Roll Deep - 'Green Light'
Ah I see what's going on here. This is less a song - in the sense of something one can enjoy while sitting in a comfortable chair, sipping something fizzy and luxuriating in the sensory delight - and more a SONG - something one can use as a soundtrack to dancefloor fun - it's a LOT of fun - including acting out the lyrics, pointing at people you fancy and mouthing the words, and generally using as a script for flirting.
You can also then use it as a kind of memory trigger, once you're in that chair and you've got your pop, cos every line will trigger a visual image - that club, that boy, that girl and What Happened Next - some of which will maybe provoke a smile, others a grimace. It's all there to be played with.
Of course, if you don't use it for the purpose it was designed, it's not really going to work very well.
(. Naturally there are cars and traffic lights in it.)
Lyrically, it has its metaphor, which is that getting up close and intimate with someone is a bit like crossing the road, or stopping at a busy juction, when you are in a car. As with all songs that have a strong everyday metaphor for sexual matters, there are points where it works and there are points where they end up stretching their idea so thinly that nobody is entirely sure what it is they are talking about.
Case in point: "I follow the Green Cross Code when I cross the road" Which, in a club situation, means...er...you don't want to get run over by the bouncers?
We should also count ourselves lucky that no-one in Roll Deep wanted to explore the full meaning of a red light in this analogy. Or worse, amber! What use would a cocky, flirty song like this have with the idea of someone being forced to wait a short while, maybe revving their engine a bit to pass the time. I mean, yes, that could correlate to your chosen quarry having to pop to the loo, but is that something we really want to have to think about while dancing? It is not.
Especially not in a song which gives full, endless, free voice to the side of our personalities which is all about wish-fulfilment. See a girl, have a drink, put on a light, squeeze a lime...it's all about instant gratification.
And from the immaculate pop chorus to the dirty, writing bass, that's exactly what the Deep provide.
Download: 15th August
91Èȱ¬ Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
"Super super work by Wiley and the gang"
"The song contrasts Roll Deep's street savvy lyrical twists with a throbbing electro bassline and the guest vocalist's hook driven vocals."
Comment number 1.
At 15th Aug 2010, U14429597 wrote:This song has grown on me massively in the past week. I love the chorus but not so much the verses. The rappers just seem like filler to build up the listeners anticipation for the banging chorus. Plus one of the rappers says 'skirts a bit high above the knees' - I NEVER though I'd hear a rapper say that O.o
3.5 Stars
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Comment number 2.
At 15th Aug 2010, OddOne wrote:2 stars. It's dire.
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Comment number 3.
At 15th Aug 2010, Haducon2 wrote:Not given 1 star to a song in awhile...so I'll do it now.
Nothing more embarrassing than a bunch of past-it 'rappers' trying to be cool, surprise westwood hasn't joined in (he isn't exactly a rapper I know)
1 star
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Comment number 4.
At 15th Aug 2010, OddOne wrote:Well as I'm not the only person who despises it - I'll show my real sentiments on it.
0.5 STARS
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Comment number 5.
At 16th Aug 2010, f1fantic wrote:My views on the Top 40 this week are:
1. Flo Rida ft David Guetta/ Club Can't Handle Me- A good song and a third no1 for Flo Rida, fourth for Guetta.
2. Eminem ft Rihanna/ Love The Way You Lie- This song was bound to climb higher when the music video was released. It's an all right song, good vocals for Rihanna.
3. The Saturdays/ Missing You- missing out on that No1 again to Flo-Rida after being top of the midweek chart, it's an good song and talking about missing someone.
4. Yolanda Be Cool & D-Cup/ We No Speak Americano- This song will be around for a while.
5. Ne-Yo/Beautiful Monster- A four place drop for Ne-Yo, it's good
6. Travie McCoy ft Bruno Mars/ Billionaire- McCoy not good, Mars brillant
7. B.O.B ft Hayley Williams/ Airplanes- good song, one of the songs of the year.
8. The WANTED/ All Time Low- Rip-off boy band, trying to be like JLS, it won't work, their song is rubbish. 0.01 STARS/10, hopefully a one-hit wonder.
9. Eliza Doolittle/ Pack Up- Brillant, a calm song, good to listen to
10. Tinchy Stryder/ In My System- Expected this song to be at least Top5. Well done Tinchy
11. Swedish House Mafia ft Pharrell/ One (Your Name)- a catchy dance tune, done well to get Pharrell to help out.
12. Katy Perry ft Snoop Dogg/California Gurls- One of the best summer songs ever!!!.
13. Jason DeRulo/What If- Maybe DeRulo's prefect Top3 seqence, might end, should make Top10 next week, a slow-burner, still good.
14. Magnetic Man ft AngelaHunte/I Need Air- People might find it annoying, but it's a good song to dance to.
15. Example/Kickstarts- UP1 thius week, chart for 9 weeks, srill a good song.
16. The Hoosiers/Choices- not sure about this, a bit repetive,
17. Enrique Iglesias ft Pitbull/ I Like It- Brillant, best song since Takin' Back My Love which reached No11.
18. Mark Ronson &The Business Intl/Bang Bang Bang- Good to see Ronson back.
19. Ellie Goulding/ The Writer- a second Top20 hit for Ellie.
20. Usher ft Pitbull/ DJ Got Us Falling In Love- No video
9,
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Comment number 6.
At 16th Aug 2010, f1fantic wrote:21. Commander- still good.
22. Alejandro- GaGa will stay in the charts, good
23. Stereo Love- 14 weeks in the charts, good dance tune
24. Not Afraid- good song from Eminem
25. Just Be Good To Green- sounds a bit too much like Eminem
26. All The Lovers- Kylie back to her best
27. Golddust- rubbish
28. Gettin' Over You- another good collabration from Guetta
29. Prayin'- not the best from Plan B
30. Frisky- brillant
31. Brainwashed- first top 40 hit for Devlin
32. The Club Is Alive- good 33. Find Your Love- surprised this hasn't charted higher,
34. Hey Soul Sister- 19 weeks still good
35. OMG- good comeback song from Usher and good vocals from Will.I.Am
36. My First Kiss- catchy
37. She Said- 20 weeks, one of the songs that just won't go away
38. Ridin' Solo- brillant, from DeRulo
39. Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)- good song, from Shakira, good World Cup song but talking about Africa celebrating.
40. Try Sleeping With An Broken Heart- brillant ballad from Alicia Keys.
So wot do u think people?
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Comment number 7.
At 16th Aug 2010, Haducon2 wrote:Ahem, never thought I'd hear 'Frisky' and the word brilliant in the same sentence...what an awful song...
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Comment number 8.
At 16th Aug 2010, OddOne wrote:I agree on that sentiment Haducon, as do most people with ears.
But Tinie's new single 'Written In The stars' is actually very good. It has a huge chorus and doesn't sound like 'Frisky' or 'Pass Out' at all, and the lyrical content has improved vastly.
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Comment number 9.
At 16th Aug 2010, kutox wrote:Well I love Frisky with a passion, and I'm very glad I do. In fact it's one of my favourite songs of the year.
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Comment number 10.
At 17th Aug 2010, spirit wrote:Coming back to Roll Deep , it's that uplifting melodic chorus that is the huge commercial tour de force of the song .
This should be a top 10 song and could easily challenge for number 1 , given the mainstream appeal it has.
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Comment number 11.
At 22nd Aug 2010, spirit wrote:NUMBER 1 !
Mainstream appeal it has ! lol
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Comment number 12.
At 22nd Aug 2010, Haducon2 wrote:Darn! I JUST posted my anger at them getting to number on the Jedward thread.
Seriously, what an injustice! It just keeps escaping Eminem EVERY week!
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Comment number 13.
At 23rd Aug 2010, OddOne wrote:It's still crap though. I mean, considering how poor this year's #1's have been, 'Green Light' just adds to the pile of discardable trash.
Bring on 'Dynamite'....
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