Billy Shakespeare wrote a whole bunch of sonnets

In the ongoing "best brilliantly ridiculous lyrics of the year" contest which I've been documenting, we've had several really good entries so far:

I won't attend your pity party
I'd rather go have calamari
-Ne-Yo, speaking to a girl upset over a breakup on "So You Can Cry" (album track from the yet to be released Year of the Gentleman)

Not only does your body bang,
But I miss the conversation too
-Jesse McCartney, singing to an ex-girlfriend on "How Do You Sleep" (album track from Departure)

We only got one night--
Double your pleasure,
Double your fun
-Chris Brown, incorporating the Doublemint Gum catchphrase (before going all the way and just releasing an ad based on the song's instrumental) in his brilliant "Forever" (single from the re-edition of Exclusive)

We may very well have two new entries, though, and both from none other from New Kids on the Block. Beyond "Summertime," one of the first new songs I heard from them was "Dirty Dancing." In addition to tossing in a catchy little piano run amidst their synths, NKOTB manage to work in this particular lyrical gem in the midst of their usual talk about how all these hot girls hitting on them are making it hard for them to remain faithful.

Ooo, it's so crazy
She's like Baby
I'm like Swayze

That's made about a million times better by the fact that it's not just some tossed-out one-off line, but actually the key phrase of the bridge. I love it. No, this isn't just going to be some song (an actually pretty cute one, somehow) about dirty dancing, but one that's actually working an analogy with the movie.

HOWEVER.

I couldn't believe my ears when I actually got around to listening to "2 in the Morning" (a significantly less good song than "Dirty Dancing"), a song about how the guys' girl (and I do mean "girl," because they're certainly not dating people their own age in their "Summertime" video) won't talk to them from the time she comes home at 6 PM and that then runs through various times at which the girl still won't talk to them.

Girl, it's almost ten
Gotta know if you're mad at me
Before Grey's Anatomy

It really has to be heard to be believed (it's before the first chorus, so luckily you won't have to listen to that much.)

(Would you believe that there's actually a really good chance I'm going to write about this album again? It's true. Some songs because I actually really like them--"Twisted"--others because of sheer ridiculousness--"Lights Camera Action"--and others just they inspire in me the desire to actually say something about them--"Click Click Click.")

To buy New Kids on the Block's new album The Block, go here (physical) or here (digital; only available to American residents).

Next up: maybe that demo-related post. Or me living up to the above threat.

Young, energetic, famous but don't really sweat it, rich enough, fairly hot

I'm sorry, Jesse McCartney, but you may get the award for "best line of the year" taken away from you pretty soon.

"Judging by the handful of tracks previewed by Billboard, [Ne-Yo's new album] 'Year of the Gentleman' does indeed offer something a little different from traditional R&B: 'Closer' is a Stargate-produced club track with pulsing strobe-light synths and a high-energy house beat that calls to mind Rihanna's 'Don't Stop the Music.' 'So You Can Cry' sports a mellow, easy-listening vibe, with Ne-Yo making a priceless rhyme of 'pity party' and 'calamari.' Guitars and cymbals figure prominently in 'What's the Matter,' which Ne-Yo likens to 'a Beatles-style rock record.'"

(Link, taken from Popjustice.)

I cannot wait to hear this. For other Ne-Yo lyrical gems, check out the song this post's title comes from, "Addicted," particularly that first verse and the chorus.

Turn the music up in here

If someone asked me what I thought of Ne-Yo, my quick, off the top of my head response would be that he's one of the American acts whose singles I most look forward to hearing. If I thought about it a little more, that's probably not entirely accurate for a couple of reasons: first, I do enjoy him on more than just a singles level since, even though I've never heard a full album from him, I do have a few album tracks from him that I really like; and second, I haven't actually loved every single from him--"Hate How Much I Love You" was fine but even before it was played constantly I never loved it, I've never played "Go On Girl," I don't remember what "Do You" sounds like, and I was pretty anti-"When You're Mad" when it first came out (though I imagine I'd have warmed towards it now).

That instinctual response about his music, though, means that I was more than interested to hear the lead single for his next album (Year Of The Gentleman, due out June 24, making it the third in less than two and a half years) and, though so far I'm not sure if I love it quite as much as I love "Because Of You" (it's a definite possibility, though), "Closer" is likely to further my gratefulness that we've got Ne-Yo around.

Closer

Try not to get too excited about those first fifteen seconds, which make it sound like we're going to get an epic dance track--the song quickly morphs into something a little closer to the Ne-Yo we're familiar with. That doesn't mean it's not a change from his older hits, though: those opening fifteen seconds end up filtering in throughout the song and, combined with that beat, "Closer" ends up being the most...propulsive single we've heard from him yet. We've still got the acoustic guitar touches and a sweet vocal melody, but they've been melded with a backing track that could easily be used for a dance or disco song. The end result is lovely and, even if it's maybe not quite as exciting as it would've been if it was all in the style of that opening, Ne-Yo's struck open yet another gem of a melody that might make for an even more loveable song than that imaginary all-dancefloor alternative.

"Closer" is also particularly welcome because it marks a move on the part of Stargate, the producers, away from the "Irreplaceable" template they've been excessively recycling recently; "Closer" isn't a full-on male version of Rihanna's "Don't Stop The Music" (it's maybe a cousin of it--that dance beat underneath is definitely related, but the vocal melody and guitar part differentiate it and take it back more towards the world of pop) but it does show that the duo still has more up their sleeves than just strummy half-ballads.

Ne-Yo's third album, Year Of The Gentleman, is not yet available for preorder, but you can buy his second album, Because Of You, here (physical) or here (digital).

(Yes, I realize this song has been "out" for a while, but I wanted to live with it first before I wrote anything about it.)

Next up: another male American singer with an album coming out in a few months.

#37 Ne-Yo, "Because Of You"

I got a problem and I
Don't know what to do about it
Even if I did I don't know if I would quit
But I doubt it

I didn't make a list of my favorite singles for 2006, but Ne-Yo's "So Sick" would surely have been near the top; I don't think I'd heard anything like it, and everything about it seemed flawless--a diamond of a song on so many levels, amidst the often generic or less than impressive stuff you often hear on the radio. Followup "When You're Mad" may have had me worried at the time, but "Sexy Love" showed that there was more to the American artist's singing career than just a one-off instant classic. Then he comes back with this, a song about his addiction to a girl that was unmistakably in his style--that kicky drum machine, the little up-and-down harp-like notes--but didn't feel like a retread of earlier hits, though maybe the fact that it was so upbeat-sounding and uptempo helped in that regard. Ne-Yo may be an R&B singer--and a great one at that--but there were few songs this year poppier than "Because Of You."

Find it on: Because of You