Date: Nov 21, 1970
Weeks: 3
Technically the artist for this song is credited as "The Partridge Family Starring Shirley Jones Featuring David Cassidy." Wikipedia says it's because they were the only actual people from the Partridge Family who recorded the song.
The thing about this song that is the most striking is the minor chords used in its verses. It's kind of an unsettling and odd thing to hear in a pop song. But it is well done. The tension that they create is resolved in the chorus, and it gives the song a unique sound. It's attention-getting.
The orchestration seems a bit mired in a very safe interpretation of the music of the late 60s. By which I mostly mean that maddening tambourine. The harpsichord-sounding keyboards are also kind of bland, and I don't care for the keyboard solo in the middle at all. I do really like the bass line, though. The bass line and Cassidy's lead vocals are probably the most appealing parts of this song.
Cassidy's performance conveys a pained intensity, which is very appropriate for the lyrics. The lyrics have the singer proclaiming that he's in love with someone, and he's not entirely happy about it. "Screaming out the words I dread, 'I think I love you'." And the rest of the song helpfully attempts to explain why he's unhappy about it. "So what am I so afraid of? I'm afraid that I'm not sure of a love there is no cure for." It's an interesting take on the process of falling love, being afraid that it's not reciprocated, being afraid that you can't undo it without a lot of pain. And by the end, he's sort of come to terms with it, saying "I only want to make you happy," and "I ought to stay around and love you." It's a neat exploration of an idea, and both the vocal performance and the music are appropriate to convey the complexity of the feelings involved.
My verdict: Like it. It's surprisingly deep and complex for a song that was made primarily to promote a TV series about a singing family.
I have never seen an episode of The Partridge Family, so I'm just wondering what the heck is going on in that show clip. Did they hijack a women's lib rally?
ReplyDeleteIt seems less like they hijacked a women's lib rally and more like they had a personal issue with the woman that introduced them. There are slightly longer clips of the scene out there, but they don't shed a much more positive light on the situation.
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