#41 Nikki, "Bring Me Down"

I never break down any longer
I don't know why I can't move on
I really need, I really want you to

Bring me down

Pop-rock straight from the Kelly Clarkson school (well, with maybe just the tiniest twinge of that country-rock-soul genre), "Bring Me Down," a request for the return of a destructive relationship, was a song I initially felt disappointed by--the music of that chorus just felt not fleshed out enough. As the months passed, though, I returned to this first "proper" single from Dutch Idols winner Nikki again and again. It's the experience of singing along to "Bring Me Down" at the top of my lungs that probably really sold me on it.

"Bring Me Down" is a good example of how a good melody can combine with some well executed if not original production to result in something worth keeping; if the melody had been used in a more minimal ballad, I doubt I would have paid proper attention to it--it benefits from all the guitars, percussion, and power pop production done on the track--but many the Kelly Clarkson knockoff song has failed to come up with a melody strong enough to make the song worth our while--just throwing a blowout chorus together with some guitars does not a good song make. Nikki's got the voice and range to pull all of this off, her voice usually fairly clear but with a little darkness in the choruses.

Unfortunately, her debut album was disappointing. When I'm singing along with the closing "bring me down"s of this song, though, I couldn't care less.

Find it on: Naked