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Rating:
Michael Holbrook Penniman, known as Mika, was not wise in choosing the genre to perform.
Pop artists like him, in fact, are often overrated (but not in his case) by majors and the public, but always underrated by independent magazines and critics. Mika, in fact, is pop, with no subgenres, and he comes quite close to the disco and glam of the '80s in pure Jake Shears style, the leader of the Scissor Sisters. But let's go in order.
The album was released on February 5, 2007, and contains 11 tracks that move between the wildest dance pieces and ballads played entirely on the piano. On the first listen, you are accompanied into the atmosphere by "Grace Kelly", the first single that establishes the talent of the young English artist. "Grace Kelly" is magnificent: cheerful, fun, pulsing, with a music video that celebrates it perfectly in which the costumes and brightly colored walls only accentuate the sound of this absolutely irresistible song. Trying to listen to "Grace Kelly" without dancing is torture, it's impossible not to even smile. Then it proceeds with "Lollipop" and the pace doesn't change. Cheerful, fast, almost childlike, it urges everyone who listens to get up and jump. "My Interpretation" makes anyone regret not being an artist: it catapults the listener onto a festival stage, as if in front of him there were thousands of people, behind emptiness, and he had the strength to break down any barrier just with the power of his voice. Another great piano piece, also cheerful and lively. Then it continues with "Love Today" and from here on, you enter the "dance" part of the album. The deep notes of the piano serve as drums and a chorus of female voices rises somewhere in the speakers. Certainly one of the best tracks on the album. And the tone perhaps drops with "Relax (Take It Easy)", where pop is abandoned and the most authentic and wild house is touched, and even the music video linked to this track accentuates its club atmosphere with women dancing on multicolored concentric cubes.
"Any Other World" then acts almost as a thread between this splash of house and the rest of the album. Played on the piano, slow and melancholic, like a pause from the cheerfulness that had permeated the album until then. Right after, here's "Billy Brown", another track to admire. The rhythm isn't the best, but it definitely also leads to "nodding your head", without mincing words, that's what you do when listening to this song. Then we have "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)", the eighth track on the album, which still shows the marked presence of dance influences in the album, fast and dynamic, also with a background of some piano notes. "Stuck in the Middle" is very similar to "My Interpretation", played on the piano and is a real punch in the stomach, as if Mika wanted to say "if you didn't like the album, it's not my business," because even here the tone doesn't drop, same liveliness, same movement. But Mika shows his skill in "Happy Ending", demonstrating he can give rhythm and liveliness even to a slow piece like this: a female choir accompanies Mika's voice, strictly in falsetto. Four minutes and thirty seconds of music to listen to with your eyes closed, letting yourself be lulled.
The album then contains two extra tracks: "Ring Ring", a pop ballad that has nothing to envy "Love Today" and "Over My Shoulder", definitely the slowest piece of the album, entirely on the piano.
It's a great album; there are drops between one track and another, but overall it does not bore and is pleasant to listen to. Mika will surely continue his singing career, even though he certainly hasn't started a revolution. He doesn't represent the new Freddie Mercury, even if their voices are very similar. Yet the greatness of Mika lies in having recorded and released a pop piece without Rap or R'n'b influences, as often happens today. The synthesizer, widespread in successful songs nowadays, is nonexistent (or almost). Therefore, we must acknowledge this artist, of Lebanese origins, the courage to be a pop island in a rap ocean.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Grace Kelly (03:08)
''(I wanna talk to you.)
(The last time we talked, Mr. Smith, you reduced me to tears. I promise you it won't happen again.)''
Do I attract you?
Do I repulse you with my queasy smile?
Am I too dirty?
Am I too flirty?
Do I like what you like?
I could be wholesome
I could be loathsome
I guess I'm a little bit shy
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like me without making me try?
I try to be like Grace Kelly
But all her looks were too sad
So I try a little Freddie
I've gone identity mad
I could be brown
I could be blue
I could be violet sky
I could be hurtful
I could be purple
I could be anything you like
Gotta be green
Gotta be mean
Gotta be everything more
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you walk out the door?
''(Getting angry doesn't solve anything.)''
How can I help it?
How can I help it?
How can I help what you think?
Hello my baby
Hello my baby
Putting my life on my brink
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like yourself?
Should I bend over?
Should I look older just to be put on your shelf?
I try to be like Grace Kelly
But all her looks were too sad
So I try a little Freddie
I've gone identity mad
I could be brown
I could be blue
I could be violet sky
I could be hurtful
I could be purple
I could be anything you like
Gotta be green
Gotta be mean
Gotta be everything more
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like me?
Walk out the door
Say what you want to satisfy yourself
But you only want what everybody else says you should want
You want
I could be brown
I could be blue
I could be violet sky
I could be hurtful
I could be purple
I could be anything you like
Gotta be green
Gotta be mean
Gotta be everything more
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like me?
Walk out the door
I could be brown
I could be blue
I could be violet sky
I could be hurtful
I could be purple
I could be anything you like
Gotta be green
Gotta be mean
Gotta be everything more
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like me?
Walk out the door
''(Humphrey. We're leaving.)''
Ka-ching!
02 Lollipop (03:03)
Hey, what's the big idea?
Yo Mika.
I said,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
hey love's gonna get you down,
I said,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down.
Sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down.
Say love, say love,
or love's gonna get you down.
say love, say love,
or love's gonna get you down.
I went walking with my mama one day,
when she warned me what people say;
live your life until love is found,
'cause love's gonna get you down.
Take a look at the girl next door,
she's a player and a down right bore,
Jesus loves her, she wants more,
oh bad girls get you down.
Singing,
Sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down.
Say love, say love,
or love's gonna get you down.
say love, say love,
or love's gonna get you down.
Mama told me what I should know,
too much candy gonna rot your soul,
if she loves you, let her go,
'cause love only gets you down.
Take a look at the boy like me,
never stood on my own two feet,
now I'm blue, as I can be,
or love come get me down.
Singing,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down.
Say love, say love,
or love's gonna get you down.
say love, say love,
or love's gonna get you down.
I went walking with my mama one day,
when she warned me what people say,
live your life until love is found,
or love's gonna get you down.
Singing,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down.
Say love (say love), say love (say love),
or love's gonna get you down.
say love (say love), say love (say love),
or love's gonna get you down.
Mama told me what I should know,
too much candy gonna rot your soul,
if she loves you, let her go,
'cause love only gets you down.
Whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh, lollipop.
Whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh, lollipop.
Sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down,
say,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
hey love's gonna get you down
03 My Interpretation (03:35)
You talk about life, you talk about death,
And everything in between,
Like it's nothing, and the words are easy.
You talk about me, and you talk about you,
And everything I do,
Like it's something, that needs repeating.
I don't need an alibi to offer you to realize,
The things we left unsaid,
Are only taking space up in our head.
Make it my fault, win the game
Point the finger, place the blame
It does me up and down,
It doesn't matter now.
[chorus]
'Cause I don't care if I ever talk to you again.
This is not about emotion,
I don't need a reason not to care what you say,
Or what happened in the end.
This is my interpretation,
And it don't, don't make sense.
The first to wish turn into ten,
I hold my breath and wonder when it'll happen,
Does it really matter?
If half of what you said is true,
And half of what I didn't do could be different,
Would it make it better?
If we forget the things we know.
Would we have somewhere to go?
The only way is down, I can see that now.
[chorus]
It's really not such a sacrifice.
[chorus]
If I never talk to you again,
This is not about emotion,
I don't need a reason not to care what you say,
Or what happened in the end.
This is my interpretation,
And it don't, don't make sense.
And it don't have to make no sense to you at all,
'Cause this is my interpretation, yeah, yeah, yeah.
04 Love Today (03:55)
Doom da da di da di Doom da da di da di
Everybody's gonna love today,
Gonna love today, gonna love today.
Everybody's gonna love today, gonna love today.
Anyway you want to, anyway you've got to,
Love love me, love love me, love love.
I've been crying for so long,
Fighting tears just to carry on,
But now, but now, it's gone away.
Hey girl why can't you carry on, (carry on)
Is it 'cause you're just like your mother, (like your mother)
A little tight, like to tease for fun, (tease for fun)
Well you ain't gonna tease no other,
Gonna make you a lover.
Everybody's gonna love today,
love today, love today.
Everybody's gonna love today,
Anyway you want to, anyway you've got to,
Love love me, love love me, love love.
Girl with a groove with the big bust on,
Big bust on, big bust on.
Wait till your mother and your papa's gone,
Papa's gone
Momma, momma papa, shock shock me,
Shock shock me, shock shock.
Everybody's gonna love today,
Gonna love today, gonna love today
I said,
Everybody's gonna love today, gonna love today,
Anyway you want to, anyway you've got to,
Love love me, love love me, love love.
Carolina sits on '95,
Give her a dollar and she'll make you smile.
Hooker, book her, nook her, walk away!
Carrie dresses like a kid for fun, (kid for fun)
Licks her lips like there's something on them, (something on them)
Tries to tell you life has just begun, (just begun)
But you know she's getting something other
Than the love from her mother
Everybody's gonna love today,
Love today, love today
Everybody's gonna love today,
Anyway you want to, anyway you've got to,
Love love me, love love me, love love.
Girl with a groove with the big bust on,
Big bust on, big bust on.
Wait till your mother and your papa's gone,
Papa's gone; momma, momma papa, shock shock me,
Shock shock me, shock shock.
I said,
Everybody's gonna love today,
Gonna love today, gonna love today
I said,
Everybody's gonna love today,
Gonna love today,
Anyway you want to, anyway you've got to,
Love love me, love love me, love love.
Doom da da di da di Doom da da di da di Doom da da di da di Doom da da di da di.....
Everybody's gonna love today,
Gonna love today, gonna love today
Everybody's gonna love today,
Gonna love today,
Anyway you want to, anyway you've got to,
Love love me, love love me, love love.
Doom da da di da di Doom da da di da di Doom da da di da di Doom da da di da di.....
05 Relax (Take It Easy) (03:45)
Took a ride to the end of the line
Where no one ever goes.
Ended up on a broken train with nobody I know.
But the pain and the longing's the same.
When you’re dying
Now I’m lost and I’m screaming for help alone.
Relax, take it easy
For there is nothing that we can do.
Relax, take it easy
Blame it on me or blame it on you.
It’s as if I’m scared.
It’s as if I’m terrified.
It’s as if I’m scared.
It’s as if I’m playing with fire.
Scared.
It’s as if I’m terrified.
Are you scared?
Are we playing with fire?
Relax
Love
There is an answer to the darkest times.
It’s clear
we don’t understand it but the last thing on my mind
Is to leave you.
I believe that we’re in this together.
Don’t scream – there are so many roads left.
Relax (Love), take it easy
For there is nothing that we can do.
Relax, take it easy
Blame it on me or blame it on you.
Relax, take it easy
For there is nothing that we can do.
Relax, take it easy
Blame it on me or blame it on you.
Relax, take it easy
For there is nothing that we can do.
Relax, take it easy
Blame it on me or blame it on you.
Relax, take it easy
For there is nothing that we can do.
Relax, take it easy
Blame it on me or blame it on you.
It’s as if I’m scared.
It’s as if I’m terrified.
It’s as if I’m scared.
It’s as if I’m playing with fire.
Scared.
It’s as if I’m terrified.
Are you scared?
Are we playing with fire?
Relax
Relax
06 Ring Ring (03:37)
I was sitting on the fence
and I thought that I would kiss you
I never thought I would have missed you
but you never let me fall
push my back against the wall
everytime you call, you get so emotional
I'm freaking out
(Chorus)
Ring Ring
Is that you on the phone
you think you're clever
but you never saying nothing at all
hey hey
the way you spin me around
you make me busy when you play me like a kid with a crown
You got a dangerous obsession
now I'm in need of some protection
that was never my intention
used to love me, now you hate me
say I drove you crazy
well if I did, you made me
wont somebody save me, from you now
(Chorus)
Ring Ring
Is that you on the phone
you think you're clever
but you never saying nothing at all
hey hey
the way you spin me around
you make me busy when you play me like a kid with a crown
It' words I wanted
until you blasted
why wont you leave me alone
hang up the phone
just let me go
(Chorus) x 2
Ring Ring
Is that you on the phone
you think you're clever
but you never saying nothing at all
hey hey
the way you spin me around
you make me busy when you play me like a kid with a crown
Ring Ring x 3
07 Any Other World (04:19)
In any other world
You could tell the difference
And let it all unfurl
Into broken remenances
Smile like you mean it
And let yourself let go
Cos' it's all in the hands
Of a bitter bitter man
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in
Take a bow, play the part
Of a lonely lonely heart
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in
To the world you thought you lived in...
I tried to live alone
But lonely is so lonely alone
So human as I am
I had to give up my defences
So I smiled and tried to mean it
To let myself let go
Cos it's all in the hands
Of a bitter bitter man
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in
Take a bow, play the part
Of a lonely lonely heart
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in
To the world you thought you lived in...
Cos it's all in the hands
Of a bitter, bitter man
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in
Take a bow, play the part
Of a lonely lonely heart
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in
To the world you thought you lived in...
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in
Say goodbye...
In any other world
You could tell the difference
[Spoken]
"I never ever, I forget my story.
My face is not sad, but inside, I am sad."
08 Billy Brown (03:15)
Oh Billy Brown had lived an ordinary life
Two kids, a dog, and then a cautionary wife
While it was all going accordingly to plan
Then Billy Brown fell in love with another man
He met his lover almost every single day
Making excuses for his dodgy holidays
Unto religion that he said he'd newly found
They didn't know that his faith was earthly bound
Brown...Oh Billy Brown
Don't let the stars get you down
Don't let the waves let you drown
Brown...Oh Billy Brown
Gonna pick you up like a paper cup
Gonna shake the water out of every nook
Oh Billy Brown
Oh Billy Brown needed a place, somewhere to go
He found an island off the coast of Mexico
Leaving his lover and his family behind
Oh Billy Brown needed to find some peace of mind
And on his journey and his travels on the way
He met a girlie who was brave enough to say
When they made love he shared the burden of his mind
"Oh Billy Brown you are a victim of the times."
Brown...Oh Billy Brown
Don't let the stars get you down
Don't let the waves let you drown
Brown...Oh Billy Brown
Gonna pick you up like a paper cup
Gonna shake the water out of every nook
Oh Billy Brown
Brown.....Oh Billy Brown
Gonna pick you up like a paper cup
Gonna shake the water out of every nook
Oh Billy Brown
Oh Billy Brown had lived an ordinary life
Two kids, a dog, and then a cautionary wife
While it was all going accordingly to plan
Then Billy Brown fell in love with another man
09 Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) (04:08)
Big girl you are beautiful
Walks in to the room
Feels like a big balloon
I said, 'Hey girls you are beautiful'
Diet coke and a pizza please
Diet coke I'm on my knees
Screaming 'Big girl you are beautiful'
You take your skinny girl
Feel like I'm gonna die
'Cause a real woman
Needs a real man here's why
You take your girl
And multiply her by four
Now a whole lotta woman
Needs a whole lot more
Get yourself to the Butterfly Lounge
Find yourself a big lady
Big boy come on round
And they'll be calling you baby
No need to fantasize
Since I was in my braces
A watering hole
With the girls around
And curves in all the right places
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Walks in to the room
Feels like a big balloon
I said, 'Hey girls you are beautiful'
Diet coke and a pizza please
Diet coke I'm on my knees
Screaming 'Big girl you are beautiful'
You take your girl
and multiply her by four
Now a whole lotta woman
Needs a whole lot more
Get yourself to the Butterfly Lounge
Find yourself a big lady
Big boy come on round
And they'll be calling you baby
No need to fantasize
Since I was in my braces
A watering hole
With the girls around
And curves in all the right places
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Get yourself to the Butterfly Lounge
Find yourself a big lady
Big boy come on round
And they'll be calling you baby
No need to fantasize
Since I was in my braces
A watering hole
With the girls around
And curves in all the right places
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Oh you are beautiful
Get yourself to the Butterfly Lounge
Find yourself a big lady
Big boy come on round
And they'll be calling you baby
No need to fantasize
Since I was in my braces
A watering hole
With the girls around
And curves in all the right places
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Oh you are beautiful
Get yourself to the Butterfly Lounge
Find yourself a big lady
Big boy come on round
And they'll be calling you baby
No need to fantasize
Since I was in my braces
A watering hole
With the girls around
And curves in all the right places
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girl you are beautiful
10 Stuck in the Middle (04:09)
I sit and think about the day that you're gonna die,
'Cause your wrinkled eyes betrayed the joy with which you smiled.
Care to see my reason?
Care to put your life in mine?
Looking at life from the perspective of a boy
Who's learnt to love you but has also learned to grow.
Could we make it better, stormy weather,
So I dunno.
Oh, oh, oh - Is there anybody home?
Who will believe me, won't deceive me, who'll try to teach me?
Ah, ah, ah - Is there anybody home?
Who wants to have me, just to love me?
Stuck in the middle.
I look at you,
You look at me,
We bite each other.
And with your bitter words you kick me in the gutter.
But my troops are bigger than yours
'Cause you'll never stand my fight.
Ours is a family that's based upon tradition
But with my careless words I tread upon your vision.
Are five kids better than one, who'd doesn't like to be gone?
Oh, oh, oh - Is there anybody home?
Who will believe me, won't deceive me, who'll try to teach me?
Ah, ah, ah - Is there anybody home?
Who wants to have me, just to love me?
Stuck in the middle.
Yea...Yea...Yea...
This is to my name,
This ain't a pretty plan to break your heart of me.
I know that what I've started means that when we have parted
I can live in Honesty
Oh, oh, oh - Is there anybody home?
Who will believe me, won't deceive me, who'll try to teach me?
Ah, ah, ah - Is there anybody home?
Who wants to have me, just to love me?
Stuck in the middle,
Stuck in the middle,
Stuck in the middle,
Stuck in the middle
11 Erase (03:39)
I shouldn't have called so late last night, all insecure, out of my mind. I shoulda never left that message on your phone. I shouldn't have said the things I said, looking for love we left for dead in a grave, without a stone. As soon as you hear my voice, don't hesitate, put your finger on the button... Erase! My love. I bet you can't erase! My touch. You're trying to replace, a feeling without a name, with somebody's face! In your head! Everything's cool, your rent is paid; the house is clean, your bed is made. But it's a ghost town in your mind. We never had time to go to sleep, we'd wake up tangled in the sheets, on a bed, that we called home. When the pain won't go away, you might as well, put your finger on the trigger... Erase! My love. I bet you can't erase! My touch. You're trying to replace, a feeling without a name, with somebody's face! In your head! Erase! Erase! My love. I bet you can't erase! My touch. You're trying to replace, a feeling without a name, with somebody's face! In your head! Erase! Erase! You're trying to replace, a feeling without a name, with somebody's face! In your head! Erase!... Ohohoh...
13 Happy Ending / Over My Shoulder (12:54)
This is the way you left me,
I'm not pretending,
No hope, no love, no glory,
No happy ending
This is the way that we love,
Like it's forever,
Then live the rest of our life,
Both not together
Wake up in the morning,
Stumble on my life,
Can't get no love without sacrifice,
If anything should happen,
I guess I wish you well,
Mmm a little bit of heaven,
But a little bit of hell
This is the hardest story,
that I have ever told,
No hope, or love, or glory,
Happy endings gone forever more
I feel as if I'm wasting,
And I'm waste'in every day
This is the way you left me,
I'm not pretending,
No hope, no love, no glory,
No happy ending
This is the way that we love,
Like it's forever,
Then live the rest of our life,
Both not together
Too black in the morning,
Someone's on my mind,
Cant get no rest,
Keep walking around,
If I pretend that nothing ever went wrong,
I can get to my sleep
I can dream now and just carry on?
This is the hardest story,
that I have ever told,
No hope, or love, or glory,
Happy endings gone forever more,
I feel as if I'm wasting,
And I'm waste'in every day,
Oh I feel as if I'm wasting,
And I'm waste'in every day,
(This is the way you left me,
Im not pretending,
No hope, no love, no glory,
No happy ending
This is the way that we love,
Like it's forever,
Then live the rest of our life,
Both not together)
A little bit of love
Little bit of love (repeated)
Oh I feel as if I'm wasting,
And I'm waste'in every day
This is the way you left me,
I'm not pretending,
No hope, no love, no glory,
No happy ending
This is the way that we love,
Like it's forever,
Then live the rest of our life,
Both not together
This is the way you left me,
I'm not pretending,
No hope, no love, no glory,
No happy ending
This is the way that we love,
Like it's forever,
Then live the rest of our life,
Both not together
This is the way you left me,
I'm not pretending,
No hope, no love, no glory,
No happy ending
-----------------------------------
Over my shoulder, running away,
Feels like I'm falling, losing my day.
Cold, and dry,
Cold, and dry.
Fog out my daylight, torture my night.
Feels like I'm falling, far out of sight.
Cold,
Drunk,
Tired,
Lost.
Over my shoulder, running away,
Feels like I’m falling, losing my way.
Cold dry,
Cold and dry.
Fog out my daylight, torture my night.
Feels like i'm falling, far out of sight.
Cold,
Drunk,
Cold and drunk.
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Other reviews
By ilpanes
My fault, I became an immediate fan of Mika, the twenty-three-year-old of Lebanese origin who is supposed to resurrect pop!
It’s just the usual music!
By GrantNicholas
"Grace Kelly is a song that became a staple in the music chronicles more for the incredible vocal resemblance to His Holiness Freddie Mercury than for its (undeniable) melodic potential."
Only time will tell if the aspiring king of pop will make it or if the fierce rivals will rise from their ashes.
By andrew1992
"Mika proves capable of breaking away from the current way of making music that we all know (love, love, sickly sweet love, yawn) by offering a jovial, fresh, and generally well-crafted pop."
"The work of this eclectic singer has proven decent, nothing revolutionary, not worthy of 5 stars from Debaser but neither a one-star disgrace."
