Ricochet
I’ve been in a lot of rental cars this summer so I’m catching up on some Top 40. iPhone cords seem to be totally amiss in every car I’ve had. Anyway, it’s good to get me all current. One song in particular caught my ears as it has a lyric that I’ve been playing around with for a while now. I was annoyed to have it used in song but was also curious to hear how it was used. My lyric is “like a pinball ricochet.” (I’ve not been able to finish this song but it has stayed with me and I know it will come. Some just happen automatically, some take a while. This lyric has been with me a while, as some of you know from my Pinball Wizard post from a while back). Anyway, if you have been in any public space, you will know that the popular song with “ricochet” in it is Titanium. I have had the song in my head since last week’s jaunt to LA. Admittedly, I am way late to the game as the song was released last summer but I don’t dissect Top 40 songs unless I’m exposed to them like only a car ride can do. (Since I live in the city, car rides are relegated to car rentals).
Anyway, it is a good song. Lyrics are compelling. I had asked my LA host and one of my Very BFs, Gina, who sang it after hearing it for the fourth time in my first day out in LA and she said, “that David Guetta guy.” “Gina, it is a girl singing it,” I retorted. “I don’t know. He sounds like a girl, I guess,” she said. I just couldn’t believe he was that girly sounding so I Googled around and found Sia is the vocalist. The track is titled, “David Guetta, featuring Sia.” I also learned last summer, there was a leaked Mary J. version flying around. Mary J!! Cool!
I got so excited so I dug around the You Tube to hear it and researched the whole internet speculations as to why he released the Sia version over the Mary J. One commenter made the point that Sia’s has more crossover appeal. I have to say, that is a tough call and as much as I LOVE Mary J., Sia’s version is the better version to me. More nuance or such.
I thought about that moment of weighing out whether to go with more star power or do what is right for the song. I like to think that Guetta did the latter. Either way, not a bad position to be in. Two great versions, two great vocalists, lots of hit singles, and the first producer to show the public where things are really at these days and take the full credit, when producers have really been running the show.
Smart.
Let’s revisit the debate: