"Loser Like Me": Gleek Empowerment or Failed Venture into Unfamiliar Territory?

Fellow gleeks around the country assembled in front of their television sets to watch the New Directions perform original songs for the first time in Glee history.

After gaining fame with their chart-topping covers, original songs seemed somewhat inevitable for singers of their caliber and popularity.

We asked for more, and we got it.

But do we like it?

As an epic ender in their road to regionals, the performance of Glee’s original number “Loser Like Me” is nothing less than glee-tastic. With few and simple choreographed moves, the New Directions carry themselves in a free-spirited, fun-loving way, much like the vibe the song portrays.

With laughing, jumping, confetti-throwing, and a cheering audience, it’s impossible to watch without feeling the same contagious joy.

The musicality is not phenomenal, but the beat is fun, the lyrics are catchy, and it’s hard not to love any song that comes from the lovable Glee cast.

Rolling Stone gives "Loser Like Me" four out of five stars and describes it as “a fiendishly catchy verse with a hopped-up beat and pop-funk chicken-scratch guitars, followed by an even catchier singsong chorus.”

As a play on Glee’s trademark “Loser” sign and theme of embracing the “gLeek” inside of you, the song is an anthem of everything Glee stands for.

Glee Cast with their signature "Loser" sign

Source: chortlingspatulas.blogspot.com

Lea Michele "Rachel Berry" performing Glee's "Loser Like Me"

Source: motorhelmets.com

According to people.com, music producer Adam Anders told Entertainment Weekly that “Loser Like Me” is a “Gleek anthem…It’s a very uptempo, kind-of-summery hit.”

MTV News calls it “a song that's something of a lyrical Cliff's Notes about the show itself.”

Although the beat slightly falls under the category of the currently trending corny teen pop genre ("Friday," anyone?), “Loser Like Me” proves that there’s still hope for songs sung by anyone over 13 that don’t talk about sex, alcohol, or partying.

In an age where people’s insecurities are at a high and society’s sympathy is at a low, we crave for any signs that tell us to accept ourselves for who we are and embrace our imperfections.

That’s the exact message that “Loser Like Me” sings: “Just go ahead and hate on me and run your mouth/So everyone can hear/Hit me with the words you got and knock me down…You wanna be/A loser like me.”

 

The lyrics perfectly accompany the plot and characters of Glee, as they are bullied and taunted at school for being a “loser in Glee,” while making the words relatable to the rest of the non-McKinley High students of the world.

Glee's original song "Loser Like Me"

Source: YouTube

“Loser Like Me” tells us to embrace our inner “freak” and be proud of the “loser” we all have inside ourselves. Sound familiar?

“Keeping in line with the recent trend of ‘It's good to be different’ tunes such as Lady Gaga's ‘Born This Way,’ Katy Perry's ‘Firework’ and Pink's ‘Raise Your Glass’ (the latter two have also been covered on the show), the song is a spirited, if not slightly corny number,” reports MTV news.

Others look past the inspiring message of the song and call it a failed attempt at expanding the growing Glee franchise.

Creating original songs could be the start of a more profitable and identifiable branding strategy, as Glee-exclusive songs would gain more attention and respect than cover songs.

Top40.about.com disagrees with this expansion.

"Why not try original songs to expand the Glee franchise further? One listen to 'Loser Like Me' gives good reasons to not continue down this path. Those songs and Lady GaGa’s #1 smash 'Born This Way' are about mass empowerment. 'Loser Like Me' is, sadly, a revenge fantasy. It is hard to imagine that this recording was inspired by much of anything beyond a corporate desire to own more of the music marketplace.“

Whatever their intentions or results are, "Loser Like Me" embodies the underlying theme that has become the reason for Glee's success: that being a loser is perfectly okay.

So, you be the judge: is "Loser Like Me" the start of a beautiful Glee career, or is it a sign of a future of failed ventures into legitimate music-making?

It's A Long Way from California to Outer Space

Cue scary, impending music. 


Cue image of obsolete scrapyard.


Wait...is this really a Katy Perry music video? 


The "California Gurl" we know as the jolly, carefree jokester has gone "extra terrestrial" with her new "E.T." music video.


No longer is she dancing around with giant gingerbread men or frolicking around the beach in her underwear. Instead, she takes to a literal interpretation of "E.T." (extra-terrestrial), and transforms herself into a frightening creature in outer space. 

Katy Perry in her "California Gurls" music video

Source: buzzworthy.mtv.com

Looks from Katy Perry's "E.T." music video

Source: 143news.com

Of course, a pop song is nothing without the random rapper who contributes a few useless and irrelevant lines, and that is where Kanye West comes to play.


The music video begins with the egotistic rapper in mid-air, shining his diamond teeth and saying something about "calling him an alien" and a "big headed astronaut." 

The scene switches rapidly to an alien floating aimlessly in space, its lips awkwardly moving to the words of Perry's song. The alien then transforms into Perry, and she begins her character as the weirdest depiction of an alien we have ever seen.

A mash up of weird images that look like they were taken from the Sci-Fy channel and a biology documentary flash quickly throughout the scene, almost to set the mood as scary and foreboding. 

Perry's make-up and costume seem to get creepier and more extravagant with the progression of scenes, and I don't know whether I should be amazed...or scared. 

According to cocoperez.com, each alien look took five to six hours to complete. 

We get it, she's an alien. You couldn't make it more obvious.

There are more images of cells erupting, animals birthing, and flowers blooming (in the most non-beautiful way possible), and Perry stares deeply into the camera with her glossy, hypnotizing eyes. 

After Perry discovers and kisses a shiny piece of metal in the junk-filled yard, an even shinier creature appears to Perry's delight. In the end of the video, Perry (who is revealed as being a deer from the waist down) and her new alien friend disappear into the sunlight for a supposedly happily ever after.

But this does not leave me happy. This leaves me disturbed and distraught, much like Lady GaGa's "Born This Way" did. 

Immediately after the release of "E.T.," many GaGa fans criticized Perry for "copying" GaGa's "Born This Way" video- both have themes of outer space aliens with frighteningly disturbing images. 

According to aolnews.com, GaGa fans wrote comments such as: "Katy Perry's music video for ET is too Lady Gaga for my taste. Only Lady Gaga can pull off Lady Gaga."

Others defended Perry, pointing out the fact that it may be logically impossible for her to have copied Gaga.

"Katy Perry most likely developed the theme for this video before Gaga's Born This Way was even released...These videos take a… long time to make, and I am sure Perry had no intention of stealing anything from Gaga.”

Compared to the bouncy Perry in her previous videos where she seemed to be having fun more than anything, "E.T." shows a more serious, dramatic side of her that we've never seen before...and for good reason. 

An article in latimes.com writes:

"[E.T.] marks a departure in style for Perry, who's usually frolicking with bananas or rolling her eyes like a screwball comedy actress or otherwise engaging in something raunchily campy... “In "E.T.," she's playing an alien goddess -- a rather stiff one who doesn't wink at the camera nearly enough.”

Yes, shooting whipped cream out of your bra was a bit distasteful...but it was "Katy Perry."

Her quirkiness and ability to make raunchiness look like fun are the qualities we love most. So why the sudden change?

Let's hope that this is a temporary experiment, and that Katy will be back full force with canon-shooting undergarments and rainbow hair in her next music video.

Katy Perry's "E.T." music video

Source: YouTube

The Girl Who Made Us Hate Fridays

One of the beauties of music is its eclectic nature. This allows artists to mix various bangs and booms, hum nonsense lyrics, and call it all an expression of their uninhibited, free flowing art.


But there are certain times when a song emerges and we shake our heads in astonishment at its ability to even be allowed to fall into the category of "music."


"Friday" is a quintessential example of those instances.


As the debut single from the 13-year-old Rebecca Black, "Friday" is a failed attempt at creating a tween hit by mashing up the most popular and "hip" phrases in just 3 minutes and 48 seconds.


Examples: "getting down," "you know how I do," "gotta be fresh," "kickin' in the front seat," "cruising down the highway," "I got this, you got this," "you know what it is"...need I say more?


Perhaps the writers thought they would find success in combining excerpts from popular rap songs and making a 13-year-old girl chant them to a happy tune. 


With 64 million views (65 million by the time I finish writing this sentence, at the rate its going), "Friday" has become everyone's unavoidable nightmare. We can't escape the "fun, fun, fun, fun," nor can we escape the hype that one girl has brought to the entire internet world.


Beginning with cheap graphics and horrible ad libs of oo's and yeah's, the nothing but laughable "Friday" music video could easily be mistaken for a Saturday Night Live parody of a Selena Gomez tune. But even a Saturday Night Live parody would live up to higher standards than this video.


As Black goes about her oh-so-joyous day, she expresses her love for Friday with rhyme schemes that, at best, sound like "kickin' in the front seat/ sittin' in the back seat." You know there's a problem when the most clever rhyme combination throughout the entire song is "seat" and..."seat."


The video and lyrics also leave us with many unanswered questions.


What happened to the bus? Does your mom know that you ditched the bus to get into a "friend's" car? Is he even old enough to drive?


Why are you contemplating between the front seat and the back seat when the front seat is obviously taken? She has a "friend to [her] right," but what about the one on her left?


Who is this random rapper who is obviously too old to be "partyin'" with these little girls, and was he really a necessary addition to the song?


Is it safe to be sitting on top of the car while you're "cruisin' down the highway"? 


Is there parental supervision at this middle school party?


Does being a teenager excuse you from the grammar rules that prohibit you from saying "we so excited?"


And the ultimate question- Is she old enough to be "partyin' partyin' yeah!"?! 

The song has as much depth as a kiddy pool. But then again, I'm assuming that their intended target audience wasn't grown men and women who have nothing better to do than watch a video explaining the days of the week. 

One of the many parodies of Rebecca Black's "Friday"

Source: YouTube

The combination of poorly written lyrics, unprofessional filming and an empty performance has brought upon a wave of online attackers who aren't afraid to voice their opinions.

According to an article on CNN, Billboard called the song "straight out of Auto-Tuned hell" and Rolling Stone called it an "unintentional parody of modern pop."

Due to an overwhelming amount of less-than-welcoming comments from her YouTube viewers, guardian.co.uk mentions Black's feelings of being "cyber bullied."


"I hope you cut yourself and I hope you get an eating disorder so you'll look pretty, and I hope you go cut and die," reads a comment on Black's video, according to guardian.co.uk. 

But don't be fooled by the nasty comments and 1.2 million "dislikes" on YouTube. In an appearance on "The Today Show," Black tells Jay Leno that many stars such as Ryan Seacrest, Nicole Richie, Joel Madden, and Willow Smith have come to her defense and shown support for "Friday."

Rebecca Black and Jay Leno on "The Today Show"

Source: bsckids.com

And while most of the world cringes in horror, Lady GaGa and Simon Cowell both praise Black for her widespread effect of gaining instant fame. 


According to an article on msnbc.com,  Lady GaGa calls the song "fantastic" and says that "Rebecca Black is a genius and anyone that's telling her she's cheesy is full of [expletive deleted]." 


Simon Cowell seems to agree. 


"'The "X Factor" judge recently spoke out in defense of the teen, calling her song "brilliant" and labeling it "hysterical" that anyone could be so upset about the harmless tune,'" reads the msnbc.com article. 


According to a guardian.co.uk article, Cowell also said, "Anyone who can create this much controversy within a week, I want to meet." 


If anything, Rebecca Black shows us a way to stand out in an overcrowded, competitive music industry- make an unbelievably horrible music video and hope that it becomes a viral sensation...even if it's for all the wrong reasons.


You must watch for yourself to believe:

Rebecca Black's "Friday" music video

Source: YouTube

The Biebs Does It Again

One thing Justin Bieber never fails to do: make every girl in the world (including girls like me who are way too old to be wooed by his boyish charm) melt when they hear him croon his baby-sweet voice.

Except this time, the Biebs is showing a different, more mature side to his talents in an emotion-packed collaboration with none other than the also-kid-friendly country band Rascal Flatts.

Titled "That Should Be Me," the song depicts a completely different feel from Bieber's usual genre of catchy head-bobbing hip hop songs like "Baby" and "Somebody to Love." Then again, it's a big jump from Ludacris and Usher to Rascal Flatts. If anything, this song definitely shows that Bieber knows a thing or two about collaborations.

In a possible attempt to reach out to a young demographic, there is no smarter move than for Rascal Flatts to join forces with the boy plastered on every little girl's wall.

Somanymp3s.com disagrees, saying that this move will not lead to a successful expansion of Rascal Flatts' fan base.

"They already have a very large fan base. They will only lose current fans from this partnership with Bieber; they may gain a few fans by reaching out to Bieber, but those fans will be 12-year-old girls who had never heard of Rascal Flatts."

However, with their recent partnership with Disney as they became the singers of the movie Cars' theme song, they have already expanded their name to reach the young audience. 

With Bieber's fresh new haircut (perhaps in an attempt to advance his new "grown up" direction), he shows more emotion in these 3 minutes and 57 seconds than we've ever seen from him before. The video is a bit bland, with no flashing lights or signature dance moves, but Bieber's facial expressions suffice as enough entertainment.

Screenshot from Justin Bieber's "That Should Be Me" music video.

Photo Credit: www.justjared.buzznet.com

As they harmonize in the melodies of "that should be me holding your hand...making you laugh...feeling your kiss...buying you gifts," I can't help but laugh at the fact that a 17-year-old boy and middle aged men are singing about similar experiences with girls. How much heartbreak could a 17-year-old (a 17-year-old Justin Bieber, at that) know?

Somanymp3s.com seems to agree. They wrote "since Flatts singer Gary LeVox is singing an already-existing song written by a then 15-year-old, the lyrics he sings tend to be on the creepy side- since he is singing a song that was most likely written about a teenage girl."

I was also amused by Bieber's attire, as he stuck true to his hip-hop roots by dressing like his mini-gangster self next to a rhinestone-studded-shirt wearing country singer.

As the song progresses and the emotion heightens, Bieber displays his almost-convincing acting skills as he stares deep into the camera with his puppy dog eyes, kneels on the floor with arms outstretched to his invisible lover, then later throws his jacket down in resignation to the unbearable feelings that have taken over.

Tasteofcountry.com is a fan of this emotional collaboration.  

"The way the scenes tie together as if the joint effort were unplanned makes the 'That Should Be Me' video feel as raw as the emotional song- and lends you to believe the Bieber/Flatts collective force was anticipated all along."

Although dramatic and unrealistic that a 17-year-old boy and middle aged men would lock themselves in a room to sing and pine over lost lovers, the "rawness" is a relief from the usual girls, cars and party theme that has taken over our society's music industry. While Bieber make clean cut, fun and enjoyable videos, past artists at his age have shown less class and appeal to the "kiddos." Remember Lil Bow Wow? Or the obviously-not-a-role-model Taylor Momsen?

Let's hope the Biebs continues on this track of being one of the few role models left in the music industry. I'll begin to worry the day an impala or scantily-clad bikini girl appears in his videos...but for now, I still have Bieber Fever!

"That Should Be Me"- Justin Bieber featuring Rascal Flatts

Source: YouTube

GaGa Gets Too Literal with "Born This Way" Video

Lady GaGa was “born this way,” as she so graphically demonstrated in her newest video for the first single off her “Born This Way” album, scheduled to release in May.

As a self-proclaimed “little monster,” I usually love everything “mamma monster” does because she always seems to have a deeper meaning than what meets the eye. While the world saw the “Telephone” music video as an overload of product placements and an array of unrelated visuals, Lady GaGa was making a statement about America’s obsession with consumerism and technology. 

Screenshot from Lady GaGa's "Telephone" music video

Photo: giantbomb.com

During an interview with E! News, Lady GaGa explained her hidden symbolisms. 

“There’s certainly always a hidden message in my music videos. But I would say most predominately, I’m always trying to convolute everyone’s idea of what a pop music video should be.”

While everyone thought Lady GaGa was insane for wearing a dress made of raw meat to the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, she was making a statement about standing up for our beliefs and fighting for what’s right.

So while her work and outlandish antics have not been obviously meaningful or conventional in any way, I never questioned her methods…until now. 

I’m not sure if discomfort was the reaction she was aiming for, but I was definitely feeling uncomfortable watching the “Born This Way” music video. 

Lady GaGa's "Born This Way" music video

Credit: YouTube.com

The video begins with visuals of extraterrestrial-like beings, mystical creatures (including a sparkling unicorn) and figures that made me raise an eyebrow or two. Then, Lady GaGa’s legs appear spread eagle in stirrups with a woman reaching into her womb (thankfully, the images are split in half and mirrored so at least a little bit is left to the imagination) to pull  out a ball of some slimy substance that eventually turns into Lady GaGa herself.

According to Gossip Center, Lady GaGa’s inspiration behind the concept was “the birth of a new race within the race of humanity” that “doesn’t bear any prejudices.” 

All I ask is, why does she have to choose “Born This Way” as the only song she doesn’t represent in some vague and ambiguous way?

Although the scenes were shot in a kaleidoscope-esque way to perhaps mitigate the graphic representation of birth giving, the images are still disturbing beyond belief.

The video continues with her signature dance-in-undergarments, which was probably the only scene that I could watch without cringing. It ends with an extremely random scene of Lady GaGa walking down a dark alley in white gloves, reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” music video. In the end, the video left me confused and disturbed as ever.


However disturbing the video may be, the song itself is accruing instant success as Little Monsters around the world finally get a taste from her much anticipated album.


Popeater.com reports that three days after the song's debut on February 11, it reached all kinds of iTunes sales records and "became the 1,000th song to top the Billboard singles chart. At radio, 'Born This Way' was picked up more than any debuting title in the chart's 18-year history, according to Nielsen BDS, and has gone on to sell over a million digital downloads."

We love you and congratulate you on your success GaGa, but next time, let’s keep the birthing scenes in the delivery room and out of the music industry.