Sunday, January 25, 2009

#3 Westlife, "Something Right"



I got nothing left to prove
And it's all because of you

(Yes, it got radio airplay in some countries in 2007 and I loved it then, but with no proper promotion of it, I decided not to count it as a single; in 2008, with a music video--which I'm choosing not to embed because it includes the inferior single mix--and single cover art released for it [and some consultation], it counts as an actual "single" according to my definition.)

Early into my time in Sweden, I found myself stuck on a bus miles and miles away from a very important place I was supposed to be at with absolutely no chance of making it there by the time I was supposed to. I was, to say the least, a bundle of nerves struggling to keep down the slowly rising panic.

I'd been in Sweden long enough at this point that, though the joy of hearing Swedish radio stations in the real world and not through headphones plugged into a computer was still present, it was no longer a novelty. Stuck in the middle of nowhere-near-where-I-was-supposed-to-be, I was barely even conscious of the fact that, as always, the bus had the radio playing, probably tuned to Rix FM or something like that.

Three minutes later, my heart had slowed to a normal level, a smile had crossed my face, and I was no longer clenching the handrail quite so tightly. I hadn't forgotten everything that had gone wrong, but it no longer seemed like such a big deal.

That's the power of "Something Right." This past year, I could count on no other song to make me feel like, even if everything wasn't right in the world, everything was survivable. As someone living in a country where Westlife have never made it big, I've always been free to cherrypick the good songs of theirs and avoid the ones I don't like, so consequently it's probably been easier for me to have a gently positive attitude towards their existence; if they've only averaged one song I return to over the past three albums, that's fine with me--no one else would have given me those three songs. "Something Right," a Swedish creation, is a mid-tempo boy band pop song, not edgy by any definition, and with a light percussion beat and piano part behind its perfect uplifting pop melody (avoid the single mix which strengthens the drums, though), but that in no way gets across the simple magic of this song. A better classic boy band sound from the past five years you'd be hard pressed to find.

Find it on: Back Home

6 comments:

Nikki said...

Consultation. haha.

I think Something Right should've been the second UK single from 'Back Home'('Us Against the World' was kind of ironic, all about them and their hoard of fans facing the world bla bla but then it was a UK-only release..) but I think they wanted to avoid the 'Amazing' disaster of 2006('Amazing' is true to it's title though, it's kinda like an F2F-era SR..)..

Myfizzypop said...

Ah Westlife. I think they mishandled the singles from their last album. This should definitely have been the second single from the album. I get why they went with Us Against The World, but yeah there were better tracks. They are still tragically maligned by the world, but a boyband lasting 10 years without a break is quite an achievement. I can't wait for them to come back with something wonderful (I get the impression that if Simon Cowell hadn't seen X Factor sized £££ signs in front of Hallelujah it would have been a Westlife comeback song.)

Nikki said...

Us Against The World was a total flop. I mean, not only did it become their lowest charting single, it broke their run of 23(I think..) consecutive UK top fives.. garr. I mean, it's Sony BMG's fault, they kept on pushing the date back and digital sales from the weeks before weren't counted. Garr..

I think there should've been at the very least three singles from the album, 'Home'(yeah.. yeah..), 'Something Right' and 'Catch My Breath'(it's actually a nice song.. haha.).. I remember one of them saying that they wanted at least four singles off the album. Looks like it didn't happen..

Poster Girl said...

You needed some sort of official-sounding term :D "Amazing" IS absolutely amazing--I don't know how anyone who likes boy band songs can't love that song.

Paul, scary--let's hope it being used up first means they have to go get more original material.

Nikki said...

haha.. one of the guys said the new album is going to be cover-free. I'm not too sure if it's true or not because Simon Cowell is whacked out but you never know. Fingers crossed!

Troy said...

OMG - PPG I LOVE YOU!

I forgive you for putting all those other amazing songs so low on your list!

Westlife was my #2 song of the year and to see them so high on someone elses list warms my heart. This was one of their best singles in a long time!

YAY!