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Mika - 'We Are Golden'

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Fraser McAlpine | 11:51 UK time, Wednesday, 2 September 2009

Mika

It would be so tempting to let this one slide. It's not like it's awful. You'd have to be a killjoy of epic proportions to take a bright and beautiful comedy butterfly of a song like this and stamp on it with heavy boots. You'd have to basically find the idea of having fun, of dancing about your bedroom in your pants like Mika does in the video, to be beneath you, because your mind is on higher things.

You'd have to want to pull the plug on every social event in which music is played so that people could dance about and raise a healthy sweat. You'd have to be a huffbag, a bitter lemon, a lollipop-stealer, a grinch, a sourpuss, a balloon-popper, a bunting-burner, a COWELL, in other words.

On the other hand...it is all a bit much, isn't it?

(. Mika is 26 years old.)

It's a bit much that this can be boiled down into a one-sentence mission statement like Hollywood execs do with films. So where Alien was famously reduced down to "Jaws - in space", this is "Meat Loaf presents 'Walking On Broken Glass' by Annie Lennox".

It's a bit much that this song demands so much of the listener. You have to let yourself get swept up in the glorious brilliance, or it doesn't work at all, then you have to let preposterous thing after preposterous thing go without raising so much as a murmur of complaint.

These include: A grown man singing about a teenage circus, the swoops into falsetto, being hammered over the head by the West End musical theatre production, the way he says the word "golden" as if he is Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins, the defensive lyrics - pre-empting criticism by claiming to live for "glitter, not you", the total lack of that thing people call The Cool, and the worrying realisation that it might not be as important as everyone thought...there's a lot to forgive. And you HAVE to do it, or you're a grouch.

It does help that the middle eight, the only bit of the song which doesn't churn the same soft-rock riff around and around, is rather grand. But every enjoyable moment comes at a price. The yelling in the back of your head is not another stage-school showoff giving it the junior banshee, it's your musical conscience being repeatedly kicked in the stomach.

But apart from that, CHOON!

Three starsDownload: Out now
CD Released: September 7th

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(Fraser McAlpine)

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    I absolutely hate this song...Mika has essentially created a lazy repetitive song accompanied by a video of him dancing around in his pants.


    Pants indeed.

  • Comment number 2.

    I'm not able to comment on the song because, when I listened to it I was too mesmerised by the video.

    I think it's a bit sick if I'm honest. Why's he wearing his undercrackers and nothing else? Why is he jumping around in just his underpants? Is he insane? Is he aware children will watch this? What a sicko.

    I think he needs to reassess his life.

  • Comment number 3.

    Awful isnt it? And the way he says golden is soooooooo annoying. Shame to see such a voice/talent wasted.

  • Comment number 4.

    The Other Half and I spent about a week trying to figure out which song this was ripping off the melody of. Eventually he remembered: Jason Donovan's 'Too Many Broken Hearts'.

    I think this song is absolute tosh, by the way. Not as offensively bad as 'Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)', but then what is?

  • Comment number 5.

    Lady Gaga.

  • Comment number 6.

    Firstly, I am an old git. Secondly, I am a musician.

    Hey, guys, this is a song with multiple hooks and is well-crafted. Forget the video, please. Music is not about video. It's about music and this is a good piece of pop IMHO.

    The falsetto thing is a hook, the awful pronunciation of 'Golden' is a hook. There are many hooky things going on; that's what he does. This'll be played for years, whether we like it or not.

  • Comment number 7.

    "Firstly, I am an old git. Secondly, I am a musician."

    Ditto.

    Let's just deal with the song here and forget our obsession with the people that sing them.

    This guy is, without doubt, a musical talent and he has a pretty impressive vocal range and a wide harmonic vocabulary.

    This song is clever musical content, a catchy chorus; it's exuberant and provides something missing from manya modern pop song, it's just fun for fun's sake and doesn't take itself too seriously.

    There needs to be room for this sort of material and just because it doesn't even go for the "cool" and "relevant" label doesn't mean that there's no musical value to it.

    Quite the contrary, as has been said, it's superbly crafted and if the "live" performance on Jonathan Ross last night is anything to go by, the guy can re-create that in a live setting too.

    All power to him and I'll be buying it and the album too.

    Rich.
    x

  • Comment number 8.

    Totally agree .
    Firstly , I am not an old git .
    Secondly , I am a songwriter .

    Thirdly back on Rybak , number 455 on the 12th of August , I said this would be a top ten hit.

    Let's get this right . This is a gloriously over the top comeback single that has 4 huge hooks in the song ! Pop songs have got to have hooks , and this song delivers .

    Well crafted.
    Mika knows his strengths and he plays to them perfectly . Sure there are lots of haters out there , but when you can put hooks and melody together like this , your thousands of fans will carry you through .

    It was interesting this song was used for Rod 's "comimg out " music in Big Brother last night . lol

    This is a definite top ten hit , and after The Sugababes and Jay -Z decide who will be number 1 this Sunday , those two songs , MINI VIVA , and MIKA will decide who will be number 1 on the 13th of September 2009 .

    This song has many commercial possibilities .

    Mika's album THE BOY WHO KNEW TOO MUCH , is released 21/9/09 .

  • Comment number 9.

    Rich , it's a very good album , slightly darker in places than his debut , but there are plenty of well crafted pop nuggets on there .

    It's a really strong set of melodic songs should do well at retail .

  • Comment number 10.

    The really strong tracks that could be future singles are BLAME IT ON THE GIRLS and RAIN .

    Enjoy !

  • Comment number 11.

    I totally disgree. I am young and not a musician or a song writer.

    I just find it incredibly annoying. I am a fan of the so called 'wonky-pop' genre. I think Grac Kelly was superb and Mika's last album was decent. However...

    Hooks are well well and good. I agree these are hooks.. they just dont give me any enjoyment or hook me. You see hook. I see annoying pronounciation of a perfectly easy word to say. I want to turn it off as a result. This isnt an enjoyable listen. Im not a grumpy person or anything, I just think hes trying a bit too hard to make a happy vibrant style of song. I get his ethos etc but I think a man can try too hard.

    And Spirit.. predicting a top 10 hit for Mika's comback single is hardly a great spot :p

  • Comment number 12.

    Hi Liam , see that's the fun with music .
    No one is right or wrong , it's purely personal taste , and we should all respect each other .

    I can see that this song will annoy a lot of people , just like I can see thousands of people loving it .

    It's camp , it's high energy melody , and it's like Meatloaf singing a high school musical number.

    In this fickle business we call pop music , to firmly stay on the radar and keep yourself in peoples faces you need a song that is laden with brazen hooks that screams " NOTICE ME ! "

    The SUGABABES have done it , and now MIKA has done it .

    In business terms , these songs are chart gold , and this will reflect in their chart positions . Whether they are great , depends on personal taste .

    Liam , if you look on the DAVID GUETTA post , where I list possible future number ones , I listed ...

    DIZZEE RASCAL

    SUGABABES or JAY Z

    MIKA or MINI VIVA

    PIXIE LOTT

    SHAKIRA

    This was a couple of weeks ago .

    They will all go top ten , and all have the ability to be number one .
    (Obviously only one can be number one at a time , so some will be number 2 or 3 etc , but that's how high I rate the above songs in terms of challenging in the chart. )

    It also does not make them all great songs , it just means that in one week more people wanted to buy that song than any other song in the world.
    Obviously that Mika track is great to many , and absolute garbage to others .
    Knowing Mika and his management team , they knew this months ago , and have worked hard in raising his profile . He is going to polarise opinion , and none of us are right or wrong .

    Now where is my ARCADE FIRE CD ?

  • Comment number 13.

    Where are my arcade fire tickets?? Why wont they get themselves over here?? I hope they are at whatever festival I dedicate myself to next year. I seriously cannot get enough of that band.

  • Comment number 14.

    not sure if the first few posts are joking about the whole 'kids watching the video' thing.. if not then its only a guy in pants... for me the song is far to ripped off 'walking on broken glass' by annie lennox and 'heaven is a place on earth' by belinda carlisle... actually on listening to the latter again its ridiculous.. if ur gonna rip on a track at least reference it in some way..

  • Comment number 15.

    It's a fun song, and I admire what he does because he doesn't particularly care what people think, but after a while the choir, the bombastic arrangement, the fluffyhappyrainbow image and dance-in-my-pants stuff grates a bit. If you take the OTT stuff away you have a great song that would stand better on its own. The song's like a graceful, floaty ballon that's been gilded in lead. Flufyhappyrainbow lead.
    One thing that amazes me is that my dad - a testosterone-fuelled, Bruce Springsteen-loving, Working Class Man's man - loves it. I'm glad he does. Whenever Love Today came on, his thoughts became increasingly more dark.

    In Chart matters, top 10. Would love to see Mini Viva at number one.

  • Comment number 16.

    To summarise , in my opinion , battling for next weeks number 1 will be
    JAY Z
    PIXIE LOTT
    MIKA
    MINI VIVA

    One of these tracks will be number 1 . But which one ? It's gonna be close !

  • Comment number 17.

    Im predicting itll be Jay Z.

  • Comment number 18.

    I think Mika is great and what he is doing is not wrong. Yes, he is dancing around in his underwear, but don't we all?
    That's the point he is trying to make, as he has said in many interviews I have heard. The point is when you're 16 years old and the world is giving you hell, you can turn to something - in Mika's case music - and give yourself the feeling of value. The director of the video asked Mika how would he dance, to which he replied "Either naked, or in my underwear." The concept is simple, and it actually quite genius. (I'd watch the making of the video on his blog, he'll explain it better than I can :P )

    Anyway, dancing around in his underwear is not sick at all. They will show any other woman - from Lady GaGa to the pussy cat dolls - dancing around in their bra and knickers, so why is it so wrong when a man does it as well?

    Stop making a fuss. LISTEN to what Mika is saying in interviews, THEN say it's sick.

    I've bought the single, LOVE it to bits, and have now pre-ordered the album. I have a feeling it's going to be one of the greatest albums I have ever heard. As was his first album...

  • Comment number 19.

    I am in total agreement with you there, eyespyme. No. 4 in charts, never doubt the Spirit Warrior. He said Pixie Lott for number one and she is. Got skills.

  • Comment number 20.

    Whered he say that?

  • Comment number 21.

    Can't believe the gorgeous Liam is doubting me !

    532 ON RYBAK .

    I said TEMPER TRAP and NNEKA would be top 20 hits. (Can someone please enlighten me on their positions ? )

    Months ago I said FRIENDLY FIRES would have their first TOP 30 hit with KISS OF LIFE .

    Can anyone tell me it's peak position ?

    Lets not mention JAY Z and THE SUGABABES !

    This SUNDAY , TAIO CRUZ or MADONNA for number one , and then on SUNDAY the 27th of september , it will probably be SHAKIRA !

    Hope that's ok ?

    Now if I could only sort out the rest of my life , and /or have the ability to predict winning lottery numbers , and create world peace before breakfast tomorrow , I'll be sorted !

    lol

  • Comment number 22.

    Oh and I cant find your Pixie Lott number 1 prediction. Comment 32 on Alexander is -

    "Regarding my comment 516 .

    I now believe Temper Trap could be a top 20 hit if it gets airplay .

    And I have found out the identity of the second song I like.

    It's NNEKA with HEARTBEAT .

    A top 20 hit , it will be !!!!"


    But on Temper Trap... I think its the best song to be released in a long time.

  • Comment number 23.

    Well NNEKA and TEMPER TRAP are now deservedly top 20 hits , and Kiss of LIFE , mysteriously debuted at 30 !

    That did freak me out a little .

    Liam you deserve credit for enlightening on SWEET DISPOSITION .

    A fantastic song !!!

    Agreed !

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