Number one with a bullet?

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Rihanna's new single, Russian Roulette. It's not exactly 'banging' (oh-ho!) but I think it's pretty awesome.

Comments

Re: Dark with some kind of thing to it

[edgeofwhatever.livejournal.com]

Or (d) nothing, because THE SONG NEVER SETS ONE UP.

Re: Dark with some kind of thing to it

[koganbot]

Apparently that's no longer necessary.

(But seriously, I think that she and Ne-Yo are using the fact that people will project metaphoric meanings onto a story of Russian roulette. "Dark with a kind of a meaning," even if in fact there is none; "dark with some kind of thing to it," even if the lyrics add no thing to it. The "thing," some thing, whatever thing, with Chris looming, is there no matter what, even if it's never specified. Rihanna seems to have an affinity for dark stories anyway, though this is the first one she had a hand in writing [as opposed to "Disturbia" and "Question Existing" and "Haunted" and "Unfaithful"]. Of course delivering dark stories credibly is her job on such songs, but subtext is now screaming at us, even though it might well have nothing to do with her talent for such stories.)

Re: Dark with some kind of thing to it

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Some comments:

But surely projecting a new meaning onto an existing object isn't the same thing as that object actually *asking* for the comparison is it? By that logic one could say "this song reminds me of that time at the beach when I threw up in the kitchen" and claim that the song is a METAPHOR for it, which spreads "metaphor" a little too thin.

I don't think that Rihanna song is a metaphor for *anything*, even if there are rich possibilities for connection to real events. (Being with an abuser is like playing a game of Russian Roulette.) But "hoping people will naturally put this in the context of her personal life" is not necessarily the same thing as making the distinction consciously (Britney's "Blackout" seems to be in conversation with, but is not strictly a "metaphor" for, her off-the-rails period, for instance).

Re: Dark with some kind of thing to it

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

And then:

The phrase I usually use to hedge my bets in these sorts of situations is just "metaphorical weight," which means that it has some of the "feel" of a metaphor without the metaphor itself. In my Singles Jukebox review, I compare her to Heath Ledger's Joker, sucking all the camp OR actual-seriousness by finding an awkward middle ground that's both self-serious and insubstantial (i.e. dumb as fuck).

Re: Dark with some kind of thing to it

[koganbot]

Ha! I used the word "camp" in my Jukebox review, too.