TS: "Freak Like Me" VS "The Whole World" VS "Underneath Your Clothes"

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My three competing choices for single of the year so far (by Sugarbabes, Outkast and Shakira respectively, of course)

(On a sidenote, my "album of the year" remains "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot", which very much disturbs me because I appreciate that album a lot more than I like it. I hope the Streets album will kick its arse once I get ahold of it..)

― Daniel_Rf, Sunday, 29 September 2002 21:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Funny--last night I realized "Underneath Your Clothes" was the worst single of the year barring Tiga & Zyntherius's "Sunglasses at Night." Ugh.

Forgot about "Freak Like Me," though, which is ace. "The Whole World" is from last year. So Sugababes win this one.

― M Matos (M Matos), Sunday, 29 September 2002 22:03 (twenty-three years ago)

"The Whole World" is from last year.

Not for me it ain't- Amazon.Uk lists it as being released on 25th of March 2002 and i highly doubt it it got to Portugal before that.

― Daniel_Rf, Sunday, 29 September 2002 22:10 (twenty-three years ago)

fair enough; I'm a Yank, where it came out w/the best-of in November '01. (considering that Kylie's "Love at First Sight" is my third-favorite single of '02 in the US, that's probably right.) my opinion still stands, though.

― M Matos (M Matos), Sunday, 29 September 2002 22:14 (twenty-three years ago)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA sorry but every time i hear the ridiculous title 'underneath your clothes' i cant help but laugh gleefully at the silliness of it.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. shakira loses, freak like me is a obvious choice in my book

― donna (donna), Sunday, 29 September 2002 22:17 (twenty-three years ago)

Freak Like Me wins hands down tho the Outkast single was excellent...it was this year for the UK i think

but Shakira's awful...i cant stand that thing she does with her voice...singing i its supposedly called...

― blueski, Sunday, 29 September 2002 22:22 (twenty-three years ago)

Funny--last night I realized "Underneath Your Clothes" was the worst single of the year

The "all the things I deserve for being such a good girl" line is the clincher, the thing that pushes the song from bad to atrocious. Shakira as obedient little "girl" being rewarded sexually by a man whom she loves "more than all that's on the planet"? What an icky power dynamic going on there.

― Jody Beth Rosen, Sunday, 29 September 2002 22:25 (twenty-three years ago)

Can we all just agree that "Objection (Tango)" totally kicks both the previous Shakira singles to the curb?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 29 September 2002 22:56 (twenty-three years ago)

haha:

Like a lady tied to her manners
I'm tied up to this feeling

power dynamic = Shakira's tied up!

but such is love.

The other thing about the "good girl" part though is that's where the song resolves into major harmonics in a midrange, while "eternal flame" resolved in a screechingly high note that I can never hit while I sing along, and I like the way this torques the melody in on itself to a far less dramatic and more comfortable effect.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Sunday, 29 September 2002 23:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I must admit that I didn't analyze the lyrics that carefully (tho really, just the thought of Shakira being submissive towards anyone goes against her entire media image, so I don't think that was intended)...I like "Underneath Your Clothes" because:

1-It's one of the few songs in the top40 since the death of Marvin Gaye to state very simply "this is about sex", without recurring to teenypop innuendo ("I'm a genie in a bottle/you gotta rub me the right way"- it's about female empowerment, man!)

2-The horns sound like The Beatles!

― Daniel_Rf, Sunday, 29 September 2002 23:26 (twenty-three years ago)

i don't like freak likeme. adina howard did it way better, and i'm reallly really sick of gary numan samples. the whole world by outkast was their lamest single. SHAKIRA IS GOD, all her singles are fantastic. also "love at first sight" by kylie is pretty damn special.

― di smith (lucylurex), Sunday, 29 September 2002 23:30 (twenty-three years ago)

hey daniel, how did you feel about 'eternal flame'?

i would have loved to see the things shakira drew on her high school notebooks. between the breast-popping cartoons in 'tango' and her naming her new tour after the mongoose ...

― maura (maura), Sunday, 29 September 2002 23:32 (twenty-three years ago)

and i'm reallly really sick of gary numan samples

Me too. There's something very "Wow! Maybe Gary Numan isn't a one-hit wonder AFTER ALL! I had no idea he was, like, IMPORTANT!" about all of this.

― Jody Beth Rosen, Monday, 30 September 2002 00:28 (twenty-three years ago)

For me it's "Work It" vs. "Hella Good" vs. "Love at First Sight" vs. "We Are All Made of Stars" (also see "Best Krautrock Song By a Non-Kraut, 2002"). And "House of Jealous Lovers" is cool too.

― Jody Beth Rosen, Monday, 30 September 2002 00:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah, but maybe he is important. ;-) Then again, I own every album, so I'm hardly unbiased...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 30 September 2002 01:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Gary Who? "Freak Like Me" get the prize - horsedancing has made me leery of Shakira, & while I adore the video for "The Whole World" & I like the song, it's not what I'd class great. Oh, & Numan & Howard wish they'd had these kind of beats, heh.

Best Krautrock Song By a Non-Kraut, 2002
. . . goes to "You Can't Go Home Again"!

personally : "Work It" vs "It's On" vs "Synchronise Thoughts" vs "Arse Huggin' Pants" vs "Push On Thru" vs "You Can't Go Home Again" vs "Journey" - best year for Antipodean music since, like, forever.

― Ess Kay (esskay), Monday, 30 September 2002 01:31 (twenty-three years ago)

I always hated The Bangles "Eternal Flame" and i feel the same about Shakira.

- and why has there been so little comment on the - Underneath your clothes / Eternal Flame similarites?

― dsico (dsico), Monday, 30 September 2002 01:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Be warned, there are hordes of "Eternal Flame" fans here. Thankfully, I am not one of them. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 30 September 2002 01:42 (twenty-three years ago)

I like the Bangles' cover of Big Star's "Way Out West," which was recorded around the same time (before? after?) the Replacements came out with "Alex Chilton." (Mid '80s tributes to Big Star: Fite!)

― Jody Beth Rosen, Monday, 30 September 2002 01:56 (twenty-three years ago)

it's freak like me for me too; after first blush, it kinda paled for me. i thought i was gonna hafta vote it in on sheer cultural-momentum-cum-force but after leaving it alone for a while, it sounds better than ever.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 30 September 2002 02:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Be warned, there are hordes of "Eternal Flame" fans here. Thankfully, I am not one of them. ;-)

I am one of them, and I can see the parallels, but I really hate Shakira's voice in "Underneath Your Clothes". Her weird tics seem to fit her other culturally mixed singles, but in this one she just sounds bad. I want to strangle her when she sings "for being such a good girl, honeeeey".

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Monday, 30 September 2002 03:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Why Are Music Critics Afraid Of Writing About Love, Pt. II (The Throwdown Continues)

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Monday, 30 September 2002 03:38 (twenty-three years ago)

Who's afraid of writing about love? It's more a fear of writing about sentiment. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 30 September 2002 03:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Why Are Music Critics Afraid Of Writing About Love

Maybe the critics would be the times. (The Times?)

― Jody Beth Rosen, Monday, 30 September 2002 03:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Can we all just agree that "Objection (Tango)" totally kicks both the previous Shakira singles to the curb?

YES

― minna (minna), Monday, 30 September 2002 10:53 (twenty-three years ago)

That Sugababes single is so BORING for more than 2 seconds at a time.
The Whole World is so nice it's annoying.
Yesterday I tried DESPERATELY not to sing along to Underneath Your Clothes on my walkman while walking through the library. And I DON'T SING. My Shakira wins.

― Graham (graham), Monday, 30 September 2002 11:48 (twenty-three years ago)

hey daniel, how did you feel about 'eternal flame'?

Didn't use to like it much because The Bangles have so many much more memorable songs ("Going Down To Liverpool", "Walking Down Your Street", etc.), but I like it now.

and i'm reallly really sick of gary numan samples

Me too. There's something very "Wow! Maybe Gary Numan isn't a one-hit wonder AFTER ALL! I had no idea he was, like, IMPORTANT!" about all of this.

Ok , let's get to the Kevin Rowland samples then! (just realised Dexy's Midnight Runners were, like, IMPORTANT a week ago. For shame...)

― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 30 September 2002 21:11 (twenty-three years ago)

"Eternal Flame" is a great song (except when Atomic Kitten do it; sorry Graham). The reason why: the descending "aaahs" in the bridge/refrain combined with that melody line is just KILLER.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 30 September 2002 21:20 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, I can hear the "EF"/"UYC" parallel. very close. not a big fan of "EF," either, though

― M Matos (M Matos), Monday, 30 September 2002 21:57 (twenty-three years ago)

I never understood why the off-key singing in "Whole World" - is there a point to that? However the instrumental ROX - house tempo and a shuffle-beat = yahtzee

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 1 October 2002 20:14 (twenty-three years ago)

I never understood why the off-key singing in "Whole World" - is there a point to that?

It symbolises a sort of sardonic desperation, or something. "The Whole World" is a very negative track, it makes me fear for Outkast's well being (I hear echoes of Sly's "Family Affair")

― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 1 October 2002 21:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Off-key singing implies a wavering vulnerability in the face of vast events, which is pretty much what the song is 'about' too. No?

― Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 1 October 2002 21:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Off-key singing implies a wavering vulnerability in the face of vast events

...and as such much better suited to the soundtrack of Scooby Doo than "Land Of The Thousand Drums"!

― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 1 October 2002 21:57 (twenty-three years ago)

six months pass...

Is it off-key? That's weird. It doesn't sound off-key to me, which shows how nothing I know. It just sounds very "black" to me, like a [I wish I had some critical theory terms to fling around around here] signifier for African-Americanness, connection to tradition--at least musically. Doesn't it kind of put a bluesy spin (in the broadest sense of bluesy) that fits the song?

(This song is still sort of new to me, though I remember hearing it before and being intrigued. I'm listening to the Outkast compilation I borrowed from the library.)

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 17 April 2003 14:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I realize you could say that about a lot of things in Outkast songs, but the chorus on this song really seems almost like the voice of African-American ancestors, the volk.

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 17 April 2003 14:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Embrace the blue notes!

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 17 April 2003 14:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Testify!

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 17 April 2003 14:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Dunno. "Freak Like Me" is kinda cool, but I don't like anything that is based on samples from older hits.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 17 April 2003 14:59 (twenty-two years ago)

SHAKIRA IS MY NEMESIS.

― Ally (mlescaut), Friday, 18 April 2003 00:41 (twenty-two years ago)

but her ass is even bigger than yours! (or is this why?)

― M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 18 April 2003 08:19 (twenty-two years ago)

"Underneath your clothes, there's an endless story.
There's the man I chose, there's my territory."

WORST!! LYRIC!! EVER!!

― Evan (Evan), Saturday, 19 April 2003 00:41 (twenty-two years ago)

What're you talkin' bout Evan, that line rulz! "Underneath Your Clothes" ended up pretty low on my year end list but how anyone could deny the genius of that line is just beyond me.

Hrhm, wait, what? Dylan Hata? Oh well, that explains it...

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Saturday, 19 April 2003 01:04 (twenty-two years ago)

That line rules, but the song is mawkish and horrible.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Saturday, 19 April 2003 02:40 (twenty-two years ago)

for me 02 was about quetzal v take me with you v heaven v boys of summer v the logical song v just a little.

― michael wells (michael w.), Saturday, 19 April 2003 02:46 (twenty-two years ago)

"Underneath Your Clothes" is the best. Y'all just can't handle the power of her shamelessness (she's being SILLY on that line about being a "good girl" people! She's exaggerating to make a point!). I wish Toby Keith would do a cover that flips the perspective.

Underneath my clothes,
there's an endless story,
I'm the man you chose
I'm you're territory
all the things you deserve
for being such a good girl, honey!

I love when the trumpet shows up. And her voice is like the weather these days in mid-state PA. Cold for a day or two, then really hot, then snowing, then warm...

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 19 April 2003 16:16 (twenty-two years ago)

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