Love ****** in Paris. I sorta like Rumor Has It, but it kinda feels derivative and kitsch. I guess you could argue that's the appeal, but it seems awkward.
The bridge especially, it sounds like a parody/bad imitation of the music its inspired by instead of sounding.... inspired. Does that make sense?
A little, yeah. Though I think the purpose of the bridge is to let the listener take a breather. As I mentioned in my snippet, the tone of the verses is furious, and if Adele stayed on that level for the entire duration of the song, she would have run the risk of exhausting the listener and making herself look unsympathetic. She wanted to show that she wasn't just spitting fire for the sake of spitting fire, but that she was genuinely upset and even a little remorseful for lowering herself to her ex's level.
Confession time: when I first reviewed this song months ago, I got its meaning almost entirely wrong. What I wrote was that it was about the lead singer's feelings of self-doubt he harbored while he was going out, partying and generally living the rock star lifestyle. As it turns out, the song is actually about his feelings of self-doubt he harbored about signing to a major label and becoming a mainstream act.
Is it weird that I still find this to be one of the most relatable songs of the year? I mean, I've never been signed by a label as big as Fueled By Ramen, and I probably never will. But... self-doubt? Insecurity? Struggling with one's identity? Not wanting to be forgotten? These are all feelings that I am extremely familiar with. Nate Ruess took what was a very personal story and made it universal.
And that's not even getting into the musical aspects of the song. The Queen-inspired vocal harmonies, the thunderous, afrobeat- infused instrumentals, and the oddly poignant autotune breakdown near the end come together to make this a grandiose, beautiful, memorable piece of work. What could possibly be better?
A little, yeah. Though I think the purpose of the bridge is to let the listener take a breather. As I mentioned in my snippet, the tone of the verses is furious, and if Adele stayed on that level for the entire duration of the song, she would have run the risk of exhausting the listener and making herself look unsympathetic. She wanted to show that she wasn't just spitting fire for the sake of spitting fire, but that she was genuinely upset and even a little remorseful for lowering herself to her ex's level.
Oh, I totally get why its in the song, but I feel like musically it could have been done better? It's still a good song.
I was shocked that Some Nights smashed, its structure is so weird compared to most songs. It's supercatchy though so maybe thats why.
All right, let's do a quick recap before we get to #1...
#10: "So Good" by B.o.B.
#9: "Good Girl" by Carrie Underwood
#8: "Young, Wild and Free" by Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa ft. Bruno Mars
#7: "Gangnam Style" by PSY
#6: "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz
#5: "Lights" by Ellie Goulding
#4: "Rumour Has It" by Adele
#3: "N*ggas in Paris" by Jay-Z & Kanye West
#2: "Some Nights" by fun.
"Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye ft. Kimbra
Year-End Position: #1
I am happy to report that the best song of this year also happened to be the biggest. I still don't know how this happened. Maybe it's a testament to the power of Glee, maybe it was the creative video, or maybe it just happened for no explainable reason.
Or maybe it got popular because of its powerful, hard hitting message; every story changes when you add new information! As soon as Kimbra stepped in, everything we thought we knew about Gotye's sob story got completely flipped around. This eventually leads to the extraordinarily powerful final chorus, in which Gotye and Kimbra desperately try to sing over each other while the xylophone continues to ominously plink away in the background. The story of 'Somebody' doesn't have a clear-cut hero or villain, like most of the other breakup songs this year (particularly the big hits from Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Swift). It's nuanced. It's complex.
Will Gotye ever have another hit in the US? Probably not, and definitely not one of this magnitude. But at the very least, he managed to rule the Hot 100 for an entire year, which most artists can only dream of accomplishing. So congratulations, Gotye. Sometimes, quality wins out.
And sometimes it doesn't...don't go away, because we're not done yet! Starting tomorrow, I'm going to be counting down the WORST songs 2012 had to offer!