#51 - Letter to a Friend

Artist: Bon Jovi
Album: 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong (Disc 4)
Other Versions: None that I know of
Era: not totally sure, it sounds very Keep the Faith-ish

Lyrics

This is a fairly mediocre song. I don't dislike it, but I don't love it. It's one of those songs I forget exists until it actually starts playing.

What I like about this song;
1. How drum-heavy it is in the beginning. We all know how I feel about drumming lately. This on it's deep and heavy, but not overpowering. And it's one of the more dance-able deep, heavy drum beats Tico's done. I like to dance! And what's really awesome is, if you stop paying attention to anything other than the drumming, Tico is playing a completely different song, and it still works.

2. I like how without the title, this song makes no sense. If you don't know this is a "Letter to a Friend", then it's just really confusing. First time I listened to it I couldn't figure out why he was refusing to love this person he appeared to really care about. It made absolutely no sense, until I pulled out the box and checked the title for track whatever it is. The "ohhhhh I get it" moment is one that doesn't happen nearly enough in music.

3. Jon's voice is excellent. I like any song where he can handle being quiet, yelling, and all points in between. I can rip on Jon's voice all I want - I'll never stop saying he's most certainly not the best singer in Bon Jovi by far - but he really does have an excellently versatile rock star voice. Another thing I'll never stop saying is I couldn't imagine any of their songs sounding the same without him.

4. Tambourine! Tambourine is up there with banjos and accordions on my list of decidedly un-sexy instruments that get me all hot and bothered. They've done tambourine and accordion, they just need to work a banjo in somewhere and I will never need another band again EVER.

This is a fun, upbeat, dancey song. But it's totally forgettable and gets itself lost among other Bon Jovi songs quite easily.

My Rating: 6/10