Potential Break Up Song

After 6 weeks of not posting, only Aly and AJ can hope to stir me enough to get a-writin' again.


(Have not yet seen Nancy Drew, and I guess I'm not alone in that. Have seen several bloggable movies lately, so maybe a compendium post or something.)


Aly & AJ - "Potential Break Up Song"

Review: Starts up with a pounding pulse that never lets out. Aly & AJ give what is, by a good margin, their best vocal performance ever. There are three melodies in this song (verse, pre-chorus, chorus) are strong enough to carry a pop song on their own. It even features some pretty neat non-vocal hooks. And yet, none of these are the best part of the song. What great lyrics! They are so evocative and emotional and they tell a real story and a sad story and they do it in a really funny way. Gut punch right from the start "It took too long for you to call back, and normally I would just forget that except for the fact it was my birthday, my stupid birthday". Brilliant! Then how after a whole song of bashing the poor guy, there's the twist at the end: It's not just a potential break-up song, it's a potential make up song too!

The song represents a significant stylistic shift from Aly & AJ, and I loved their old style, but how can I complain? Actually, I'm still a touch skeptical, but whatever, this one is good. Aly & AJ still continue to work within the strict confines of the Disney environment and expand and deepen it. I mean, seriously, compare this to other Disney fare. Compare it to other Disney fare that I truly love, like "Say OK" or "I've Got Nerve" or "Breaking Free". Diz is perfectly capable of, as in those three songs, producing a staggeringly brilliant melody and producing nicely uplifting lyrics. But this song is on a different planet from those. The level of complexity and depth in the lyrics, the level of sophistication to the music and melody are just well beyond any other Diz fare.

OK, OK, I don't want to overstate my case here. This song is no more impressive or brilliant than any of Hilary Duff's best work, but the Diz formula has changed since then and it's heartening to see that it can still produce works like this. Plus, Wikipedia lists Aly and AJ as the sole writers on this song, and if true I'm just insanely impressed that at their young age they can write such brilliant melodies and lyrics and deliver such a heartbreaking and powerful vocal performance. And a great acting job in the video!

This is a song of sweeping, stunning brilliance, and there's a pretty good chance I like it even more than "Rush" and a pretty good chance that it will be my single of the year. 10 out of 10. (I wussed out and gave this song a 9 on the jukebox).