Date: Oct 30, 2004
Weeks: 6
As a note, it's not totally wrong to start your music video with a clip from a different song, but they're not usually so long. I'm just saying if this if your first time hearing this song like it was for me, make sure you ignore the first 40 seconds or so of the video, because that's not the song.
I think it's fitting that Usher and Alicia Keys made a song together. They are both ridiculously talented singers whose songs are hampered by bizzare production choices of the moment, the kind of choices that already seem a bit dated, less than a decade later. Their voices are individually great, and they blend together really well. I like all the layers of overlapping voice that are arranged together. They're complex in a way that suggests the complex feelings the singers have for each other. Whatever energy this song manages to have is entirely because they sound so appealing together, and because they have been edited together well.
Where the song goes wrong is in the synthesized voice chord... chipmunk noises that punctuate the verses. They're just so cheap and fake that they draw attention away from the singing. The rest of the music is fine. The bass and drums are appealingly simple, drawing focus to the singing. I even kind of like the more rapid synthesized beats that mark transitions in this song. They successfully increase tension that gets released by the transitions to a new part of the song. Overall, the music is pretty good, especially appropriate for a song that is trying to feature two excellent singers, but a general lack of variety combined with the obnoxious synthesized voice chord noises really hamper the song's overall quality.
Lyrically, well, the elephant in the room is the title. "My Boo" seems like a piece of slang that is unlikely to last another 50 years when someone sits down to review the first 2000 No. 1 hits, and has to derive the meaning from context. I've always wondered where the word came from, so I looked it up. According to Urban Dictionary, the word "boo" as slang for boyfriend or girlfriend derives from the French word "beau," through various Caribbean communities, and finally into American English slang as "boo." So I learned something today.
The rest of the lyrics are about these two people who were each others' first loves, and even though their relationship is over and they don't specifically say they want to rekindle it, they still hold strong affection for each other. I think it's a sweet sentiment.
My verdict: Like it. I still wish the sound had been mixed differently, and that the video hadn't included that fake-out for another song that took me a while to figure out was actually another song. But overall the positives outweigh the negatives.
Showing posts with label Usher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Usher. Show all posts
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Song #903: "Burn" by Usher
Date: May 22, 2004
Weeks: 8
It's kind of remarkable that Usher's "Yeah" (#902) was on top of the charts for 12 weeks, and it took another Usher song to replace it. I'm not entirely surprised. "Yeah" was a great song. This song... maybe not so much.
The problem with this song is that there's not a lot of sound to it. The music is very thin, and perfunctory. It's like they were trying to avoid obscuring Usher's voice, but couldn't commit to a soft sound that would complement the vocals. The result is some hard bass and light guitar, with a bunch of extra random noises interspersed throughout. It's also really out of place for its era. I would expect to hear a song like this in the early 90s, not in 2004. They were trying to let the vocals stand out, and I feel like they missed the mark a bit.
And the vocals aren't very good, either. Don't get me wrong, Usher has a great voice. But he makes some choices in this song that don't work for me. He starts doing one of those low-register speaking parts, then he sings a very pleasing half verse in his usual range, then he jumps up to a falsetto range, I guess because he's trying to sound more emotional. But it lasts too long, and it gets unpleasant to listen to. He hits falsetto again in the chorus, and that works better because it's shorter. And then in the bridge he sings "woo-hoo" in this falsetto while the music does almost nothing, and the result is a really uninteresting bridge where nothing happens. I also want to make a comment that I think there's too much backup singing. I don't mind the thing where Usher sings the song straight while also singing a more elaborately spontaneous track on top of it. But occasionally throughout there are these stings of backup singing added that just feel overproduced. And that overproduction really harms the raw feeling the song is aiming for.
The lyrics fare a bit better. I'm not sure I've heard another song with quite this sentiment. It's about breaking up with someone, and then maybe wondering whether you've made the right choice. I think I've reviewed a couple songs where somebody breaks up with somebody else and tries to get back together, including perspectives from both the dumper and the dumpee. But what makes this song stand out is that Usher remains ambivalent about the breakup. "One side of me is telling me that I need to move on, on the other side I want to break down and cry." It's an exploration of the regret of a breakup, but it's not necessarily a "let's get back together" song. That's not something I've really heard before. "Gotta let it burn" kind of cleverly refers to the fact that this hurts, but he has to let it hurt to get better. Unfortunately, the lyrics are kind of undermined by the inclusion of some unnecessary slang that really comes off silly. "Get my shorty back" is awkward, and the especially bad is the attention given to the line "without my boo." I'm not opposed to slang in songs, but slang undermines sincerity in a heartfelt, soft, relationship song.
My verdict: Don't like it. It's not bad, but it's not well put together. I think maybe if there had been some different musical choices, this song could have been saved. But the music doesn't work, and the song's other flaws drag it down.
Weeks: 8
It's kind of remarkable that Usher's "Yeah" (#902) was on top of the charts for 12 weeks, and it took another Usher song to replace it. I'm not entirely surprised. "Yeah" was a great song. This song... maybe not so much.
The problem with this song is that there's not a lot of sound to it. The music is very thin, and perfunctory. It's like they were trying to avoid obscuring Usher's voice, but couldn't commit to a soft sound that would complement the vocals. The result is some hard bass and light guitar, with a bunch of extra random noises interspersed throughout. It's also really out of place for its era. I would expect to hear a song like this in the early 90s, not in 2004. They were trying to let the vocals stand out, and I feel like they missed the mark a bit.
And the vocals aren't very good, either. Don't get me wrong, Usher has a great voice. But he makes some choices in this song that don't work for me. He starts doing one of those low-register speaking parts, then he sings a very pleasing half verse in his usual range, then he jumps up to a falsetto range, I guess because he's trying to sound more emotional. But it lasts too long, and it gets unpleasant to listen to. He hits falsetto again in the chorus, and that works better because it's shorter. And then in the bridge he sings "woo-hoo" in this falsetto while the music does almost nothing, and the result is a really uninteresting bridge where nothing happens. I also want to make a comment that I think there's too much backup singing. I don't mind the thing where Usher sings the song straight while also singing a more elaborately spontaneous track on top of it. But occasionally throughout there are these stings of backup singing added that just feel overproduced. And that overproduction really harms the raw feeling the song is aiming for.
The lyrics fare a bit better. I'm not sure I've heard another song with quite this sentiment. It's about breaking up with someone, and then maybe wondering whether you've made the right choice. I think I've reviewed a couple songs where somebody breaks up with somebody else and tries to get back together, including perspectives from both the dumper and the dumpee. But what makes this song stand out is that Usher remains ambivalent about the breakup. "One side of me is telling me that I need to move on, on the other side I want to break down and cry." It's an exploration of the regret of a breakup, but it's not necessarily a "let's get back together" song. That's not something I've really heard before. "Gotta let it burn" kind of cleverly refers to the fact that this hurts, but he has to let it hurt to get better. Unfortunately, the lyrics are kind of undermined by the inclusion of some unnecessary slang that really comes off silly. "Get my shorty back" is awkward, and the especially bad is the attention given to the line "without my boo." I'm not opposed to slang in songs, but slang undermines sincerity in a heartfelt, soft, relationship song.
My verdict: Don't like it. It's not bad, but it's not well put together. I think maybe if there had been some different musical choices, this song could have been saved. But the music doesn't work, and the song's other flaws drag it down.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Song #902: "Yeah!" by Usher featuring Lil John and Ludacris
Date: Feb 28, 2004
Weeks: 12
This song's overall sound is great. While the synthesizer was horribly abused in the 70s and 80s, somewhere in the 90s someone figured out how to properly use it as part of the musical palette. And this song shows how the synthesizer can be used to wonderful effect. The synthesizer sting that dominates this song is pure gold. As long as the rest of the song can stay out of its way, that sting will carry the song. And the rest of the song generally does that. Other than some minimal percussion and bass, there's not a lot of other music here to interfere.
As for the vocals, I think I've said before that Usher has a good voice. I enjoy listening to him sing. The relatively stark soundscape shows off his voice, and it's great. Ludacris raps for a verse here, too. And I was right before, Ludacris raps well and doesn't need his voice to be manipulated weirdly to be entertaining. Ludacris's rap verse sounds really good. Ludacris and Usher have made two decent songs here and successfully fused them together in a way that works. Lil John has a really obnoxious voice and he's pretty terrible, but the song uses him in the best way possible: minimally. If Lil John had even a whole verse I'd probably be pointing to it as the point where the song broke down, but that doesn't happen.
Now, the lyrics are where the song starts to come apart. It seems Usher has a favorite theme for his songs: seeing an attractive woman at a dance club. I seem to be moving backwards through Usher's career, so maybe he's just copying the formula that worked for him here, but I kind of want to hear him sing about something else. Anyway, like the other songs I've reviewed, this one reduces the woman he's singing about to her attractiveness, and Usher implies he has no willpower to resist her, even though he has a girlfriend and totally should. Ludacris's lyrics are possibly even worse, including the line "if you hold the head steady, I'ma milk the cow." I'm not sure I've fully deciphered the metaphor, but I'm pretty sure he's just compared women to cows, or at least to milk. This song at least avoids using pre-teen words like "Boobies," and isn't about having sex in public, so I suppose of all the Usher songs I've done, it's the least offensive lyrically.
My verdict: Like it. I don't care about the lyrics. That synthesizer hook is a winner, and the quality of the vocals are a good thing. I can mostly overlook the lyrics.
Weeks: 12
This song's overall sound is great. While the synthesizer was horribly abused in the 70s and 80s, somewhere in the 90s someone figured out how to properly use it as part of the musical palette. And this song shows how the synthesizer can be used to wonderful effect. The synthesizer sting that dominates this song is pure gold. As long as the rest of the song can stay out of its way, that sting will carry the song. And the rest of the song generally does that. Other than some minimal percussion and bass, there's not a lot of other music here to interfere.
As for the vocals, I think I've said before that Usher has a good voice. I enjoy listening to him sing. The relatively stark soundscape shows off his voice, and it's great. Ludacris raps for a verse here, too. And I was right before, Ludacris raps well and doesn't need his voice to be manipulated weirdly to be entertaining. Ludacris's rap verse sounds really good. Ludacris and Usher have made two decent songs here and successfully fused them together in a way that works. Lil John has a really obnoxious voice and he's pretty terrible, but the song uses him in the best way possible: minimally. If Lil John had even a whole verse I'd probably be pointing to it as the point where the song broke down, but that doesn't happen.
Now, the lyrics are where the song starts to come apart. It seems Usher has a favorite theme for his songs: seeing an attractive woman at a dance club. I seem to be moving backwards through Usher's career, so maybe he's just copying the formula that worked for him here, but I kind of want to hear him sing about something else. Anyway, like the other songs I've reviewed, this one reduces the woman he's singing about to her attractiveness, and Usher implies he has no willpower to resist her, even though he has a girlfriend and totally should. Ludacris's lyrics are possibly even worse, including the line "if you hold the head steady, I'ma milk the cow." I'm not sure I've fully deciphered the metaphor, but I'm pretty sure he's just compared women to cows, or at least to milk. This song at least avoids using pre-teen words like "Boobies," and isn't about having sex in public, so I suppose of all the Usher songs I've done, it's the least offensive lyrically.
My verdict: Like it. I don't care about the lyrics. That synthesizer hook is a winner, and the quality of the vocals are a good thing. I can mostly overlook the lyrics.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Song #955: "Love In This Club" by Usher featuring Young Jeezy
Date: Mar 15, 2008
Weeks: 3
Usher seems to write a lot of songs about finding love on the floor of a dance club. In addition to "OMG" (#985), he has a song called "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love." I guess there's a niche for songs like that. People go to dance clubs on dates and want a sexy song to amplify the mood, I suppose.
Even though the chorus is "I wanna make love in this club," Usher manages to keep it mostly metaphorical. Unlike Nelly, he doesn't literally want to get naked and have sex in the middle of the dance floor; he's practicing the art of seduction. At least until the point when he literally says he wants to get naked and have sex in the middle of the dance floor. "Let's both get undressed right here ... Imma give it to you nonstop and I don't care who's watchin'." Sigh. Can I choose to interpret that metaphorically, too? Like he's overcome with sexual energy and wants to have sex on the dance floor, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he will? No, I guess not. It was worth a try.
Even if I successfully persuaded myself that Usher's lyrics were metaphorical, Young Jeezy's rap lyrics would shatter my delusion. "On the couch, on the table, on the bar, or on the floor. You can meet me in the bathroom." It's like a dirty Dr. Seuss book. Young Jeezy demolishes any metaphor that Usher may be attempting to construct.
Usher has a great voice that adds to the sexy atmosphere he's trying to generate. That all works well enough until Young Jeezy comes along and ruins it with his grating and obnoxious voice. Young Jeezy does that thing that I really dislike in rap where he sounds like he's panting for breath after every line. Young Jeezy's voice also contrasts with the otherwise kind of delicate and sexy music and really breaks the mood.
The music is pretty good and is the most successfully sexy part of the song. The dominating synth sound consists of a fairly classic pop music chord progression. The bass beat is good and nicely varied throughout, which helps the song never feel stale. I also really like the bridge, with a descending piano leading into a complete breakdown in everything but the bass beat. I haven't actually heard this song in a dance club, but I've always liked those moments when a dance song gets quiet like that before kind of exploding back into its full energy. That's certainly a good moment in this song.
My verdict: Don't like it. This is a really close one. The music almost forgives all. But I have reservations about the lyrics and Young Jeezy's rap section is really obnoxious.
Weeks: 3
Usher seems to write a lot of songs about finding love on the floor of a dance club. In addition to "OMG" (#985), he has a song called "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love." I guess there's a niche for songs like that. People go to dance clubs on dates and want a sexy song to amplify the mood, I suppose.
Even though the chorus is "I wanna make love in this club," Usher manages to keep it mostly metaphorical. Unlike Nelly, he doesn't literally want to get naked and have sex in the middle of the dance floor; he's practicing the art of seduction. At least until the point when he literally says he wants to get naked and have sex in the middle of the dance floor. "Let's both get undressed right here ... Imma give it to you nonstop and I don't care who's watchin'." Sigh. Can I choose to interpret that metaphorically, too? Like he's overcome with sexual energy and wants to have sex on the dance floor, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he will? No, I guess not. It was worth a try.
Even if I successfully persuaded myself that Usher's lyrics were metaphorical, Young Jeezy's rap lyrics would shatter my delusion. "On the couch, on the table, on the bar, or on the floor. You can meet me in the bathroom." It's like a dirty Dr. Seuss book. Young Jeezy demolishes any metaphor that Usher may be attempting to construct.
Usher has a great voice that adds to the sexy atmosphere he's trying to generate. That all works well enough until Young Jeezy comes along and ruins it with his grating and obnoxious voice. Young Jeezy does that thing that I really dislike in rap where he sounds like he's panting for breath after every line. Young Jeezy's voice also contrasts with the otherwise kind of delicate and sexy music and really breaks the mood.
The music is pretty good and is the most successfully sexy part of the song. The dominating synth sound consists of a fairly classic pop music chord progression. The bass beat is good and nicely varied throughout, which helps the song never feel stale. I also really like the bridge, with a descending piano leading into a complete breakdown in everything but the bass beat. I haven't actually heard this song in a dance club, but I've always liked those moments when a dance song gets quiet like that before kind of exploding back into its full energy. That's certainly a good moment in this song.
My verdict: Don't like it. This is a really close one. The music almost forgives all. But I have reservations about the lyrics and Young Jeezy's rap section is really obnoxious.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Song #985: "OMG" by Usher (featuring will.i.am)
Date: May 15, 2010
Weeks: 4
The first thing that strikes me about this song is the overproduction. It seems the late 2000s have brought us back to the late 1980s in terms of stacking sound on top of sound until the actual song is hidden beneath layers and layers of unneeded noise. The most obviously unneeded noise here is the crowd shouts of "Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh!" It's like they're trying to convince me that I'm enjoying the song by overdubbing the sound of other people singing along. It's the musical equivalent of canned laughter. And then there's the abuse of Auto-Tune.
From what I've heard from him, Usher is a fine singer, and that's certainly represented here. His voice is the best part of the song. There's not a lot of Auto-Tune used on his voice, but why is there any? I'm not sure I'll ever understand the notion that that phony Auto-Tune sound is preferable to natural vocals by a good singer. Meanwhile, will.i.am's performance seems to have been created entirely with Auto-Tune, and putting him next to Usher isn't doing the song any favors.
Lyrically... look, I get that singing "Oh my God" over and over on the radio is just potentially controversial enough that you want to avoid it if there's a handy substitute. But that's what "OMG" stands for. If you want to sing "Oh my gosh" instead, I understand that. Heck, it even sounds better. But then the title should really be "Oh My Gosh". I suppose I should just be thankful he's not singing "Oh Em Gee."
The line "Honey got some boobies like wow oh wow" is really terrible. Why was that permissible for a radio edit when "Oh my God" was that? There are better ways to compliment a woman's appearance. There are better ways to compliment a woman's chest, if that what you really feel you need to do.
At its core, this isn't a bad song. The gist of the song, that you saw someone attractive and want to meet them, is universal enough to connect with. Usher sings it well. And I really like the synthesizer as the basis of the music. It modulates and changes enough to stay fresh and interesting throughout the entire song. A lot of music intended as dance music doesn't do that. I actually like what's going on in the song when Usher sings "Oh my gosh, I'm so in love; I found you finally." That's a really good moment.
My verdict: Don't like it. A decent song at its core, but too many silly production choices and weird lyrics hurt it.
Weeks: 4
The first thing that strikes me about this song is the overproduction. It seems the late 2000s have brought us back to the late 1980s in terms of stacking sound on top of sound until the actual song is hidden beneath layers and layers of unneeded noise. The most obviously unneeded noise here is the crowd shouts of "Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh!" It's like they're trying to convince me that I'm enjoying the song by overdubbing the sound of other people singing along. It's the musical equivalent of canned laughter. And then there's the abuse of Auto-Tune.
From what I've heard from him, Usher is a fine singer, and that's certainly represented here. His voice is the best part of the song. There's not a lot of Auto-Tune used on his voice, but why is there any? I'm not sure I'll ever understand the notion that that phony Auto-Tune sound is preferable to natural vocals by a good singer. Meanwhile, will.i.am's performance seems to have been created entirely with Auto-Tune, and putting him next to Usher isn't doing the song any favors.
Lyrically... look, I get that singing "Oh my God" over and over on the radio is just potentially controversial enough that you want to avoid it if there's a handy substitute. But that's what "OMG" stands for. If you want to sing "Oh my gosh" instead, I understand that. Heck, it even sounds better. But then the title should really be "Oh My Gosh". I suppose I should just be thankful he's not singing "Oh Em Gee."
The line "Honey got some boobies like wow oh wow" is really terrible. Why was that permissible for a radio edit when "Oh my God" was that? There are better ways to compliment a woman's appearance. There are better ways to compliment a woman's chest, if that what you really feel you need to do.
At its core, this isn't a bad song. The gist of the song, that you saw someone attractive and want to meet them, is universal enough to connect with. Usher sings it well. And I really like the synthesizer as the basis of the music. It modulates and changes enough to stay fresh and interesting throughout the entire song. A lot of music intended as dance music doesn't do that. I actually like what's going on in the song when Usher sings "Oh my gosh, I'm so in love; I found you finally." That's a really good moment.
My verdict: Don't like it. A decent song at its core, but too many silly production choices and weird lyrics hurt it.
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