Some songs really shoot their load in the first minute and a half, and then outstay their welcome for another two.
Exhibit A: "Word Up" by Cameo.
Now, it surely goes without saying that it's a fucking genius song, with those groundbreakingly brutal robo-funk beats, Larry Blackmon's clothes-peg-on-nose vocals and so many eminently shoutable lines ("Yo pretty ladies around the world!", "All you sucker DJs who think you're fly!", "We don't have the time for psychological romance!"...)
However, for the last two minutes it just sort of plods along with no new lyrics, just repeated calls of "W-O-R-D... up!" and "yeah yeah, the word!" and variants on that theme. There are no new peaks, no vocal hooks to keep you interested.
When you're dancing to it in a club, after the intitial excitement of the verses and choruses, it really drags. It's even worse when you're singing it in a karaoke bar (which I have, on a couple of occasions) because you're left standing there like a lemon with nothing to get your teeth into.
It's a song that badly needs another verse. (Or a sudden ending.)
Any others?
Exhibit A: "Word Up" by Cameo.
Now, it surely goes without saying that it's a fucking genius song, with those groundbreakingly brutal robo-funk beats, Larry Blackmon's clothes-peg-on-nose vocals and so many eminently shoutable lines ("Yo pretty ladies around the world!", "All you sucker DJs who think you're fly!", "We don't have the time for psychological romance!"...)
However, for the last two minutes it just sort of plods along with no new lyrics, just repeated calls of "W-O-R-D... up!" and "yeah yeah, the word!" and variants on that theme. There are no new peaks, no vocal hooks to keep you interested.
When you're dancing to it in a club, after the intitial excitement of the verses and choruses, it really drags. It's even worse when you're singing it in a karaoke bar (which I have, on a couple of occasions) because you're left standing there like a lemon with nothing to get your teeth into.
It's a song that badly needs another verse. (Or a sudden ending.)
Any others?
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