Fluxblog Weekly #193: Christina Aguilera, Massive Attack, Sophie B. Hawkins, Coldplay
All oldies this week!
January 7th, 2019
You Better Cross The Line
Christina Aguilera “Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)”
“Come On Over Baby” exists in many versions, largely because Christina Aguilera’s label was eager for it to be a hit and paid a lot of money to tinker with it until it clicked in various formats. This radio edit version, with a pepped-up bridge and more openly sexual lyrics, is my favorite. As far as I’m concerned, this is the apex of early 2000s teen pop – catchy and dynamic without the overbearing keyboard chords and dinky melodies Max Martin favored at the time, and highly effective at conveying the horny-but-wholesome aesthetic of the era. This might be a happy accident in some ways, since when you go beyond the surface level of the production, it’s pretty clear the real goal of this song is to provide the young Aguilera with a hit in the mode of Whitney Houston’s most ecstatic up-tempo numbers, like “How Will I Know” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me).” The songwriting is rooted in gospel, and it’s constantly pushing you up towards total euphoria.
In both sound and sentiment it’s closer to “How Will I Know,” as it’s a joyful crush song grounded in doubt and insecurity. Aguilera is singing from the perspective of someone who is absolutely certain how she feels about the object of her affection and is doing everything she can to invite them into her life, but is frustrated that they don’t seem to be brave enough to go for it. But frustration isn’t really the point of this song, just the context. “Come On Over Baby” is thrilling because it’s so bright and optimistic, and Aguilera sings it all with casual confidence and genuine empathy for her shy, awkward suitor. She ultimately just wants to make them loosen up and feel comfortable, and for the opportunity to be affectionate. Like I said: Horny-but-wholesome.
Buy it from Amazon.
January 8th, 2019
So Much Damage
Massive Attack featuring Tracey Thorn “Protection”
“Protection” is a love song, but more specifically, it’s empathy song. A lot of love songs are selfish, or myopic. They get caught up in neuroses, or tangled up in obsession, lust, fear, insecurity. But this is a gentle and thoughtful song with a warm elliptical groove in which Tracey Thorn sings about how love can’t solve another person’s problems, but it can alleviate pain. It’s an expression of humility and selflessness. She offers herself as a human shield in the chorus, knowing full well that she’s only offering symbolic relief. It’s bittersweet, but so genuine and pure that it can choke me up. The third verse is particularly interesting as the gender pronouns switch around, and the notion of masculine and feminine qualities are deliberately blurred into mutual vulnerability and a shared sense of responsibility to look after each other. And that’s true love.
Buy it from Amazon.
January 9th, 2019
You’re The Only Shoe That Fits
Sophie B. Hawkins “Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover”
“Damn, I Wish Your Lover” is the ultimate example of how if your big chorus hook is easy to relate to, you can say absolutely bonkers nonsense in the verses and most people won’t notice or care. And like, it’s not the actual premise of the song that is particularly weird – Sophie B. Hawkins is singing about pining for a woman trapped in an abusive relationship – but that she articulates this with colorful, mind-boggling phrases like “I give you something sweet each time you come inside my jungle book.” This is not a complaint, by the way! I think it’s better for songs to embrace strange language. It’s usually more musical, and songs with odd turns of phrase tend to stick out in your head more than a song with bland, prosaic lyrics. It’s a big part of popular music. There’s a certain thrill in paying attention to a song and going “WTF? Come inside her jungle book??”
But again, the verses aren’t really what you’re here for. This song is an expertly crafted chorus delivery system, and anyone who has ever experienced the feeling of lust can click into Hawkins belting out the title phrase. At some points in the song she swaps out “damn” for a wholesome, demure “shucks!” and that sort of dorkiness only makes the song more resonant. It’s unguarded, it’s sweet, it’s self-effacing. There’s no pride in this song, just someone laying it all on the line and owning a desire they figure is entirely futile. But the feeling is there, and it’s got to be expressed somehow or she’ll lose her mind. There’s a desperation here too, as if by writing and singing this song, it’s a last ditch attempt to push this feeling from unrequited to reciprocated. She wants to be a hero to this woman and get her out of a bad situation, but it’s more like she’s hoping she can rescue her from loneliness and humiliation.
Buy it from Amazon.
January 11th, 2019
A Trouble That Can’t Be Named
Coldplay “Clocks”
Chris Martin only wants to make everyone’s life feel more meaningful and romantic, and I think that’s a noble pursuit. The best Coldplay songs – and “Clocks” is the best of them all – blend the uplifting dynamics of classic U2 with the yearning and sentimentality of glossy rom-coms. It’s always cinematic and grand, because you’re supposed to hear it and feel like you’re suddenly in some beautiful moment in a movie about your life. This can be sappy, and it can be narcissistic. But in most contexts, a Coldplay song is empathetic and generous in spirit. It’s Martin and his band giving you permission to let your emotions and experiences feel important, even when everything else in the world is telling you that you’re insignificant and boring.
A song like “Clocks” is at its most powerful when you hear it unintentionally in a mundane context, like if you’re at a Panera Bread in a strip mall on an overcast Tuesday afternoon at 3 pm. You need that grandeur and romanticism to feel a little incongruous with your surroundings. That glorious piano melody tells you that you’re living something bigger and more colorful than where you happen to be in the moment. The falsetto chorus, with Martin repeating the ambiguous phrase “you are,” could be an affirmation, or maybe a declaration of love. It can be anything you need it to be as long as it makes you feel like it truly matters.
Buy it from Amazon.