Weeks: 2
Doing these reviews has certainly challenged many of my musical prejudices. One of the biggest was that disco was bad. However, I've heard a few disco songs now that I actually kind of like. It's not a universally bad genre.
But then I run across the songs that remind me why I have that prejudice in the first place. This is one of those.
The worst part of the song is the music and the choice of instruments. There's that weird space-age "pew" sound that overwhelms everything at the start. There's the overactive background singers, who manage to interfere with any sense that the song will tell a personal story. And there's the fact that a song called "Ring My Bell" uses a really weak and wimpy bell sound. I think it's actually a xylophone.
The lyrics are stupid. Not that there are many of them. Most of the song is just "You can ring my bell" over and over and over again. And I don't even get what that's supposed to mean. The most obvious interpretation is that the singer is inviting somebody to ring her doorbell so they can get together for some loving. Sounds like a booty call song. But the rest of the lyrics make it sound like they live together. "I'm glad you're home." Not "here," but "home." "Lay back and relax while I put away the dishes." Sure, put off the romantic mood until a household chore is done. That doesn't sound like a booty call, it sounds like a couple who lives together and knows the chores need to get done. So what is the bell that's being rung? Maybe it's a euphemism, but I don't get the etymology of it. Here is where the song needs to explain it, at least via metaphor.
And on top of all that, Anita Ward isn't even a very strong singer. Hearing her sing "Ring my bee-eee-eel" grates on my ears, and it's over and over and over again in this song. It goes on and on long after it's run out of ideas, none of which were any good in the first place.
My verdict: Don't like it. Exhibit A in the case against disco.
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