Emily is Smiling

I enjoyed writing reviews for the Billboard Top 10 a few months ago, and although I took a break because the charts weren't changing much, I thought I'd try it again.  Here are your reviews of the top five songs on the Billboard Hot 100. 

1.) THUMBS UP: "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele

I've heard the name "Adele" many times recently, but I've personally never really heard her music before.  I was pleasantly surprised when I heard "Rolling in the Deep."  There isn't a single cuss word throughout the entire song, which is a rarity these days.  There aren't any obvious sexual innuendos that I could find.  Even the music video was very clean. 

The song seems to be about a girl who has been misused by her significant other and is very angry and wistful about their breakup.  The only part I really don't like about the song is the few mentions of revenge.  "Finally, I can see you crystal clear.  Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your ship bare.  See how I'll leave with every piece of you.  Don't underestimate the things that I will do."

However, overall I'm quite impressed with "Rolling in the Deep" and since it's in a style that I like, I may be adding this to my own personal playlist.

2.) THUMBS DOWN: "E.T." by Katy Perry (featuring Kanye West)

This song is definitely interesting.  The song is apparently about a girl who falls in love with a guy whose love is so amazing, it is extraterrestrial.  "Boy, you're an alien, your touch so foreign. It's supernatural, extraterrestrial."   The worst parts of the song by far come from Kanye West.  In a quick verse that lasts only about thirty seconds, he manages to say the a-word, f-word and shares at least two obvious lines referencing sex.  Katy Perry also shares some lines that made me feel uncomfortable.  "I wanna walk on your wave length and be there when you vibrate. For you, I'll risk it all."  The entire song seems to be made up of sexual undertones.  And even in the chorus-- "your touch so foreign"-- the song seems to be revolving around lust.

"Kiss me, ki-ki-kiss me. Infect me with your love and fill me with your poison. Take me, ta-ta-take me. Wanna be a victim. Ready for abduction."  I don't like how Katy Perry is describing love as a poison or infection.  You shouldn't feel like a victim when you falls in love.  Love isn't victimizing and no girl should ever be victimized by love.  While I know Katy Perry is only using those words as a figure of speech, I still don't like the wording.  I'm going to give the song a thumbs down.

This song reminds me of a Christian song by Group 1 Crew called "Outta Space Love."  You can listen to it here.  

3.) THUMBS DOWN: "Give Me Everything" by Pitbull (featuring Ne-Yo, AfroJack, and Nayer)

As you can probably tell from the title, "Give Me Everything" is a song almost entirely about sex.  Nearly every verse talks about lust and sex.  "Tonight, I want all of you tonight. Give me everything tonight. For all we know, we might not get tomorrow.  Let's do it tonight."  This makes me think of the worldly mindset discussed in Isaiah 22:13: "But see, there is joy and revelry... eating of meat and drinking of wine!  'Let us eat and drink,' you say, 'for tomorrow we die!'" 

"Give Me Everything" comes from the whole "I don't care--do what feels good" perspective that seems to run so rampant these days.  "Excuse me, but I might drink a little bit more than I should tonight and I might take you home with me if I could tonight.  And baby, I'm-a make you feel so good tonight, 'cause we might not get tomorrow."  Do you see what I mean?  There is also reference to very casual sex.  "Grab somebody sexy and tell'em hey! Give me everything tonight."  My overall opinion of this song is disgust.  I can't find anything redeemable here.  Thumbs down.

4.) THUMBS DOWN: "Just Can't Get Enough" by The Black Eyed Peas

This is a very catchy song.  I noticed that once I looked it up, the melody remained stuck in my head for a while.  However, the lyrics aren't great.  There is only one cuss word and it's "minor": the d-word, but several of the lyrics talk about casual sex and an addiction to a significant other.  "Honey, got a sexy, all steamin'. She givin' hotness a new meanin'.  Perfection, Mama, you gleamin'... D***, baby, I'm feignin'... Let me love you down this evening. Love you, love you, yeah, you know you are my demon." 

Obviously, lust is heavily discussed in this song, but I also don't like the moral that it's okay to be addicted to a lover, that they mean more to you than anything else in the world.  The Lord should be the only thing that takes that place and while this is obviously not a Christian song, it isn't a message with which we should fill our thoughts.  I'm afraid I can't give this song a thumbs up, no matter how catchy it is.

5.) THUMBS DOWN: "On the Floor" by Jennifer Lopez (featuring Pitbull)

I wasn't a big fan of most of the immodest outfits in the music video to this song.  In fact, I made my little brother look away for most of the video when we watched it together on American Idol a while back.  "On the Floor" is basically a dance song with a catchy beat, but I'm not a big fan of its content. 

Pitt Bull uses some dirty slang that I don't want to repeat on my blog.  Drug use is mentioned. "All I need is some vodka and some chunka coke."  Drinking is mentioned several times and in a way that's more about getting drunk than drinking in moderation.  "Don't stop. Get it moving. Put your drinks up. It's getting ill. It's getting sick on the floor."  Nothing about this song seems very positive or uplifting.  I wouldn't recommend that you add it to your playlist. 

From the same Group 1 Crew album as I mentioned before, perhaps you could try out "Live It Up" instead, which you can listen to here.    

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Well, not as great as I was hoping, but at least there is one thumbs up this week.