Our yearly run-in with them…
[Video][Website]
[5.33]
Jessica Doyle: Back at the beginning of the year, I put Nine Muses’s “Dolls” on repeat for a while. And it’s a charming song; but it’s more charming for ignorant English-and-not-much-else speakers. Once I read a translation of the lyrics, and found out that “Dolls” is actually a breakup song, I got indignant: but the horns! The horns are telling you to kick that man to the curb and go dance! (Alfred Soto was right.) In a similar spirit, “Damaged Lady” has the churning guitars and opens like a kick: the whisper of “I want it to rain now” leading to a yell. But I’ve seen three different translations of the lyrics (here’s one) and all contain variations on “I feel so pathetic” and “I can’t lift my head.” Well, clearly they can. They can even do Mireille Mathieu impressions. (Bless the folks who decided to ignore the lyrics and create the video for the song that should have been.) Two songs of insisting that women must be heartbroken and self-lacerating, all musical cues to the contrary, better not make a trend.
[5]
Alfred Soto: The tempo shifts and hysteria do suggest damage, and the guitar interludes suggest someone’s been listening to industrial noise.
[5]
Patrick St. Michel: I read the lyrics to this song before actually listening to it, and based on the words I was expecting Kara in downtrodden ballad mode. Not a squiggly little pop number with guitar chugs and zig-zagging electronics. It’s a slightly more dramatic, busier reimagining of last year’s “Way,” adding a sense of optimism to what could have been a real downer of a single.
[8]
Iain Mew: I tried to put my previous dislike of Kara aside, but the popping and talking intro — sounding like a less fun version of “I Got a Boy” — had me approaching “Damaged Lady” with little excitement. Then the horribly thin guitar growl and annoying squeaking came in and, yeah, I don’t think it’s just prejudice that has me thinking there’s far too little song here to compensate.
[3]
Jonathan Bogart: Good energy, excellent melodicism, decent rhythmic switchbacks. Production lets the side down badly (especially after that teasingly sparkling intro), and none of the voices stands out as anything more than capable. I bet this is one of those songs where the lyrics matter.
[6]
Brad Shoup: The combination of lyric and fractured presentation is scrambling me a little bit; Kara pings from Aaliyah-style stepping to stadium-mook guitars. So good on Sweetune for putting me in the right headspace. I don’t know whether that space belongs to someone immature (as this note claims) or someone with more permanent concerns. It sure sounds like the latter.
[5]