Brooke_the_Phoenix
she/her, time-zone AEDT
Hey all! I'm planning on starting a YouTube channel for music reviews once I graduate high school at the end of the year, but for now I thought I'd start talking about music in this blog space here. Why? Because music is an amazing, beautiful art form that deserves to be talked about more. I hope you enjoy. 
WARNING: If you are offended by people criticising songs you like, please do not read my blog posts, as I will always be honest with my opinions about songs. Music is subjective, and we all have different opinions on it, so please don't get angry at me for simply expressing my opinions.
You all remember ‘Somebody that I Used to Know’ by Gotye feat. Kimbra, right? You know, that awesome (but admittedly overplayed) song that sounded nothing like anything else on the mainstream pop radio at the time, where a guy is complaining that someone he'd wanted to break up with seemed to want nothing to do with him anymore, then the girl turns up and says, “Um, excuse me, but you screwed me over and acted like it was all my fault, and you’re wondering why I never want to see you again?” It received generally positive reviews, reached number 1 on 34 weekly charts around the world, reached number 2 on the end of year ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) charts in 2011 and number 1 on the end of year Billboard Hot 100 in 2012. It was pretty damn successful… and unfortunately Gotye’s only hit! He’s way too talented to be known solely for this song.
Anyway, it seems a couple of people have gotten together to create a song with this concept in mind, however they made it a response to Justin Bieber’s ‘Love Yourself’.
[video=youtube;yhfdmZ4Csb0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhfdmZ4Csb0[/video]
These people are Yo Preston and Kelly Kiara, two singer/songwriters from the UK. As you’d know if you watched the above video, Preston sings Justin’s original lyrics while Kiara sings a verse and chorus from the girl’s point-of-view, with their own lyrics. Kiara is also much more blunt than Preston, doing what my frequently-swearing friend at school likes to do and substituting “love yourself” for “**** yourself”.
I was really excited when I noticed this song on the ARIA charts a couple of days ago. After all, the use of two different perspectives in ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ is one of the things I love about that song. I have a soft spot for things that show both sides of the story, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to show what the girl thinks of Justin’s accusations, and see her reasoning for acting the way she does. So what did I think of it?
…Honestly, I was kind of disappointed. The music is fine- Preston and Kiara both have nice voices, and in terms of instrumentation it was exactly the same as the original ‘Love Yourself’, minus the trumpet solo. Personally, I think they could have added a little more to the instrumentation, as I’ve always thought it was kind of bland in the original song, especially for a bitter song about giving your ex the finger. However, it’s decent enough.
My main problem with ‘Love Yourself vs **** Yourself’ is Kiara’s verse. And no, it’s not the swearing, I hear about 50,000 f-bombs every day in my group of friends at school, and sometimes I participate in dropping f-bombs. No, my problems lie in the overall verse. My first thought when I listened to it was that the lyrics… felt kind of juvenile. I’m not saying Bieber’s lyrics are a masterpiece of clever writing or anything, but they did feel like they were coming from an adult. He talks about clubs, he doesn’t sound too childish, and while he mentions his mother disliking the girl, it didn’t seem like the mother was too involved, or around a lot of the time, so it implies there’s some independence on Bieber’s part. I’m not sure how old Kelly Kiara is, but I’m assuming she is an adult. Her verse, however, really gave me a “teenage” vibe. She mentions that “My daddy gon’ kill you when he hears this song/He knows that you lied to me, he’s glad to see you gone.” This really reminds me of a father threatening to cut off the balls of his teenage daughter’s first boyfriend, and it does imply that Kiara is not entirely independent. Also, when she’s accusing the boy of still caring, she says “You still keep them screenshots,” which just sounds like something a teenager would say. It doesn’t feel “adult”.
Another problem I have is that Kiara’s verse doesn’t really seem to connect with Bieber’s/Preston’s verses. Bieber/Preston is singing about how the girl treated him badly, used him to get into clubs, acts vain and stuck-up about her looks, and still tries to call him after they’ve broken up. Kiara does not address any of this in her verse. In ‘Somebody that I Used to Know’, Gotye talks about how he felt lonely with Kimbra, and then when they broke up she completely cut him off, which he thought was unfair. Kimbra actually addresses what he said by saying that he screwed her over and made her feel like it was all her fault, and she didn’t want to keep “bleeding into every word you say.” She also says “you said that you could let it go, and I wouldn’t catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know”, directly criticising Gotye for being upset that she doesn’t want to see him again. Both of these verses connect with each other, and they feel like they're actually singing about each other.
I don’t feel that connection in ‘Love Yourself vs **** Yourself’. She does seem to think she’s better off without him, but she never addresses his accusations that she refuses to leave him alone and keeps calling him. She never gives reasoning for calling him all the time or even accuses him of lying about that. She never brings it up at all, nor does she address the accusations that she treated him badly or cared too much about her looks. She just mentions how he checked her phone, failed to quit smoking, and then accuses him of cheating. It doesn’t feel like she’s countering what Bieber/Preston is saying, and it doesn’t feel like they’re having a proper argument; it feels like the guy is saying “She was an a**hole for these reasons” and the girl is replying with “He was an a**hole for these reasons.” This is supposed to be a response to ‘Love Yourself’, but she never actually addresses anything Bieber says, apart from very briefly accusing him of pretending he doesn’t care, so it doesn’t feel like a response, it feels like those people in the YouTube comments who try to make arguments that have nothing to do with what you were talking about.
Overall, I don’t think this is a bad song, but it is pretty disappointing. It promises a response to ‘Love Yourself’ but fails to deliver an adequate counter-argument, instead choosing the “Yeah, well he’s an a**hole too” route, all the while sounding as if Justin Bieber’s ex-girlfriend is still a teenager. It doesn’t exactly fail as a song, but it does fail as a response, and since a response is what they were trying to do, I unfortunately can’t praise it.
Score: 4/10
Also, since I was just talking about Gotye, I really need to recommend a few of his songs, he’s so talented! And he’s also an Aussie, and while we’ve already got Sia having a lot of success internationally, I think we need some more successful, talented Australian musicians up there with her. Search up ‘Save Me’, I loved that one. I’d also recommend ‘Hearts a Mess’. It’s very different and kind of strange, especially if you’re used to listening to hit songs, but it’s still very good. Also, ‘Eyes Wide Open’ is definitely something you should definitely check out, it’s got some very meaningful lyrics.
Thanks for reading! Let me know if there's anything I can do to improve my writing and critiques.
WARNING: If you are offended by people criticising songs you like, please do not read my blog posts, as I will always be honest with my opinions about songs. Music is subjective, and we all have different opinions on it, so please don't get angry at me for simply expressing my opinions.
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A Review of 'Love Yourself vs **** Yourself' by Yo Preston feat. Kelly Kiara
A Review of 'Love Yourself vs **** Yourself' by Yo Preston feat. Kelly Kiara
You all remember ‘Somebody that I Used to Know’ by Gotye feat. Kimbra, right? You know, that awesome (but admittedly overplayed) song that sounded nothing like anything else on the mainstream pop radio at the time, where a guy is complaining that someone he'd wanted to break up with seemed to want nothing to do with him anymore, then the girl turns up and says, “Um, excuse me, but you screwed me over and acted like it was all my fault, and you’re wondering why I never want to see you again?” It received generally positive reviews, reached number 1 on 34 weekly charts around the world, reached number 2 on the end of year ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) charts in 2011 and number 1 on the end of year Billboard Hot 100 in 2012. It was pretty damn successful… and unfortunately Gotye’s only hit! He’s way too talented to be known solely for this song.
Anyway, it seems a couple of people have gotten together to create a song with this concept in mind, however they made it a response to Justin Bieber’s ‘Love Yourself’.
[video=youtube;yhfdmZ4Csb0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhfdmZ4Csb0[/video]
These people are Yo Preston and Kelly Kiara, two singer/songwriters from the UK. As you’d know if you watched the above video, Preston sings Justin’s original lyrics while Kiara sings a verse and chorus from the girl’s point-of-view, with their own lyrics. Kiara is also much more blunt than Preston, doing what my frequently-swearing friend at school likes to do and substituting “love yourself” for “**** yourself”.
I was really excited when I noticed this song on the ARIA charts a couple of days ago. After all, the use of two different perspectives in ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ is one of the things I love about that song. I have a soft spot for things that show both sides of the story, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to show what the girl thinks of Justin’s accusations, and see her reasoning for acting the way she does. So what did I think of it?
…Honestly, I was kind of disappointed. The music is fine- Preston and Kiara both have nice voices, and in terms of instrumentation it was exactly the same as the original ‘Love Yourself’, minus the trumpet solo. Personally, I think they could have added a little more to the instrumentation, as I’ve always thought it was kind of bland in the original song, especially for a bitter song about giving your ex the finger. However, it’s decent enough.
My main problem with ‘Love Yourself vs **** Yourself’ is Kiara’s verse. And no, it’s not the swearing, I hear about 50,000 f-bombs every day in my group of friends at school, and sometimes I participate in dropping f-bombs. No, my problems lie in the overall verse. My first thought when I listened to it was that the lyrics… felt kind of juvenile. I’m not saying Bieber’s lyrics are a masterpiece of clever writing or anything, but they did feel like they were coming from an adult. He talks about clubs, he doesn’t sound too childish, and while he mentions his mother disliking the girl, it didn’t seem like the mother was too involved, or around a lot of the time, so it implies there’s some independence on Bieber’s part. I’m not sure how old Kelly Kiara is, but I’m assuming she is an adult. Her verse, however, really gave me a “teenage” vibe. She mentions that “My daddy gon’ kill you when he hears this song/He knows that you lied to me, he’s glad to see you gone.” This really reminds me of a father threatening to cut off the balls of his teenage daughter’s first boyfriend, and it does imply that Kiara is not entirely independent. Also, when she’s accusing the boy of still caring, she says “You still keep them screenshots,” which just sounds like something a teenager would say. It doesn’t feel “adult”.
Another problem I have is that Kiara’s verse doesn’t really seem to connect with Bieber’s/Preston’s verses. Bieber/Preston is singing about how the girl treated him badly, used him to get into clubs, acts vain and stuck-up about her looks, and still tries to call him after they’ve broken up. Kiara does not address any of this in her verse. In ‘Somebody that I Used to Know’, Gotye talks about how he felt lonely with Kimbra, and then when they broke up she completely cut him off, which he thought was unfair. Kimbra actually addresses what he said by saying that he screwed her over and made her feel like it was all her fault, and she didn’t want to keep “bleeding into every word you say.” She also says “you said that you could let it go, and I wouldn’t catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know”, directly criticising Gotye for being upset that she doesn’t want to see him again. Both of these verses connect with each other, and they feel like they're actually singing about each other.
I don’t feel that connection in ‘Love Yourself vs **** Yourself’. She does seem to think she’s better off without him, but she never addresses his accusations that she refuses to leave him alone and keeps calling him. She never gives reasoning for calling him all the time or even accuses him of lying about that. She never brings it up at all, nor does she address the accusations that she treated him badly or cared too much about her looks. She just mentions how he checked her phone, failed to quit smoking, and then accuses him of cheating. It doesn’t feel like she’s countering what Bieber/Preston is saying, and it doesn’t feel like they’re having a proper argument; it feels like the guy is saying “She was an a**hole for these reasons” and the girl is replying with “He was an a**hole for these reasons.” This is supposed to be a response to ‘Love Yourself’, but she never actually addresses anything Bieber says, apart from very briefly accusing him of pretending he doesn’t care, so it doesn’t feel like a response, it feels like those people in the YouTube comments who try to make arguments that have nothing to do with what you were talking about.
Overall, I don’t think this is a bad song, but it is pretty disappointing. It promises a response to ‘Love Yourself’ but fails to deliver an adequate counter-argument, instead choosing the “Yeah, well he’s an a**hole too” route, all the while sounding as if Justin Bieber’s ex-girlfriend is still a teenager. It doesn’t exactly fail as a song, but it does fail as a response, and since a response is what they were trying to do, I unfortunately can’t praise it.
Score: 4/10
Also, since I was just talking about Gotye, I really need to recommend a few of his songs, he’s so talented! And he’s also an Aussie, and while we’ve already got Sia having a lot of success internationally, I think we need some more successful, talented Australian musicians up there with her. Search up ‘Save Me’, I loved that one. I’d also recommend ‘Hearts a Mess’. It’s very different and kind of strange, especially if you’re used to listening to hit songs, but it’s still very good. Also, ‘Eyes Wide Open’ is definitely something you should definitely check out, it’s got some very meaningful lyrics.
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Thanks for reading! Let me know if there's anything I can do to improve my writing and critiques.
