November 28th, 2011 1:00am
A Hopeless Place
The sound of Rihanna's voice is very distinct and interesting, but she rarely conveys a recognizable persona in her songs. Her biggest hits tend to dispel with lyrics entirely, so her icy, metallic tone can carry purely melodic or rhythmic hooks. She often elevates so-so material just by showing up – in some ways, she's like the vocal equivalent of a really cool effects pedal. "We Found Love," her latest hit, makes use of that ineffable x factor in her voice, but it's powerful mainly because it pushes her beyond her typical phrasing. The chorus is basically a mantra, but Rihanna's reading is dynamic – she reaches into the high end of her register, and in the process reveals a vulnerability that rarely comes into play on her up-tempo numbers. Calvin Harris' hard-charging Eurodisco track brings all of the heaviness here, while she focuses on sounding like a person who has truly found love in a hopeless place. She sounds elated, relieved and overwhelmed. It's a breakthrough for her as a vocalist, and the best and most moving song of her career to date.
4 Responses.
11/28/11 12:17 pm
and for all the adeles and beyonces at there this year, it’s rihanna that perhaps has the most poignant lyric of all, and the most simple: “we fell in love in a hopeless place”. pretty powerful stuff when you strip it all done to just that one line.
11/30/11 5:34 pm
Great tune, great lyrics, great melodies. I have a lot of respect for her as an artist.
12/15/11 12:19 am
Are you all kidding me? I love Rhianna, but as a professional musician that covers her songs I think these lyrics suck! For starters, there are hardly any lyrics here at all. The same few lines over and over again, and a chorus that is one line repeating. How can you say this is good? Has it really degenerated to this level?
1/3/12 12:10 am
I think this song really makes a difference to the world because she talks about how loving can be both bad and good at the same time and that’s what the song is about, if you look at it deeply. So @Tom, the lyrics, although repetitive, are very meaningful. Like Matthew said, and I totally agree, there is a lot to the track We Found Love and it really makes use of different perspectives to bring the world the song. I now support Rihanna.