Show Me Love - Robyn

Show Me Love – Robyn

 ((I'm sorry I know it's the end of week 3 of February but I had this done before I got sick and now I'm behind on the reviews. I'm still uploading them anyway.))

Week number 2 of February has come to an end and I have another review for the month dedicated to love. It’s from the decade of awesome, more towards the end of the decade. 1997 saw rise of Robyn in the music consciousness with her song “Show Me Love,” from her album “Robyn is here." I can honestly say time has changed my opinion of this song, (as well as the next review's song.) It changed my opinion because I found it highly annoying but then again when it came out I was four. I have a different appreciation for it now, not just in the way of nostalgia but understanding. 

Robyn is a Swedish pop singer; she gained fame in Sweden and Europe before finding success in America. “Show Me Love” is her fourth Swedish single, third UK single, and second US single. It should be noted there’s another song called “Show Me Love” by another singer known as ‘Robin’ (Robin S released a song in 1993 called "Show Me Love" but it is not related to Robyn’s song.)

In Sweden this song peaked at 14 in the US it peaked at number 7 and in the UK it peaked at number eight. It received a Gold certification in December of 1997 from the RIAA and remains her last charting single on Hot 100 (as of 2013.)

 
“Show Me Love” is featured on Sabrina the Teenage Witch TV series and a 1998 Swedish film originally titled Fucking Åmål (renamed Show Me Love” for American audiences. It has since been re-recorded for a special edition of Robyn’s eponymous album. She also has a song called “Dancing on My Own” which to me seems pretty popular, but I don't particularly care for it. It's good don't get me wrong I just don't like it. 

Robyn has won awards at Swedish Grammies and been nominated for American Grammy’s since the 90’s. She was also nominated for Worlds Best Entertainer of the Year for the World Music Awards. Robyn has released 5 studio albums two mini albums and a mix of compilations and EPs.

Now for the song itself, “Show Me Love” is a great song about a strong woman not willing to settle for a half-assed relationship. At least that’s what I take out of listening to the song. It has a good sound the lyrics are really what make this song work the music is just there to be there. Robyn’s voice sells the song. There was a time when female singers were actually respectable. She’s from that time and is still around today releasing hits and being awesome.

Verse 1:

“Yeah, yeah, yeah...
Always been told that I've got too much pride
Too independent to have you by my side
But my heart said all of you will see
Just won't live for someone until he'll live for me”

You know what bothers me? People who try to judge other people’s relationships by telling the woman they’re too this or too that for a relationship. Stay out of people’s relationships or if you have nothing better to do, sit back and watch your criticisms fail miserably. If it’s meant to work it will work because she knows what her heart wants.

Verse 2:

“Never thought I would find love so sweet
Never thought I would meet someone like you
Well now I've found you and I'll tell you no lie
This love I've got for you
Could take me 'round the world”

The sweet realization that you finally found the right person it’s a great feeling and one that for some they spend their whole life waiting to feel.

Even if it’s not the right one, the feeling that you could be with a person for a long time is a great feeling. Like you might not get married, but the relationship might be a long one, I don’t know how to describe it but it’s an awesome feeling.

Chorus:

“Now show me love
Show me love, show me life
Baby show me what it's all about
You're the one that I ever needed
Show me love and what it's all about, alright”

Redefining your definition of love because maybe it differed from the relationship you have (in a good way that is.) Maybe she was too high maintenance or maybe she never had a great relationship before and now this guy’s going to help her learn what love is.

Verse Three:

“Don't waste this love I wanna give it to you
Tell me what you got, show me what you can do
Show me love, show me everything
I know you've got potential

So baby let me in and show me love”

Oh okay so it’s not a redefining of love, it’s show me how you’re going to love me situation. It’s a hey you’ve got me now don’t use me or mistreat me, show me you’re worth keeping around. I like that in a song we need more of these types of songs.

Chorus:

“So baby let me in and show me love
Show me love, show me life (alright)
Baby show me what it's all about
You're the only one that I ever needed (show me love)
Show me love and what it's all about, alright
Show me love, show me life
Baby show me what it's all about
You're the one that I ever needed
Show me love and what it's all about, alright

Show me love baby
Show me everything you've got and show me life
Show me love baby
Show me everything and what it's all about
You're the one, the only one I ever needed
Show me love and what it's all about, alright”

I just love the chorus. It’s like one of the perfect choruses in the history of perfect choruses. That I just decided existed. There may not be an official ‘History of Perfect Choruses’ but damn it I can pretend there is one.

Verse Four:

“I'll love you
I'll miss you
I'll make sure
Everything will be alright
I'll give you my heart if you just give me love
Every day and every night.”

[Chorus]

“Show me love, show me life (alright)
Baby show me what it's all about
You're the one that I ever needed
Show me love and what it's all about, alright
Show me love, show me life (alright)
Baby show me what it's all about
You're the one that I ever needed
Show me love and what it's all about, alright”

There’s a music video for “Show me love but it’s rather bland and nothing reviewable happens. There’s a bunch of random people dancing around or making out behind Robyn in a white room. There’s also some dude on a bicycle. It switches between black and white and in color. Overall a simple love song but a much appreciated one “Show Me Love” might be lost in musical history but I will always remember it fondly. I hope Robyn Carlsson has a long and successful music career because she deserves it. 

Vertical Horizon Review: Everything You Want and Finding Me

Vertical Horizon:

Everything You Want

And

Finding Me Review

 

February has officially started and I have an idea for songs to review. Yes the month of love means love songs but February isn’t always a month full of happiness, chocolates and romance. It also sucks sometimes. So depending on whenever I get around to typing reviews, I’ll have a mixture of love songs and ‘anti’ love songs, not necessarily breakup songs but just songs that are clearly not love songs.

Remember that brief period in like the early 2000s when there were a lot of bands left over from the 90s (or new forming bands) with lots of promise for the music industry? Remember the following years that they disappeared? Do you remember a song called “Everything you want” because you probably couldn’t go a day without hearing it.

Vertical Horizon started in 1991 and is still releasing music to this day. They started in Washington DC while Matt Scannell and Keith Kane were in Georgetown University. They gained a following in the indie music scene until their third album “Everything You Want” was released under a major label known as RCA. They would be pretty much the reason Vertical Horizon nearly fell into obscurity on their follow up album “Go,” but I’ll get to that later.

“Everything You Want,” (the album) released in 1999 and had four songs released as singles but “Everything You Want” became the more popular of the singles. To put things in perspective, this song was so popular Matt’s brother went backpacking in Nepal, while visiting one of the villages he came across a man in a small hut listening to the song on the radio. 

(Don’t know much about Nepal? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal education time.)

Here’s a quote from the lead singer (Matt) about “Everything You Want” 

“...I was in love with this girl, and she was just a broken person. She kept turning to everyone except me for love and acceptance, and I wanted so much to help her. I wanted to be the one to give her everything she wanted, but I couldn't. She just couldn't accept it from me, and it was that pain, that led me to creating the song.”

The other song being reviewed is “Finding Me,” for any Buffy fans, you’ll know the song as the opener from the 5^th season. From what I’ve seen, Buffy was really popular, but I honestly never heard Finding Me until recently. I purchased the album and had my iPod on shuffle, that’s how I discovered Finding Me. It’s a really great song and I don’t know why it took so long to reach my ears.

Everything You Want 

 

Verse One:

“Somewhere there's speaking
It's already coming in
Oh and it's rising at the back of your mind
You never could get it
Unless you were fed it
Now you're here and you don't know why”

The thing I’ve always loved about this song is how it starts. I don’t know if that’s some kind of distorted guitar, but I have yet to hear it replicated. If it is ever replicated then it’s probably a sample from this song. What I’m saying is, that opening riff is unmistakable and it will always belong to this song.

In the video there are some random sentences or phrases that show up in random places. Probably foreshadowing something but at the moment it’s unclear why they are there.

And then there’s this guy…

I'm not sure who he is or why he's there but he's just kind of there

Verse Two:

“But under skinned knees and the skid marks
Past the places where you used to learn
You howl and listen,
Listen and wait for the
Echoes of angels who won't return”

Referring to the quote from Matt, the girl is probably returning to past loves hoping for something new to happen and probably facing rejection at every turn while he ‘has’ to sit there and watch her fall every time. It’s rather painful and not a fun experience to be someone’s shoulder to cry on only to realize that’s the only time you’re ever important to them. 

I’m guessing that guy was relevant because they needed someone to initiate the split screen effect and to have a moment where the cards match what just happened in the video.

Chorus:

“He's everything you want
He's everything you need
He's everything inside of you
That you wish you could be
He says all the right things
At exactly the right time
But he means nothing to you
And you don't know why.”

I know we already know this song but for people who haven’t heard it (or to describe the experience of first time listeners) it almost looks a role-model situation. If not a role-model then someone with really low self-esteem talking about how they wish they could be someone else. Well that’s just the chorus out of context, in context with the rest of the verses; I have no commentary because the song just speaks for itself.

Also, Puppy

Verse Three:

“You're waiting for someone
To put you together
You're waiting for someone to push you away
There's always another wound to discover
There's always something more you wish he'd say”

In all honesty, the video and the song start sounding really bitter now. This verse and the chorus just take on a real bitter tone whereas the other verses and chorus sound… neutral. This is a person, who is weak and looking for other people to help them, but they don’t really want the help or they don’t know what they want so it’s never enough. The result of this is constantly feeling empty inside and doubting the relationship because of someone’s blindness to the person they really want.

 Verse Four:

“But you'll just sit tight
And watch it unwind
It's only what you're asking for
And you'll be just fine
With all of your time
It's only what you're waiting for”

Verse Five:

“Out of the island
Into the highway
Past the places where you might have turned
You never did notice
But you still hide away
The anger of angels who won't return”

The words and phrases still show up throughout the video and they all mean something relative the message of the song. I’m not sure about the “Every six seconds you think about sex” message for all I know those sentences could be random facts or aphorisms that sound cool so they threw them in.

Chorus 2:

“I am everything you want
I am everything you need
I am everything inside of you
That you wish you could be
I say all the right things
At exactly the right time
But I mean nothing to you and I don't know why
And I don't know why,
Why
I don't know”

There’s the big reveal. The ‘he’ was actually Matt, although we already knew that. It just hits home when you think about it because sometimes people suck at realizing the type of person they want isn’t necessarily the person who is right for them. The type of person you might want could be a horrible person for a relationship whereas the person you actually ‘need’ is the better person for you, but for some reason the want seems to blind you from the need. 

More or less, a story from a heartbroken man who was unfairly friend-zoned, he’s the guy who the girl probably complained about all her boyfriends to and wondered why there aren’t any nice guys around. He was that nice guy but she ignored him. The one good thing that came out of Matt’s heartache was a fantastic song and a pretty decent band.

Finding Me

“Finding Me” doesn’t have a Wiki article because apparently it wasn’t as popular as “Everything You Want” and “You’re A God.” I think it’s of equal quality of both of those songs, it might even be slightly better than those two songs mentioned. I know the first time I heard it I loved it more than those other songs. It didn’t receive a music video as far as I know which is unfortunate so all I have to review is the song.

Verse One:

“I don't think you notice
when you see my face
I guess you're waiting
to spin me around again”

Verse Two:

“Wheels I guess are turning
somewhere inside my head
I know that this is
Deeper than you get”

The song doesn’t have an unmistakable opening like “Everything you want,” but it works. This also sounds like it might end up being another ‘friend-zone’ song.

Verse Three:

“But you're coming back again
you don't mean to waste my time
But you're coming back so”

Chorus:

“Don't tell me
How to be
'Cause I like some suffering
don’t ask me
What I need
I'm just fine
Here finding me,
Me”

I was wrong it’s not about being in the ‘friend-zone’ it’s about thinking the grass is greener on the other side only to realize it’s not. Or somehow it’s about a person finding themselves. There’s definitely a rocky relationship element in this song. I just love how passionate Matt sounds when he sings the chorus. Even if I’m not sure what the song is trying to say I just get it. Maybe Matt’s the one confused in this relationship song. In Everything You Want, it was about him letting out his feelings for a girl. Now maybe it’s a different relationship and he’s the one confused.

Verse Four:

“I've already given
Up on getting through
I never question
who I'm talking to”

Verse Five:

“Oh so much for nothing
but nothing means so much
I know it's touching
but I've been out of touch”

I don’t know what to do with these two verses. I guess it’s an argument. Matt’s arguing with someone and this is the result. I like the result I just wish I could sort it out and make sense of it.

Verse Six:

“And it's all that I can do
I'm a sight for my sore eyes
But it's all I am so”

[Chorus]

I’m almost one-hundred percent sure there’s some sort of argument taking place in this song. I don’t know what’s being argued about but there’s some sort of argument happening. Someone wants him to be more but he can’t be more than what he already is. He’s aware of this so he thinks he’s just fine.

Verse Seven:

“I don't think you notice
When I can't reach out
I guess you're waiting
on somebody else again”

Everybody has trouble communicating every once in a while. However it’s not good when someone doesn’t notice you’re reaching out for help. That’s a really bad thing and it probably needs to be fixed. Maybe that’s what led to this argument. He tried reaching out but the other person didn’t get understand what was actually happening and then argument ensued.

Verse Eight:
“Oh so much for talking
it’s all been said before
I'm hearing something
but I wish you'd just say more”

Verse Nine:
“But you're going off again
When I try to just hold on
But you're going off so”

That’s a sign that once the person goes off there’s just no stopping them. Matt may have tried to interject but it probably didn’t work so it was just best to let them rant.

I like this song I really do, but it was rather hard to review. I like how he sounds passionate but what’s the cause of that passion. I don’t know what the song is trying to tell me. Would I recommend it to other people hell yeah I would. Difficult reviews doesn’t make a song is terrible. This song is fantastic, it’s just as much as it kills me to say, bland and kind of generic. Generic meaning it probably got lost in the sound of the other songs from the late 90’s early 2000s pop, pop-rock, era songs.

That does not mean Vertical Horizon is a generic and bland band, Matt has an outstanding voice, the band has a lot of talent. It is sad that RCA had to drop them like flies once “Go” came out because they were busy doing something other than their job. They had to promote the album, that’s all they had to do and they couldn’t do it. Vertical Horizon nearly fell into obscurity because of RCA however they dropped RCA and moved to a different label, pushing on like the troopers they are. 

((if you're wondering what font I used, it's A Yummy Apology.))