#47 - I Am

Artist: Bon Jovi
Album: Have A Nice Day
Other Versions: None
Era: current "power pop rock"

Lyrics

A return to the quintissential 80s hair metal power ballad - a solely needed return, in my opinion (I'm a sucker for a good power ballad) - and yet it's updated enough to fit in well on HAND. Good work, boys.

The intro instrumentals (say that five times fast) are a bit generic pop-rocky, and at first I figured I wouldn't like this one, because I definitely can't get behind a band with 20+ years of evidence that they can do widely varied work being generic. But they saved themselves.

The interesting thing about this song is, lyrically and vocally, it is 80s power ballad through and through. It's cheesy, it's about love, and the chorus is belted like nobody's business. I wish I had a lighter on my desk because I'd be waving it right about now as I listen. It's fun to sing and it makes me feel mushy inside - in a good way. Pair these vocals with some cheesy synthesizers, big hair, way too overblown guitar work, and no one would know the words came from the Bon Jovi of 2006. This makes me unspeakably happy.

But they managed to keep it from being dated and overblown, because the instrumentation is very downplayed. There is no giant soaring guitar solo that makes you feel as if the gods of rock themselves descended from rock and roll heaven to witness the epic weedly-weedlying in person. There are no cheesy synthesizers soaring around the powerful chorus. It's simple, straightforward, and modern. There is a guitar solo, but it's subdued, heavier than the solo of the 80s ballad.

To take these two very different mediums - the overblown and the straightforward - and combine them into a good song is an impressive feat indeed. On top of the interesting blend of the culture when Bon Jovi were starting and the culture now, as they slowly approach 25 years, this is frigging fun to sing. Not when people are around, because it demands to be sung with the same emotion Jon himself puts in, and sometimes shouting "I AAAAAAM" in a crowded room isn't as fun as it would sound. And even on top of that, the lyrics hit me in just the right place. This is sure to get me a bit weepy and mushy, especially on nights like tonight when, for no real reason, I'm feeling just down and alone. It'll pass, with the help of power ballads like this one.

God bless you, healthy 1980s influence.

My Rating: 9/10

Tomorrow: A Valentine's Day Extravaganza, sort of (assuming I remember it's Valentine's Day). I'll be writing about my favorite Bon Jovi love song - and I mean love song, not "I cheated but I still care" or "I love you despite the relationship being over" song. Does it even exist? Tune in tomorrow. Or something.

On a side note, I watched that David Bryan "How to Play Keyboards in a Rock & Roll Band" video today. It was cheese piled on cheese piled on cheese. With a bit of grated cheese on top. I don't know how to play keyboards in a rock band now, but I do know I would like to be a keyboard. I might do a review of it as a special feature, assuming I don't discover there's nothing I can say about it that isn't "aww David's adorable. Wow he has long fingers. Long, nimble fingers..."

Edited 3/25/06: Added lyrics