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Rating: This second album by Jennifer Paige, released in 2001, three years after her debut, is yet another attempt to establish her personality as a pop singer. The girl puts in the effort, which cannot be denied, yet something prevents her from making her way through the treacherous waters of showbiz. And for someone like her, who creates polished pop, this can be a serious handicap.
"Positively Somewhere" features twelve well-crafted songs where the clear voice of the American starlet can be appreciated, sometimes incisive, sometimes ethereal. But why start with a cover, in this case, "These Days" by the Australian group Bardot? A very effective version, indeed: a vigorous pop-rock marked by the alternation between acoustic and electric guitars, the latter making the sound fuller in the choruses, and by a powerful percussion. The electric guitars also reinforce the following "Here With Me", another pop-rock piece split between the sweetness of the sound, entrusted to the keyboards, and its saturation due to the overwhelming guitars.
The rest of the album moves through not particularly original territories, even in the choice of tracks: "Stranded", another cover, this time by American singer Plumb, is released as a single in an attempt to boost the rather lukewarm reception of the album. The various tracks still highlight Jennifer's well-trained voice and the successful melodic inventions that abound in the album. "Feel So Far Away", "Tell Me When", and others are examples of a sophisticated pop that finds its most authentic justification in the sense of moderation, the absence of ambitious pretensions, and the resulting balance.
This is, in short, the album of a girl who perhaps dreams of becoming a star but, as happens in the "Stranded" video, performs in a venue with no audience. The album sells too little for the record label, which leaves the blonde by the wayside. Something in the mechanism breaks down and it takes seven years before we see her return to the music scene ("Best Kept Secret", 2008). In this dark side of Jennifer, in this sense of unfinished business, lie, for me, the reasons for interest in the American singer.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 These Days (03:28)
Some days I couldn't get up
I couldn't get down
I'm bored of everything
Somehow a little black cloud rained over me
Someone was making me mad
Good turned bad and I lose everything
To get you back
Just to get you back
But
These days the world's alright
The sun shines bright
I'm kicking off the bad dreams
These days I don't think twice
Walk on light
I'm positively somewhere
(Chorus)
These days go on long after you've gone
These days go on long after you've gone
These days go on and on and on and on and on
Out of the fire into the swimming pool
Sometimes I drown my tears
Same old fears came back
Someone was making me ill
I bet you're still
A two, three, four litter word
Guess you heard
Pretty little birds fly home
But
These days the sun kicks in
The good guys win
I'm legal in the back seat
These days I'm safe and sound
Not dragged down
You wanna know the reason
(Chorus)
These days go on long after you've gone
These days go on long after you've gone
These days go on and on and on and on and on
Thank you for not being here
I feel better when you're not sleeping in my head
Tossin' and turnin' an' messin' up the sheets
The love we made was incomplete
Like the shoes on your feet
The same stuff I've heard it before
That philosophy's starting to bore me
Now you won't have to smile and ignore me
These days the karma's right
The sun shines bright
I'm kicking out the bad dreams
These days I don't think twice
Walk on light
I'm positively somewhere
(Chorus)
These days go on [and on and on and on and on]
These days go on [and on and on and on and on]
These days go on [and on and on and on and on]
03 Stranded (03:35)
You know it only breaks my heart
To see you standing in the dark
Alone waiting there for me to come back
I'm too afraid to show
If it's coming over you
Like it's coming over me
I'm crashing like a tidal wave
That drags me out to sea
I wanna be with you
If you wanna be with me
Crashing like a tidal wave
I don't wanna be
Stranded
Stranded
Stranded
So baby come back to me [Stranded]
So baby come back to me [Stranded]
I can only take so much
These tears are turning me to rust
I know you're waiting there for me to come back
I'm too afraid to show
If it's coming over you
Like it's coming over me
I'm crashing like a tidal wave
That drags me out to sea
I wanna be with you
If you wanna be with me
Crashing like a tidal wave
I don't wanna be
Stranded
So baby come back to me [Stranded]
So baby come back to me [Stranded]
I miss you
oh baby
Without you
I'm stranded
I love you
So come back
I'm not afraid to show
Crashing like a tidal wave
Drags me out to sea
I wanna be with you
You wanna be with me
Crashing like a tidal wave
I don't wanna be
Stranded
It's coming over you [Stranded]
It's coming over me [Stranded]
It's coming over you [Stranded]
So baby come back to me [Stranded]
So baby come back to me [Stranded]
Coming over you
Coming over me
So baby come back to me
So baby come back to me
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