Jane Dark Sugarhigh blog on Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" restoring "melodic range to pop"

Frank Kogan to thread. He can probably convey numerous reasons why teenpop arose (again).

Here's him talking about "Crazy in Love": >"And this is the story that "Irreplaceable" begins to narrate. It's a good song, not a great one; nobody thinks its within seven rungs of "Crazy in Love" on the ladder of the Ideal Pop Song. That song had decent range as well, but it also had other things on its mind, and returned relentlessly to the three-note theme. "Irreplaceable" seems to have as its main purpose the restoration of melodic range to pop. That it found traction with an audience that had proved itself indifferent to the far-narrower B singles that preceded it is the most telling fact — not in the least in that it demonstrates how Beyonce had better dance to the tune of the times, having lost the imperious capacity to make the times dance to her own tune."

Uh, Josh/Jane maybe the earlier singles from the latest album were not as good as "Crazy in Love," as opposed to being out of "tune with the times." In his theory, is he giving Beyonce all the credit for restoring "melodic range to pop" with "Irreplaceable" ? He does not even mention the other songwriters--Amund Bjorklund, Espen Lind, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen and Ne-Yo ...

Only recently did I really pay close attention to all the lyrics (after hearing Beyonce talk about how the song was an empowerment anthem). The lyrics have now been appropriated for all kinds of uses--I heard a sports talk show host going "To the left, to the left" in an "Irreplaceable" style melody as a way of describing his feeling watching a missed NFL field goal not go in between the vertical cross bars

Alfred, she hasn't just dumped anybody in her own life, why do you think that this is the first ballad that she is fully comfortable singing? I think she's sung ballads convincingly before, as have other r'n'b singers (and gotten them on the radio) despite Josh/Jane's contention that "Irreplaceable" is the first one to restore a melodic range to r'n'b/pop hits.

Except it's really downcast for an empowerment anthem, isn't it? She sounds like she's trying to half-convince herself that she can pack up all his shit in boxes.

On second thought I don't like the way "above-average intelligence" sounds. I'll just say that it's cool Beyonce can flesh out doubt and pain like the Diana Ross she wants to be.

Well, most of Beyonce's ballads have sucked, to my ears. There's any number of ballads by Blige, Ne-Yo, and Carey I've liked in the last couple of years, so I don't buy the Jane/Josh argument either.

In the interview she suggested she was singing this for other women.

And that isn't enough, of course. It isn't enough just to think about stuff in a complex and original manner. If the post was completely off-base, all the above criticisms would make sense. But it isn't completely off-base. It makes a great deal of sense on a number of levels.

The desire of many R&B artists over the past decade-plus to present a tougher, more serious public image seemingly has resulted in sleek, minimal, rap-inflected and melodically restrained performances. And teenpop really did step up into the resulting void to offer unrestrained melodic pop with all of its unserious/unsexy baggage. That's the central point (the Beyonce tune just being an intellectual hook), and it's completely valid.

But the most interesting thing about the article is the way it centers the locus of authority in the discourse. I mean, it's a truism that hip-hop is "the center of authority in popular culture." Sure, but I like the way Jane asserts that teenpop is (by implication) the center of non-authority and goes on to explore the consequences.

Hip-hop, a profoundly masculine expression, assumes cultural authority, but must dispense with anything that might symbolically feminize it: melody, (most) sentimentality, love, compassion, weakness, etc. Teenpop, on the other hand, accepts its own lack of (masculine) authority, and this frees it to express/explore a much wider musical and emotional scope. R&B is caught in the middle, stretched between the repressive authority of hip-hop and the naive freedom of teenpop.

Come on, that's a really fucking cool idea, and at least half convincing.

The Beyonce tune may not be the only successful, mature, melodically wide-ranging and powerfully sung R&B tune to chart in recent years while still maintaing a measure of adult authority, but it's one of only a few to do so. And worth noting as such.

P.S. I like the article's underlying implication that pop history can be looked at as a back-and-forth pendulum swing between serious, adult authority and childish, naive expression. Pop forms arise young and foolish, then attempt seriousness as they age, only to be reinvented again and again in bright cartoonish colors, 'cuz the essentially juvenile appeal of pop will not be denied. After the exploratory excesses of the late 60s and 70s, rock becomes childish in the 80s. So, grunge comes along with a more self-important (but, really, no less juvenile) vision of rock authority, and out go the hair bands. Punk becomes the new rock Bible, and bands are expected to be angry, dark, brooding, introverted. But kids figure out that punk can be fun, too, so tons of mallpunk bands spring up, holding on the new version of rock authority, but subverting it in favor of a less serious approach. And so on.

There's a strong idea and argument here, but the writing is a goddam prepositional trainwreck.

if anything it's mainstream hip-hop which has been embracing melody more and more with its increasingly massive riffs (eg 'what you know'), catchy choruses (chamillionaire, fiddy &c &c), opulent arrangements (kanye) et al.

paris hilton is the only one who ties the two together! that one slightly rocky cassie album track which sounds like h duff notwithstanding.

Good point, Lex. OTM, of course. But that's really just the other side of the same coin.

It is arbitrary to pick this tune as thee single song that's gonna save R&B from itself, or whatever. We Belong Together is just as good a candidate, sure.

I just think that Jane's larger arguments are interesting and compelling completely independent of this particular song.

(unless i'm forgetting a bridge)

who are these by?

surely this is also about performance as much as actual melody - if yr aesthetic is to emphasise the big chord changes and so on you'll sing them with a lot more gusto than if you want to play it ice-cold. i suspect a lot of melody gets hidden beneath how various r&b ice queens choose to play it. people who know about music theory beyond grade 5 feel free to correct me.

The cool thing about r&b right now -- and the reason why a lot of it has been really interesting over the past decade or so -- is that it's poised right between those two things. It's borrowed that repeating-groove aspect back from hip-hop, as well as hip-hop's advancement into synthetic and electronic sounds. But the connection to singing ballads and gospel keeps the other foot in the singing-songs-with-chord-changes turf. It has the opportunity to do whatever it wants, really, and so it's not surprising that some of the big smashes of the past years have been expensive combinations of those camps -- Timbaland/Timberlake "Cry Me a River"/"My Love" stuff is suspended just about exactly halfway between chord-changing ballad and static hip-hop (or really it's kinda fully both, not a difference-splitting but a way of having both entirely).

Okay, a song like She Loves You is fluid melodically in the way that something like Losing My Religion isn't.

I don't know if "Irreplaceable" would be nearly so interesting if it was sung by a singer of whom we didn't already have a fairly detailed "image". It's precisely because it doesn't seem to accord with Beyonce's prior character that it's so startling (this sense of startlement has unfortunately begun to fade due to the song's ubiquity).

I'm not sure that Beyonce is more memorable for being shark eyes (god I hate that term though!) than for her submissive songs/ballads/etc. It's more the case that her ballads have never been as conflicted as they are here. As I think I've said before, Beyonce is usually very literal, esp. in her ballads and love songs. "Irreplaceable" is the first time she's introduced dramatic irony into that setting.

The song in her back-catalogue it's actually most like is "Survivor", which when you think about it has the exact same message and vulnerabilities - Beyonce espousing "you don't/can't affect me, I'm better than that" while the force of her performance convinces you otherwise.

It's actually Kelly who sings it (as if this matters: the Survivor era DC is swallowed up by Beyonce personality-wise), but the middle eight in "Survivor" is most on-point here: Kelly lists all the things she's too classy or morally superior to do, but it's clear that just by making the list she has thought about it, been mighty tempted, perhaps even wrote out a long diss on the internet which she deleted only after their mouse button had hovered over "submit" for a good five minutes.

I loved Beyonce singing "Listen" in Dreamgirls (a mostly patchy film, although I liked Jennifer Hudson too). Not sure how I feel about it as a single - hasn't been released here properly yet.

http://blog.streaming.jp/user/christomoko/blog/image/39.jpg

yeah this is completely on point, though again i think the music is key - the lyrics hint at kelly's inner conflict but the momentum of the beats and the massive, propulsive strings leaves us in no doubt that she's convinced herself she's "better than that", and ultimately reinforces the DC image as the strong, business-like survivors they say they are. i'm not sure what the same kind of treatment would do to 'irreplaceable' - though there's a cod-reggae remix which gives it a far lighter, breezier and less conflicted feel.

-- lexpretend (lexusjee...), February 14th, 2007.

erm, no; the lyrics do not "hint at kelly's inner conflict"; tim is possibly right that "it's clear that just by making the list she has thought about it, been mighty tempted", but it's only clear from the delivery, not from the actual lyrics themselves. the lyrics are lock-step with the production.

likewise if 'irreplaceable' has an (entirely unremarkable in the context of this kind of song) inner conflict between the words and the feelings behind them, whether we think beyonce lands it or not is a) likely to be inflected by how beyonce talks about it herself, like it or not and b) will depend on how we hear her delivery.

Um, I don't think that anyone really believes on any level that this song is about kicking Jay-Z to the curb.

Also I can't see why it's important that it's Beyonce-the-star singing it, my love for it is due to B's performance irrespective of anything around it - and also that it's a great song - all this different levels of emotion that Lex is peeling off the music in Survivor are present here in the lyrics - along with one that I'm surprised no-one has mentioned, the regret that she thought he was irreplacable for a while, but it turns out that he's another in a long line of scumbags, and here's the next along in a minute.

these days, and not only in pop music, it seems like because jumping up and down scales has been such a big thing in the past, sticking to a few notes in an intriguing way is even more, like, captivating.

sorry it's early, and this has probably been said. meow.

wtf is "shark eyes"

homegirl prolly wasn't thinkin of any dramatic irony, she was just bustin out a few good hooks

i have to say that i did hear "rip off" the first time i heard it cuz that part in the middle reminds me of this christina aguilera song off the first album where she's like "a love for al lseaons a love for all time"

ANYWAY, what i think, about this song is that yes it's DIFFERENT from like say my name, bills bills bills - i think because it's way more cut and pastey

but i LIKE cut and pastey, i find it deft and clver, so i say goo girl.

beyonce girl u own this song i know jay z was embarresed when he heard this wit his big lip self u need to have this on radio its to good to have to search for it and u sho right u can have a nuther him in a minute u go girl tell yo man cuz sum people just be like oh its ok he wont do it again but u told him he must not know bout u lol

NEW YORK - Beyonce has hit another high note, claiming the coveted cover shot of this year's Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in a yellow-and-pink bikini.

"The Dreamgirl As You've Never Seen Her," a cover headline teases. There's also a photo spread inside the magazine.

The 25-year-old singer-actress ("Dreamgirls") posed on a Florida beach in the bikini designed by House of Dereon, the fashion label she started with her mother, Tina Knowles.

The 2007 swimsuit edition continues with a music theme inside, featuring scantily clad models posing with Kanye West, Aerosmith, Kenny Chesney, Gnarls Barkley and Panic! At the Disco.

A five-page spread featuring Russian Anne Vyalitsyna was shot at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland in September.

"Once the decision was made to have a music hook, one of the first settings to come up was the Rock Hall, because it's such an iconic place," said Sports Illustrated spokesman Rick McCabe. "It was a natural fit."

Vyalitsyna posed with Jon Bon Jovi's motorcycle and other Rock Hall items.

The magazine portrayed the museum with respect, said Todd Mesek, Rock Hall spokesman.

"We felt it would've been an omission if we weren't included," he said.

___

Well, I like "Irreplacable" more than most of those songs, including "Unpretty", and don't necessarily agree that she gives better performances on all of them, so taste is a bugger, etc.

And how is "Irreplacable" a ripoff of "Unpretty" other than that both are R&B songs built around an acoustic guitar?

-- max (mreadn...), February 13th, 2007.

WTF? When did singing a song that's not actually about one's own life become something only decipherable by "super formalist" readings??? Did Johnny Cash actually kill a man?

Dan, as long as Sugababes' "Ugly" it's hard for me to take this accusation seriously.

surely 'ring the alarm' rather than 'irreplaceable' though? the rihanna/teairra mari rumours, and so on. i basically agree that this tabloidy method of consumption is a worthwhile angle though.

----

If I bought it nigga please don't touch
And keep talking that mess, that's fine
But could you walk and talk at the same time
And It's my mine name that is on that Jag
So remove your bags let me call you a cab

Standing in the front yard telling me
How I'm such a fool - Talking about
How I'll never ever find a man like you
You got me twisted

You must not know about me
You must not know about me
I could have another you in a minute
matter fact he'll be here in a minute - baby

You must not know about me
You must not know about me
I can have another you by tomorrow
So don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable

So go ahead and get gone
And call up on that chick and see if she is home
Oops, I bet ya thought that I didn't know
What did you think I was putting you out for?
Cause you was untrue
Rolling her around in the car that I bought you
Baby you dropped them keys hurry up before your taxi leaves
Standing in the front yard telling me
How I am such a fool - Talking about
How I'll never ever find a man like you
You got me twisted

You must not know about me
You must not know about me
I could have another you in a minute
matter fact he'll be here in a minute - baby

You must not know about me
You must not know about me
I will have another you by tomorrow
So don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable

So since I’m not your everything
How about I'll be nothing
Nothing at all to you
Baby I wont shead a tear for you
I won't lose a wink of sleep
Cause the truth of the matter is
Replacing you is so easy

To the left
To the left
To the left
To the left
To the left
To the left
Everything you own in the box to the left

To the left
To the left

Don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable

I thought the album version was the same as the single edit but apparently not!

the part where I think most analysis of Beynoce's relationship songs being about Jay falls apart is when she seems to be singing from the perspective of a relationship where either she (in "Ring The Alarm") or he (in "Irreplaceable") is financially dependent on the other, that one would be broke if the other dumped them, which obviously isn't the case. but then maybe she's just trying to frame the songs in such a way that people who aren't extravagantly rich can identify with them (as opposed to, say, "Upgrade U," where I've never even heard of half the brands they're babbling on about).

no swearing on my copy of the album!

i think beyoncé's return, again and again, to the theme of economics is essential to both the persona she builds up of herself as popstar, and to enable her songs to ring true to 'normal' life. she's consistently used financial security/superiority to represent more than just what it is; and, far from rendering her heartless and cold, the way she constantly returns to it kind of proves that she's more in touch with the sometimes-unpleasant details of how real-life relationships (both within & without her income bracket) function than any number of singers who prefer to sing about the more romantic, rose-coloured picture. what's that statistic again, half of all relationships end because of financial disagreements/incompatibility?

she doesn't offer any comment on how unpleasantly materialistic life can get, just affirms it; and by affirming it by talking about ridiculous fucking bullshit brands, sports cars, and war diamonds yay, she really isn't on the side of the poor lex.

She then didn't add a "Why you frontin' wigga?" style html mark-up box.

Fair enough, but that doesn't really answer my question. I didn't ask how they are similiar, (and half of that is based on circumstance, rather than anything within the songs. the circle-of-fifths thing may be a good point, but my knowledge of music theory is rather rudimentary) I asked how one is a ripoff of the other. I don't see any reason to assume that Beyonce was consciously or even subconsciously setting out to make a song that sounds like "Unpretty".

I did not use the word "ripoff" to imply intent on the part of Beyonce. I used the word "ripoff" to imply similarity, chronology and how I view the relative quality of both (I am not a fan of "Unpretty" but I would rather listen to that any day over "Irreplaceable", despite Beyonce being a much better singer than anyone in TLC).