Wednesday, January 07, 2009

#49 Craig David, "Insomnia"



I. Can't. Sleep. Till you're next to me
No, I can't live without you anymore
Ohh, I stayy up till you're next to me
Till this house feels like it did before

Poor Craig. This song should have restored him to pop preeminence, got him a massive hit in the UK and maybe even helped him re-launch in the U.S. For the first time in at least several years and probably more, one of the UK's best voices, equally capable of being smooth or fitting in more words than naturally possible into a few seconds or often both at the same time, got a song worthy of him. Sure, it's essentially a cute combination of Ne-Yo's "Closer," Rihanna's "Disturbia," and Chris Brown's "Forever," but how could a song with three parents like that be anything but enjoyable? I'd argue that "Insomnia" is actually quality, too, in large part because Craig is such an excellent single but also because of the strong melody throughout it. And the strings. Oh, the strings. How I've missed them in your music, Craig.

Instead, it failed to make the UK top 40, crashing in at #43. Sigh. There's no justice.

Find it on: Greatest Hits

3 comments:

John said...

One of the biggest tragedies of the year. You got the feeling he really wants to make it again. Too bad...such a great voice.

Aaron said...

I've been a pretty On Again/Off Again Craig fan - but I really, really like Insomnia - It's really catchy and just rather FANTASTIC! I thought i'd do big things - but alas, not....

Poster Girl said...

John, he really does have a great voice. I wish the world had rewarded him for moving towards making music of the quality he should be making again.

Aaron, I kind of get the impression there wasn't much of a push behind it, but I could be really wrong on that. It deserved better!