As the Mad Hatter told Alice, "You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret: All the best people are." And from the aptly titled "Crazy In Love" to the unhinged "Ring the Alarm" to her whole wacky Sasha Fierce persona, bonkers has always been a hat Beyoncé has worn well.
The singer's new single, however, is just plain daft. "Run the World (Girls)" is the kind of hollow girl-power track masquerading as a self-empowerment anthem that she's been serving in one form or another since her days with Destiny's Child. Atop a played-out marching-band beat and co-producer Switch's trademark pitched-n'-screwed vocals (both, it should be noted, lifted straight from a track by Major Lazer, Switch's side project with Diplo), Beyoncé lays down atonal verses and a repetitive, expletive-laden, sanity-challenging hook about—you guessed it—girls running the world.
Beyoncé deserves credit for not playing it safe, but "Run the World (Girls)" is the kind of track that makes record label execs light cigarettes and pour shots like they're in an episode of Mad Men. (Cue follow-up single in five, four, three, two…) The song's one bright spot is the bridge, which features B's warm, gooey harmonies and the lyric "My persuasion can build a nation." But if Mrs. Shawn Carter was shooting for edgy a la "Diva," her response track to Lil Wayne's "A Milli," she misses the mark big time here, "murdering the time" almost as badly as the Hatter when he tried to entertain the Queen of Hearts.
If for nothing else, I think she deserves a lot of credit for doing something outside the box– if not in theme then at least in the musical aspect of the songs. That's more then we can say for most pop divas around, who simply take risks with their image/videos, but regurgitate the same boring electro-pop beats (hang your head in shame, Lady Gaga).
The song is far from my favorite. And I'm pretty tired of hearing how awesome girls are (OMG, I get it: childbirth is hard). But the song is really growing on me, and I think I'm even more interested than ever before to hear what exactly her album sounds like.
To be honest, I criticize the song's subject, but it just struck me: what is there to sing about these days? Songs now seem to border on 6 or so main subjects: love (unrequited/being in or out of) and lust; clubbing (Ke$ha's entire discography); world peace (U2); gay/queer tolerance (Pink/Gaga); women rock; and Fridays. What's Miss Knowles to do?
It's the "kind of track that makes record label execs light cigarettes and pour shots like they're in an episode of Mad Men". I totally envisioned this as I was reading it! And Mike321, I agree, I think that's why no one really takes mainstream music seriously anymore – they repeat the same subjects over and over again so that we find our own less popular artists to support, but those who actually have variety. I do like Beyonce's purple turban on iTunes though.
M.I.A. meets boring.