Emily is Smiling

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: "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.

3. 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. 

4. THUMBS DOWN: "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars

When I first heard this song, without paying attention to the lyrics, I couldn't help but smile.  It's catchy, it's cheery, and it's a style of song I enjoy.  But then I stopped to listen to what I was hearing and I was unpleasantly surprised... so much so that I had to give this song a thumbs down.  There is an explicit reference to sex that I don't feel comfortable sharing on my blog, along with mention of masturbation.  On a somewhat lesser scale, the song in itself doesn't actually have that positive of a message.  "Yeah, I might mess around and get my college degree.  I bet my old man will be so proud of me.  But sorry, pops, you'll just have to wait.  Oh yes, I said it.  I said it.  I said it 'cause I can."  There is also an odd and inappropriate reference to Bruno Mars walking around naked: "I'll just strut in my birthday suit and let everything hang loose."

The music video is very bizarre, featuring dancing chimps and Bruno Mars in his bedroom, but several of their dance moves were a little iffy as well.  And to top everything off, I'm just not a fan of the whole "apathetic" attitude.  We were created for greatness, not the things that Bruno Mars describes, like laziness, lust, and rebellion.  I'm sad to say that I'm not a fan of this song.  At all.

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

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.