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

YOU WILL.

And the company that will bring it to you is AT&T.

I'd like to point out that Beyonce and crew lifted the whole falling melodic hook from Joan Osborne's "Poison Apples" song. Or not.

Either way, meep.

http://www.planbmag.com/content/view/404/39/
http://www.planbmag.com/content/view/434/39/
http://alexmacpherson.livejournal.com/

Lex's writing about rock is indeed often more focused on an idea of rock rather than the music itself. But Lex's writing about rock is the minority of his writing. Check him on R&B, hip hop, dance music etc.

You've never once written anything that gives me the impression you know the slightest thing about music; fashion, image and public relations are way more your bag.

is not so much pompous as remarkably catty?

I don't really understand what the fuck happened there - this seems a really weird thread to be all 'oh lex you know nothing about music, only about the externals' on, especially, Dan, when your recent posts have been about the interviews and rhetoric surrounding 'Irreplaceable' and your annoyance with its straightforward narrative. idk maybe that's just me but that seems a bit further from the music than Lex saying 'perhaps one reason why cis can't believe beyonce in this song is because it's full of weepy ballad signifiers, not empowering anthem ones'. I'll grant that he's not identifying anything as specific as a clunky pre-chorus, but he is dealing with the music, and in a thread where both you and I have been talking about being blindsided by image!

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.