Tim: This here’s the lead single from his fourth album (or second, if you don’t count the classical one or the Christmas covers one).
Tom: Does he believe that for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows?
Tim: No, he doesn’t.
Tom: Good, because that’s a stupid belief.
Tim: It is. You’ll likely be relieved to know that he also doesn’t believe that the sun will never set upon an argument, which is equally stupid.
Tom: Oh, don’t get me started on that bloody song.
Tim: Now this song pretty much fits the template we came up with last week, so I won’t say much about it, except that it desperately needs something special to kick it at the end, because when the instrumentation’s that calm in the background an extra ‘ohhh’ in the background just doesn’t cut it.
Tom: He’s targeting the Radio 2 audience – and not unsurprisingly, they’re the first to play it. But I didn’t just link to Robson and Jerome up there to remind you of how bad pop music can get – it’s also there to demonstrate the absolute other end of the scale. Two minutes long, gospel choir, bells, designed to hit every emotional beat as cheaply as possible.
This is about as “middle of the road” as you can get, and it’s probably going to sink because of it.
Tim: Almost without a doubt, yes.
I would like to say, though, that I feel a tad sorry for Joe, because one thing this song does do is demonstrate the fact that he’s got a bloody good voice. Dammit, he won the biggest TV singing contest there is but then pretty much got roundly ignored, and I don’t really understand why. Maybe it’s just that he’s a guy, and male winners have never done well (every single one of them got forgotten about in the recent promo for the new series), but if that’s the case then it’s a shame.
Tom: Well, he’s not done badly. After all, there are countless vocalists who haven’t got as far as he has. He’s still playing big concerts. Don’t feel too sorry for him.
Tim: True, and I suppose it’s not like we have a shortage of pop stars, and I can’t say I missed him while he wasn’t around, but I do feel sorry for him.