Leona Lewis - 'Forgive Me'
I don't believe in guilty pleasures; you like what you like and if what you like is supposedly embarrassing, then two fingers up at embarrassment. That's the theory, anyway; of course eventually if you have any sort of map at all of what you claim is 'good' and what you claim is 'bad' then eventually there'll be the occasional moment when you think "I really shouldn't like this. Really."
I can't even specify exactly WHY I shouldn't like this, maybe it's because it was written and produced by Akon and has his staple lock-slamming sound effect at the start or maybe it's the fact its so relentlessly bouncy and American and it screams "I've broken in the US you know!"
It might even be the fact that Leona seems to be incapable of actually enunciating words, so it was only on about the twenty-third listen that I realised this song was actually about cheating on your boyfriend because he doesn't, err, please you, rather than about having a jolly good night out, as it sort of sounds.
Then again, maybe it's the relentless Disney-esque bounce of it. Or the fact Leona looks distractingly weird in the video. Or the fact I can't quite think of anything that's actually right about this song, but nevertheless find myself singing it at the dog. Or the fact "I've gotta take a chance tonight, so I'm doing me, myself and I" sounds VERY confusing. Or just the fact that the idea of Leona Lewis cheating on her boyfriend, now I've realised the subject matter, doesn't seem plausible really. She's just not that kind of gal, y'know, although as points out, it is an interesting marketing angle.
Maybe it's just the fact it's Leona doing an upbeat song, with dance routines and everything. Which is sort of difficult to get your head around sometimes, given I'm still listening to 'Bleeding Love' on a bi-weekly basis. And the fact this is a strangely half-ballad-y bouncy stomp-fest. And I am just CONFUSED.
Yet, undeniably, this has that little rock-y beat that makes it sound a little like an 'ooh I really love you' song to have a boogie with your other half to and I kind of really like that lyrically, it isn't that. It's too catchy to ignore, too, whilst not actually managing to slip into flat-out irritating, which is a fair enough achievement. And perhaps the fact it's near-harmless saccharine fluff, regardless of lyrical content, is something that's not only inevitable but commendable in these post-High School Musical pop times.
And where does that leave us? Well, on the one hand there's a very catchy song here, on the other I'm still not convinced it's actually any good; so I guess that means it either IS a tremendous guilty pleasure or totally mediocre.
Download: Out now
CD Released: November 3th
(Hazel Robinson)
Comment number 1.
At 30th Oct 2008, Boffy31 wrote:It's a good song but very very like Gwen Stefani's "Sweet Escape"
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)
Comment number 2.
At 11th Dec 2008, Boffy31 wrote:Turns out the reason it sounds similar is that both songs were written by Akon
Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)