound nothing like an acoustic guitar and it's the 80s so you love it!"
I can't say I've followed Lionel Richie much. He sings okay, but his generally soft style is hard to maintain interest in. And I don't know what he's singing about here. "Say you, say me. Say it together. Naturally." Does Lionel Richie want "you" and "me" to be "together"? Naturally? I guess the gist is that everybody's lonely and looking for a friend, but like a lot of pop songs, you really have to dig through some silly lyrics to glean the meaning.
Then there's a climax of overly poundy 80s drums which leads to... nothing. The bland chorus starts over. Those drums promised a crescendo and failed to deliver. And we nap through verse 2 which just says the same thing. Everybody's lonely and it sucks.
Then the bridge happens, and it suddenly gets awesome. The synth falls away and a rock guitar and drums pick up. The tempo picks up and Lionel gets excited. "The whole world's got you dancin'." I'm not sure about the whole world, but these 20 seconds have me dancing. "Believe in who you are, you are a shining star!" Forget the thing about being lonely, we're all awesome as we are! Woo!
Then the bridge ends, and we're back in slow synth lonesome land. What the heck was that? It's like the song got bored of itself and decided to switch to a different song both by and about people that are way more fun. Fortunately, it ends soon after that, but not before the boring part can sap away all the goodwill the good part generated.
I wish they'd thrown out the rest of the song and just expanded that bridge to 4 minutes. I only vaguely remember hearing this song in the past, and I don't remember that bridge at all. I must have tuned out during the boring parts and completely overlooked the part that actually rocked.
Watching the video, this song must be from a movie based on the all the clips used, but I don't remember this movie, and the only person I recognize is Gregory Hines. I'm going to feel bad about forgetting this piece of 80s pop culture after I look it up...
White Nights, starring Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov. I didn't know Baryshnikov made a movie. I don't remember this movie at all. What else...
Oh geez.
This song won the Oscar for Best Song.
Are you crazy, 1985? Most years, I would have let that slide. But 1985 brought us Back to the Future, which contained "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis (#576 on the Number Ones list). That song was everywhere and it was awesome. At least "The Power of Love" was nominated. But people actually sat down to compare these two songs and somehow concluded that "Say You, Say Me" was better.
Then again, that 20 seconds of bridge was pretty awesome.
My Verdict: Don't like it. 20 good seconds doesn't make up for the rest.
Weeks: 4
I guess my random generator decided to start me off in the deep end of 80s soft synth-cheese. This song makes no apologies for the synthesized sounds. "Boing boing boing", it says, "I sound nothing like an acoustic guitar and it's the 80s so you love it!"
I can't say I've followed Lionel Richie much. He sings okay, but his generally soft style is hard to maintain interest in. And I don't know what he's singing about here. "Say you, say me. Say it together. Naturally." Does Lionel Richie want "you" and "me" to be "together"? Naturally? I guess the gist is that everybody's lonely and looking for a friend, but like a lot of pop songs, you really have to dig through some silly lyrics to glean the meaning.
Then there's a climax of overly poundy 80s drums which leads to... nothing. The bland chorus starts over. Those drums promised a crescendo and failed to deliver. And we nap through verse 2 which just says the same thing. Everybody's lonely and it sucks.
Then the bridge happens, and it suddenly gets awesome. The synth falls away and a rock guitar and drums pick up. The tempo picks up and Lionel gets excited. "The whole world's got you dancin'." I'm not sure about the whole world, but these 20 seconds have me dancing. "Believe in who you are, you are a shining star!" Forget the thing about being lonely, we're all awesome as we are! Woo!
Then the bridge ends, and we're back in slow synth lonesome land. What the heck was that? It's like the song got bored of itself and decided to switch to a different song both by and about people that are way more fun. Fortunately, it ends soon after that, but not before the boring part can sap away all the goodwill the good part generated.
I wish they'd thrown out the rest of the song and just expanded that bridge to 4 minutes. I only vaguely remember hearing this song in the past, and I don't remember that bridge at all. I must have tuned out during the boring parts and completely overlooked the part that actually rocked.
Watching the video, this song must be from a movie based on the all the clips used, but I don't remember this movie, and the only person I recognize is Gregory Hines. I'm going to feel bad about forgetting this piece of 80s pop culture after I look it up...
White Nights, starring Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov. I didn't know Baryshnikov made a movie. I don't remember this movie at all. What else...
Oh geez.
This song won the Oscar for Best Song.
Are you crazy, 1985? Most years, I would have let that slide. But 1985 brought us Back to the Future, which contained "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis (#576 on the Number Ones list). That song was everywhere and it was awesome. At least "The Power of Love" was nominated. But people actually sat down to compare these two songs and somehow concluded that "Say You, Say Me" was better.
Then again, that 20 seconds of bridge was pretty awesome.
My Verdict: Don't like it. 20 good seconds doesn't make up for the rest.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)