Ke$ha - 'Take It Off'
So, it's finally getting an official release after weeks in the charts. Are you ever slightly suspiciuous about why certain songs exist, and what they are trying to do? Do you ever wonder whether they're attempting to truly nail a feeling that most of us have experienced, or would like to experience, or if they're just trying to cross as many items off a To-Do list as possible?
I ask this because there are a moments in this particular song when it becomees transparently clear that her job is not so much to get a party started as to annoy the parents of unruly teenage children. The idea being that you are far more likely to want to buy something that your parents disapprove of, because that is the way pop music has always worked in the past. Nothing is more guaranteed to distract a young mind like your dad tutting and switching the radio off whenever a song comes on.
(. It's glitteral.)
Of course, there has to be something worth getting distracted over too, so the disapproval and the "OMG GIMME GIMME" are not mutually exclusive. A pop star acting like the pie-eyed piper, leading innocent young minds astray, towards a sleazy hot night club where sensible jumpers are thrown aside in the rush to get messy, that's every teen's dream and every parent's worst nightmare, right?
Wrong! Every parent's worst nightmare is a pop star acting like the pie-eyed piper, leading innocent young minds astry, towards a sleazy hot night club where sensible jumpers are thrown aside in the rush to get messy, and there is LITTER ON THE FLOOR! I KNOW!
And what's with that Russian melody in the chorus? Is someone trying to add suspected communism to the list of potential awfulnesses which are taking place in this den of iniquity? Is Ke$ha that keen to exploit a generation gap which may not really be there - "Dad, can you ask Mum to get off the X-Box? It's my turn!" - that she's prepared to re-open old wounds between the US and the former USSR? I know the '80s are really in right now, but we surely don't need the Cold War back on top of everything else.
And why, when her album is just as stuffed with heartfelt balladry as it is trash-talking, pants-waving, naughtiness, has she released this as a single? It can't JUST be because it's the trashpants thing which is getting all the attention, and there's a fear that if Kesh reveals that she's a sensitive young flower after all, with real feelings and a good, pure heart, her appeal with disappear like a soap bubble on a cactus, can it?
Oh wait, I just checked. It's GLITTER on the floor. Someone must've been making Christmas cards in there and neglected to hoover. CALL THE POLICE! MY CHILDREN ARE IN THERE!!
Download: Out now
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(Fraser McAlpine)
"Kesha was apparently born during a party to a single mom, and I guess it has some influence."
"The Cali native has a rep for being...well, the polar opposite of Taylor Swift."
"I did see a video before of her saying there would be nakedness in this video, but turns out to be an outright lie."
Comment number 1.
At 13th Sep 2010, OddOne wrote:Wrong! Just, WRONG!
This song is like... what 'Shampain' is to Marina: much heavier in terms of commercial likeability than anything she's done.
AND WHAT IS THAT!? She's SINGING the verses!?!? Omds.
In other words... 5 STARS.
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Comment number 2.
At 13th Sep 2010, stocksy wrote:This song makes me want to commit, be ressurected as Damien, hunt down Kesha, and introduce her to Uffie before killing her.
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Comment number 3.
At 13th Sep 2010, OddOne wrote:NO STOCKSY. BAD BOY.
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Comment number 4.
At 14th Sep 2010, Mak Wai Keung wrote:I think the song and MV give to 5 stars.
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Comment number 5.
At 16th Sep 2010, groovybaby wrote:Ke$ha drops much of her electropop and hip hop dabbling in favor of a straightforward power pop punch that will surely lead the party with a smirk through her song "Take It Off".
Listen to the and more
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Comment number 6.
At 16th Sep 2010, Haducon2 wrote:WHY WASN'T REALEASED BEFORE 'TIK TOK'?
It would have been a huuuuuuuge first single.
5 Stars
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Comment number 7.
At 16th Sep 2010, OddOne wrote:IKR! It's so much... 'heavier' than her Dr. Luke/Max Martin-produced songs which all sound very similar now, and I agree it would make a much better lead single than 'TiK ToK', in fact, the only song I've really liked from Ke$ha so far was 'Your Love Is My Drug', and this get's promoted up to the top of the list straight away!
Now release 'Blind', please.
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Comment number 8.
At 16th Sep 2010, spirit wrote:I do pop music quizzes around the South West and must admit that Kesha's Tik Tok is a wonderful source for the lyric round .
Every line is a wonderful , strident blast of fantastic wordplay , and I have used them many times .
My last quiz included :
"Wake up in the morning , feeling like P-Diddy ... "
The one before that featured:
"Before I leave , brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack ! "
For my next quiz I shall be using the brilliant :
"Now the party don't start , til I walk in ! "
:)
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Comment number 9.
At 16th Sep 2010, spirit wrote:For me Tik Tok is a 5 star song , whereas Your Love Is My Drug and Take It Off are both 4 stars . Blah Blah Blah was just well... er .. Blah Blah Blah ...
Take it Off really stands out as a wonderful single , in the fact that it boasts a colossal chorus , and that wonderful pop song magic , where no space is wasted and where every line is a hook .
It's the same thing with Gaga , every line in her singles is a huge hook , that's one of the reasons for her success , and with Gaga's songwriting that raising the bar , this is a factor why Christina failed with her sub-standard comeback single.
The pop playground has changed dramatically because of Gaga , and to succeed now you have to have songs crammed with hooks the size of sharks , and you gotta have lots of them .
Kesha understands this extremely well , given the hooks and the five top 20 hits in a row !
If Oasis and Blur ruled Brit-Pop , then Kesha rules Brat-Pop !
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Comment number 10.
At 18th Sep 2010, stocksy wrote:"Kesha was apparently born during a party to a single mom, and I guess it has some influence." - thats a load of RUBBISH. She was born into a wealthly middle class family, her dad is a doctor and her mum is an actress. This 'rebel' is totally fabricated. Genuine talent suffers whilst she flourishes.
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Comment number 11.
At 23rd Sep 2010, RandomEnigma wrote:Actually stocksy, Ke$ha was raised by a single mother. However, Ke$ha was by no means born into a poor background. Her mother was a professional songwriter but Ke$ha has no idea who her father is unless you do Stocksy and you know he's a doctor living down the road from yourself.
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Comment number 12.
At 25th Sep 2010, thranjax wrote:Video at 2.28 - Truly expected to see rows of fake Rolex, and a three wheeled reliant in the background. Lovely jubbly!
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Comment number 13.
At 25th Sep 2010, thranjax wrote:"be ressurected as Damien"
You going to sing the Time Warp at her?
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Comment number 14.
At 25th Sep 2010, thranjax wrote:"She's SINGING the verses!?!?"
Well, a computer seems to be, but I imagine she was in the room at some point, if only to pour glitter on the floor.
I see why people like this, but, really, could I have my three minutes and forty two seconds back please?
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Comment number 15.
At 25th Sep 2010, stocksy wrote:@11. When Tik Tok was first sent out to radios in like august last year, I thoguht 'hmm this is quite good! I would like to find out about this Ke$ha person'. So i looked her up on wikipedia, like you do. I it said she was brought up with her mother and father blah blah blah she got into stage stuff cause of her mum who like to bring her along to concerts. NOW it says she was born to a single mom who had to get by on food stamps? Wikipedia... Curse you.
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Comment number 16.
At 25th Sep 2010, spirit wrote:And have you ever tried to eat food stamps ?
They taste flippin awful !
I have to cover them in tomato ketchup , just to make them edible .
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Comment number 17.
At 25th Sep 2010, spirit wrote:Mind you Thranjax , was raised in the middle of Scunthorpe , by a pack of wild dogs , Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee , Eoghan Quigg's uncle , Basil Fawlty , Louis Spence , David Brent , Wayne Sleep , Paul Danan , Amy Winehouse , Buzz Lightyear , Johnny Knoxville , Liberace and some domineering Cybermen .
When you compare the two , I think Kesha had it easy !
:)
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Comment number 18.
At 25th Sep 2010, thranjax wrote:Some domineering Cybermen??? as opposed to the really laid back, submissive shandy drinking cybermen you get down south in bristol?
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Comment number 19.
At 25th Sep 2010, kutox wrote:I really liked Kesha at first, but she is starting to grate on me and I can really see why so many people hate her. This song is super-catchy but the constant use of auto-tune and endless 'let's all go party and get drunk!' shtick is wearing very thin.
Also, when you compare Kesha with a fellow electro-pop singer like Robyn in terms of real quality, then see who's having all the commercial success, it does stick in the throat a bit. I know it's probably not fair to say that as it's not entirely Kesha's fault, and of course commercial ability and quality rarely go together in music these days, but it does feel like a massive injustice that Robyn gets left in the dark when Kesha is rolling in it, although I understand that similar things happen all the time in music.
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