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Tag: Beyoncé Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

  • To Her (And Most Women’s) Detriment, RAYE Goes Especially Retro on “Where Is My Husband!”

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    After the success of her debut album, My 21st Century Blues, in 2023, the music industry was pretty much immediately itching to see what RAYE would do next. And what she’s decided to do with her sophomore album, evidently, is take the Amy Winehouse approach to things (even more than before, and maybe even more than Lola Young on I’m Only F**king Myself). Except, in contrast to Winehouse, the sound she’s wielding for her fusion of doo-wop and Motown influences, doesn’t exactly contain “modern” lyrics in the way that Winehouse’s did (e.g., “Don’t make no difference if I end up alone/I’d rather have myself and smoke my home-grown/Oh, it’s got me addicted/Does more than any dick did”).

    Instead, as though to reflect back the state of the world and its reversion to a time when a woman’s primary goal in life was to get married, RAYE makes the central focus of the song all about her desperate search for a man who will marry her (begging the question of whether or not she might as well name this album My 20th Century Blues). So it is that she delves right into the “despairing” chorus, “Baby, where the hell is my husband?/What is takin’ him so long to find me?/Oh, baby, where the hell is my lover?/Getting down with another?/Tell him if you see him, baby, if you see him, tell him/He should holler.” Those of a more literal-minded nature might, of course, take RAYE’s question to mean she’s wondering where her actual, “already-in-existence” husband is, as though she already has one and wants to know his physical, in real time location. This further compounded by RAYE singing another verse that literal-minded listeners would infer to mean her “actual” husband is cheating on her when she says, “I only fear he taking time with other women that ain’t me/While I’ve been reviewin’ applications/Wait till I get my hands on him, I’ma tell him off too.”

    But, of course, anyone with even half a brain can comprehend that RAYE is essentially saying what Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) already did in the season three episode of Sex and the City, “Where There’s Smoke…” Her frustration expressed while hungover and irritable, Charlotte demands of her friends, “I’ve been dating since I was fifteen. I’m exhausted. Where is he?” It’s Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) who then incredulously clarifies, “Who, the white knight?” Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) quickly adds, “That only happens in fairy tales.” Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) then chimes in, “Charlotte, honey, did you ever think that maybe we’re the white knights, and we’re the ones that have to save ourselves?” Charlotte immediately writes such a “novel” thought off as “depressing.” As RAYE probably would based on the lyrical content of “Where Is My Husband!” Content that mirrors the retro visuals of the video, directed by brothers Will Reid and Ed Reid a.k.a. The Reids.

    With the help of these two brothers, RAYE takes the retro concept to the full visual extreme, starting with the fact that the video is introduced with a Looney Tunes-esque set of circles in black and white featuring the text (with each phrase stacked atop the next), “RAYE Presents Where Is My Husband The Sound is Retro-Pop.” Obviously, it’s not just the sound that’s retro though. It’s the entire belief system that would have a woman of the present singing, “…how long he kept me waitin’, anticipatin’/Prayin’ to the Lord to givе him to my lovin’ arms/And despite my frustrations/And he must need mе/Completely/How my heart yearns for him/Is he far away?/Is he okay?/This man is testin’ me/Uh huh, uh huh, uh/Help me, help me, help me, Lord/I need you to tell me/Baby/Where the hell is my husband?”

    After the title card sets the tone for the “throwback” feel, the black and white color palette continues as RAYE finds herself in the middle of a hallway in an apartment building looking quite confused about where the fuck she is (almost like David [Tobey Maguire] and Jennifer [Reese Witherspoon] after entering Pleasantville in the movie of the same name). In the distance, however, she clocks the silhouette of a man who seems to be getting ever farther and farther away from her. Especially the more that she chases him. This, of course, serving as a metaphor for how, the more you try to find/get something (or someone) you’re after, the more likely it (or, in this case, he) is to slip through your fingers as a result of “forcing it.” This is the running (pun intended) motif throughout the video, which then alternates between rich “Technicolor” (thereby fully showcasing the vibrancy of RAYE’s red sequined dress) and B&W—almost like an unwitting way to accent how schizophrenic a song like this feels in the present era. Or so-called present era.

    The time we’re supposed to be in is further called into question when two of RAYE’s backup singers appear on the proverbial sidelines waving signs to “cheer her on” in her thus far abyssal “love search.” These signs assuring, “Love Will Find You” and “Your Husband Is Coming!” (which, frankly, comes across as really fuckin’ ominous). In a scene soon after, RAYE keeps running around in her black and white version of the world (you know, like a 1950s version of it) frantically looking for a man who isn’t really there. Finding herself in a random room, she encounters a bridal-outfitted mannequin placed next to a groom.

    After approaching it, she pulls the veil off the mannequin’s head before turning to see the live (read: non-mannequin) priest holding up not a bible (as it might appear), but some kind of legal history book that, for whatever reason, has a chapter on the Forestry Act of 1945 (perhaps an unintentional allegory intended by the marriage between government and increased control over the management of land [read: forestry]). Written over that text is RAYE’s attempt at making this entire song feel slightly more modern: “Find yourself & love will find you!!” In other words, don’t try to be someone you’re not in a fruitless bid to attract the “perfect person.” Because, of course, somewhere down the line, revealing the “real” you to the one you “lassoed” under false pretenses will only lead to pain on both sides.

    And yet, what leads to pain primarily for the listener who can’t stomach such a gender-conventional/supporting-of-gender-conventions song is how much this “little ditty,” as “sweet” as it’s intended to be, even undoes something as “progressive” as Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It),” which is equally as “where is my husband”-centric. Not to mention as reinforcing of how materialistic women make themselves out to be when it comes to weddings and the trappings thereof. Hence, Bey’s taunt, “If you like it, then you should’ve put a ring on it.” Her desire for this material symbol of love being something she tries to backpedal on later in the song when she adds, “Don’t treat me to these things of the world/I’m not that kind of girl/Your love is what I prefer, what I deserve.”

    RAYE claims the same, yet also reverts to babbling on rather passionately about a wedding ring, singing in an ultra-fast manner, “I would like a ring, I would like a ring/I would like a diamond ring on my wedding finger/I would like a big and shiny diamond that I can wave around/And talk, and talk about it.” So it is that RAYE, “catchy tune” or not (courtesy of co-production from Sabath, who also, along with RAYE, greatly contributed to JADE’s recent debut, That’s Showbiz Baby) only ends up reiterating a tired message about women and their “desires” (/main goals in life) at a moment in history when it’s extremely perilous to do so.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Miley Cyrus Is In Her No-Frills Music Video Era With “Doctor (Work It Out)”

    Miley Cyrus Is In Her No-Frills Music Video Era With “Doctor (Work It Out)”

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    As is the case with Lana Del Rey, Miley Cyrus is undoubtedly sitting on a lot of previously unreleased content that’s actually widely available online (e.g., in Del Rey’s latest instance of officially releasing a song that was formerly “from the vault,” there was “Say Yes to Heaven”). And, also like Del Rey, Cyrus is accustomed to some of that content leaking on the internet and then being treated as though it’s part of the “canon” (hear: “Nightmare” and “Last Goodbye”). As for “Doctor (Work It Out),” it was originally an outtake from 2013’s Bangerz. Ironically, it was when Cyrus released that album that she said of her previous output, “Right now, when people go to iTunes and listen to my old music, it’s so irritating to me because I can’t just erase that stuff and start over.” Evidently, though, she didn’t want to erase “Doctor (Work It Out),” instead reviving it not so much because it went viral on TikTok or anything, but because, according to her, “…it just felt like it was so serendipitous, and there were so many alignments and so many moments that made me know that now was the perfect time. And then sometimes things in our past make more sense in our present than they ever did then.”

    Now featuring an even more polished sound from Pharrell Williams (who was already producing the song way back when), the rhythm and bassline is quintessentially him. Awash in sonic twangs and disjointedness, Cyrus seems to have been waiting for this moment to usher in her “Olivia Newton-John meets Cher” era, which she already debuted at the Grammy Awards—most notably during her performance of “Flowers.” But there’s one other diva that the “Doctor (Work It Out)” video seems to be borrowing from and that’s Beyoncé. Specifically, the Beyoncé of the “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” video—which itself famously “borrows” from a formerly obscure Bob Fosse-choreographed performance for The Ed Sullivan Show called “Mexican Breakfast.” Apart from “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” also being a “parentheses title,” it shares visual similarities to what Miley’s doing with her own choreo—not to mention keeping the backdrop blank so as to showcase solely Miley (and her moves).  

    Once again directed by Jacob Bixenman (Cyrus’ go-to for the past few videos), Cyrus is, in many ways, picking up where she left off visually with the sparse “Used To Be Young” (or even the pared-down black-and-white video for Endless Summer Vacation’s second single, “River”—yet another Miley jam chock full of thinly-veiled sexual euphemisms). Except, instead of the black backdrop that she stands in front of while staring into the camera and singing about “being old” in earnest, “Doctor (Work It Out)” goes for the “peppier” color of white to accent the ebullience of the single. Because, yes, there’s nothing more “exuberant” than songs laden with medical-related sexual innuendos. Just ask Jennifer Lopez, who took advantage of that niche musical genre on 2019’s “Medicine” featuring French Montana (who also appeared on the Bangerz track “FU”). Or Carol Douglas, the OG of “sexy” songs using doctors/medical terms as analogies and euphemisms on 1974’s “Doctor’s Orders.” Except, in Miley’s world of medicine, things are much more overt in their salaciousness and far less romantic than the sentiments of Douglas. For example, on the chorus for “Doctor (Work It Out),” Cyrus belts, “I could be your doctor (I could be your doctor)/And I could be your nurse/I think I see the problem/It’s only gon’ get worse (uh, uh)/A midnight medication/Just show me where it hurts (uh)/I need to rock you, baby/Before your body bursts.” Hmmm, wonder what part of the body could possibly “burst” in a scenario like this. 

    What’s more, Miley clearly intends something else apart from the surface meaning of “workin’ it out” when she sings, “I feel like workin’ it out/If that’s somethin’ you wanna do.” In contrast, somebody like Anitta would be more direct with lyrics such as, “We can go right, we can go left/Stay up all night in the argument/Nah, I’d rather have sex.” Obviously, so would Cyrus, she’s just less direct about it (in true American fashion). Wanting to ensure she doesn’t put herself out there before she’s really certain she’s going to get some reciprocation. Ergo, the question, “Are you on the fence?/Stop playing on the side/Are you on the fence?/Don’t waste my damn time (don’t waste my damn time)/Are you on the fence?” She then transitions into even more tawdry, innuendo-laden lyrics with the assurance, “I’ll slip but I won’t slide/Don’t gotta be forever/Just together for the night.” Every man’s favorite promise—especially by 2013 standards, when this song was originally intended for release. 

    Cyrus channels Del Rey in other ways on this track besides the aforementioned by repurposing lyrics of the past into her own. Namely, taking from Def Leppard’s key lyric from “Pour Some Sugar On Me” by singing, “You’re my lover (you’re my lover)/I show you sympathy/Take your sugar (take your sugar)/And pour it into me.” Incidentally, one version of the “Pour Some Sugar On Me” video also prominently features a sledgehammer and a wrecking ball…though not quite so integrally as the device was to Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” video. Which was, technically, another “simplistic” visual (directed by none other than the problematic and then-pervasive Terry Richardson) from Cyrus featuring an austere white background (granted, “Doctor [Work It Out]” has multiple color changes for its backdrop, including pink, black, white and gray) in between those infamous shots of her riding the wrecking ball. The director’s cut of the video, however, is just a close-up shot of Cyrus’ face as she sings her ballad all teary-eyed and snot-nosed (a more than slight nod to Sinead O’Connor in the video for “Nothing Compares 2 U”).

    The fact that a similar form of starkness and simplicity has shown up again back-to-back for “Used To Be Young” and “Doctor (Work It Out)” appears to signal that Cyrus is presently in her “no-frills” era (or “no fucks given,” if you prefer). And even though she at least bothers to put on a wannabe Bob Mackie gown (in truth, it’s a Roberto Cavalli mini dress that looks reminiscent of the vintage Mackie dress she wore to the Grammys), it’s plain to see she wants to keep her visuals decidedly “bare bones” (while also trying to conjure bare boners). Instead, her focus is on the movements she’s making—confident, cool and casual.  

    To the point of being “effortlessly seductive,” of all her previous collaborations with Williams (each one appearing on Bangerz), “4×4,” “#GetItRight,” “Rooting for My Baby” and “On My Own,” “#GetItRight” is the only track that comes close to matching the lasciviousness of “Doctor (Work It Out).” Case in point, Cyrus declaring, “I feel a surge coming over me/I feel it all around my thighs/And chills going up my legs/This is the worst coming out of me/When I came, felt like I could die.” Later, for good measure, she adds, “Don’t you wanna fuel this fire/Before it’s gone?”

    Thus, in many ways, “Doctor (Work It Out)” comes across like the long-lost sister to that particular Williams-produced song. There’s even a bit of foreshadowing to “Flowers” on “#GetItRight,” with Cyrus musing, “You make flowers grow under my bed, yeah.” With any luck, “Doctor (Work It Out)” might have the same effect on your own bed…if you happen to be a gay man.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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