Admittedly, I haven't been a fan of Jason Mraz's recent shift to adult contemporary, as marked by his last smash hit, the ungodly boring 'I'm Yours'. 'I Won't Give Up', however, was a massive improvement over the former, in part because Jason actually sounds sincere and genuinely in love on this track.
But the real reason this song made it onto the list is the bridge. In the middle of the bridge, it does something really cool: the song shifts from a C to a C#m9 and the pace of the song begins to accelerate. For a few seconds, the tone of the song becomes tense and just a little unnerving, and just when the buildup reaches its peak, Jason collapses back to the D: "AND WHO I AAAAAMMM!"
By that time, I couldn't help but join in when the chorus returned, singing along and pounding my fist to the beat. I usually try to pretend that I'm too cool for adult alternative ballads, but this song totally won me over. You win this round, Jason Mraz.
Did you know that this song is about Ellie's fear of the dark? It totally is. Ellie said so herself, you can look it up.
It's an unusual subject for a pop song, to be sure, but somehow Ellie makes it work. Over a light, almost ethereal synthpop beat, Ellie cries out for help in a voice somewhere between a wail and a whisper, with all the timidity of Fluttershy. Every aspect of this song is underplayed, but 'less is more' definitely applies here. It allows the listener to empathize with Ellie's fear and desperation via its eerie tranquility.
I'm very impressed with her work and I hope to hear more from her in the future.
This was never released in the US. Hell, it never even got an official video; the closest thing I could find, as you can see above, is a video pasted together from live concert footage. And yet, it still managed to peak in the Top 20, go double platinum, and clock in at #64 on the year-end chart. How did this happen?
Here's my answer: because it's awesome! I've listened to 21 in its entirety, and none of the other tracks sound as daring or as hard-hitting as Rumour Has It. Adele just destroys this guy with words that alternate between passive-agreesive and just outright venomous, over a thumping, clattering beat that sounds like it'd be more suited to rally an army. God damn, I'd hate to be the guy who this song was directed at. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, indeed.
This single, above all else, demonstrates what an amazing team Jay-Z and Kanye West make. And that's particularly impressive when you consider just how different the two are in terms of personality and delivery. Jay-Z uses his time on the mic to show off his deft wordplay and technical prowess, and Kanye, well, Kanye is Kanye. But the two go together like chocolate and peanut butter, and their chemistry and interplay is just fascinating to listen to. And don't get me started on the twistedly brilliant use of the Blades of Glory sample, which in a weird way, kind of sums up Kanye's entire approach to the art of hip-hop.
Jay and 'Ye are in their zone, and it doesn't look like they'll ever be coming out.