#89 - Wildflower

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

Lyrics

There isn't a real good reason to like this song. It isn't original lyrically(they've done the "my girl she is CA-RA-ZAY" theme what, four times?), isn't particularly original musically, isn't strong enough to overcome the lack of originality, and it's just a pinch to smushy for my tastes.

I still like it, though, despite all reasoning and logic. It isn't the worst of the "oh that CA-RA-ZAY girlfriend" songs. It's significantly better than "She's A Mystery"and it isn't worse than "Mystery Train". "Neurotica" kicks its ass (and is more original, since it applies the theme to a different style of song). If this had been on Crush in place of the "Mystery"s, I wouldn't have been disappointed.

I was gonna say the over-smushiness comes from the piano, but I don't think that's it. I think the problem is the attempt to make this hugely epic, and epicness + smushy lyrics doesn't work too well. Epicness works for "Dry County" because it's heartbreaking and forlorn, it works with "The Distance" because that's desperate and pleading. With the happy relationship lyrics of "Wildflower", epicness becomes the musical portrayal of that really irritating couple who are just sickeningly in love to the point where being in the same room with them makes you want to gag. Simplified down some, down to just that piano (which I really, really like because I have a soft spot for non-keyboard piano-ing in BJ songs) and the really subdued drumming and a little acoustic guitar, it would be much better. Jon could sing it the same way he does now, and instead of over-the-top smush it would be a simplistic love song.

But something about this song grabbed me right off. It's very stick-in-the-head-able. Two days before HAND came out, I downloaded a leaked copy of the Japanese version (I got impatient). The day I went to buy HAND, the day it came out, I was walking to and from the mall going "NOBODY KNOOOWS A WILDFLOWER STILL GROW-OW-OWS BY THE SIDE OF THE ROOOAD AND SHE DON'T SOMETHING LIKE THE ROSES". (Two days was not enough to learn all the words).

I like every one of the bonus tracks better than this but I would only replace it with "These Open Arms" because HAND maintains a very good balance of ballady and harder, and I wouldn't want to mess with that. But I definitely would have tossed "These Open Arms" on there in place of this, because my mind has created a very firm link between "Last Cigarette", "Novocaine", and "These Open Arms". Actually I'd toss "Dirty Little Secret" on there instead of "I Want to Be Loved" too, because that fits into this little link I've created (song about cheating -> song about not being able to give someone up -> song about divorce -> song about helping someone you love through a hard time).

Well that was a giant digression. Only one more thing I have to say about "Wildflower": When Jon says "never met the man she couldn't make into a lovah" it reminds me of the SNL skit about "my lovAH" and I laugh. Every single time.

My Rating: 5/10

Richie names albums after songs:

• Stranger In This Town
• Undiscovered Soul

This entry won't go up tomorrow night, though. I'm going home for the weekend, won't be updating the blog. Vote anyway, so I know what to write about on Monday.