#26 - Lonely At The Top

Artist: Bon Jovi
Album: 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong (Disc 3)
Other Versions: None
Era: 90s "moody rock"

Lyrics

I'm not a huge Kurt Cobain fan. I can take or leave most of Nirvana's music, and I bear a pretty big grudge about the whole "ending hair metal" thing. But even coming into this knowing it was a tribute to Kurt and not feeling anything one way or the other about his suicide specifically (there's the generic sadness that always comes with a death in my mind, but no real reasn for intense grief or anything), this is a heartbreaking song.

There's another testimony to the songwriting talent Jon and Richie possess, and another point in my argument that BJ have a lot of control over how you feel when you're listening to them. This song just makes me sad, makes me cry, makes me want to bemoan the sadness and futility of life for a while.

There's harmonizing here, the Jon/Richie interplay I love so much, but it's downplayed. It's certainly there, but just enough to enhance Jon's voice, which is strongly the focal point of the song. It's not intense in the epic, sweeping tradition of the power ballad, but it is intensely emotional. Jon feels this one.

Points for keeping this under wraps so as not to look like they were capitalizing on Kurt's death. They could have had a huge seller with this one at the right time, but they kept it on the shelf. Extremely tactful move.

As a song without any pop culture ties, it's good. Add the pop culture tie-in, which doesn't really change my thinking much based on my lack of feelings about Cobain, and it could probably considered an excellent song.

My Rating: 7/10

Edited 3/25/06: Added lyrics