This will probably be the most difficult sentence I ever write. So many judgments (most of them probably negative) can be made of a person who ventures an opinion like the one that follows. But I think I'm prepared to weather whatever ill comes to me as a result of this column. I just hope you'll endure the rest so that I can explain myself in full.
Britney Spears has latent musical talent.
If that didn't strike you as entirely absurd, then let me make the gravity of that statement a little more clear. The brand of teen pop that Spears has helped force on the American musical mainstream generally contains only the smallest kernels of creativity in its songs' melodies and basslines, and then ruins everything by repeating its boring, half-developed motif for three to four miserable minutes. The song's music is secondary to its sex appeal. I mean, does anyone really think that Spears's stage outfits (or lack thereof) demonstrate any desire to look like a musician interested in quality, innovative music?
I tend to favor music that actually explores the themes it establishes. Yes, this means my library is filled with "classical" music (a terrible misnomer, since I find true classical music, like Mozart, quite dull) like Bach, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak and Sibelius. These people are the old-fashioned fogeys that modern society equates with grandpa's boring phonograph collection. But, if you look into the works of these classic composers, you can find the same catchy motifs and phrases that modern musicians use; the only difference is that the fogeys actually build upon them. They change and develop their music in creative ways to keep it fresh and interesting -- often for more than five minutes at a time.
But, for all of the obvious differences between classical and modern music, the two are actually quite similar. This is where Spears comes in. Sure, she's not exactly a great pioneer in the arts, like Andy Warhol or Igor Stravinsky, and I'd be hard pressed to find evidence that she's even the primary creative element behind her albums, but her songs demonstrate a proper command of music that, if well refined, could actually produce something equivalent to history's great composers.
Take Spears' new single and music video, "Womanizer," as a case study. At first glance,the video is typical Britney Spears: she's mostly naked in a good number of scenes, fully naked in a few, all of which are set to the dull, monotonous tone of sexually provocative lyrics, sung in a pseudo-seductive, electronica-laced voice. Nothing special. If you actually pay attention, though, the underlying music is quite interesting.
I won't write a full music review, but the bridge in "Womanizer" is worth singling out. A bridge is the verse typically before the last chorus in a song in which the artist changes the melody or tone to prepare for the ending (the Beatles have some very innovative bridges). In my experience, modern bridges are executed in sloppy, repetitive fashions that do more to kill time than actually enhance the music. But "Womanizer" constructs a bridge that changes the melody in a unique and surprising way. After many verses of aggressive music with prominent basslines (the low notes that thump in clubs so that people without rhythm can dance), the bridge shifts the song to have an airy, reflective tone -- a clever change in my opinion. It's not perfect, but it's the most interesting music I've heard from a pop star.
Perhaps this is the reason that Spears' new album hit number one on the charts, even after her hilariously awful attempt at being a married mother and multiple failures to "come back." Even though open appreciation for "sophisticated" music tends to be reserved for "sophisticated" Nantucket Island millionaires (and penniless music majors), it seems that all of our ears are still attracted to high-quality songs -- the sort that don't just propose a melody, but experiment with it in exciting ways. Sometimes we make collective mistakes and go crazy for terrible songs like "Ice Ice Baby," but on the whole, we actually like good music.
"Womanizer" is not what I would call a good song. It's bland and monotonous, its lyrics are uninspired and it doesn't do anything with its harmonies other than repeat them ad nauseam. But somewhere between her pelvic thrusts and her small battalion of backup dancers lies the influence of composers like Wagner and Smetana, waiting for Britney to hone her talents and make her performances worth preserving.
