Oh, go on then. One last elimination before I turn the lights out...
9
SCORE: 9.155
11/10 x 3
@AlexD @Remyky22 @Laura Vanderbooben
Highest Score: 10 x 30 (
@Sprockrooster @push the button @Alouder98 @Sam de Jour @KAG @JamesJupiter @ericcccc @2014 @Beginner @kermit_the_frog @scottdisick94 @AllGagaLike @WarmBlood11 @enjoy @Syzygyz @constantino @Terminus @Rogue @Oceandrive @Subwaykid @strangekin @Lost In Japan. @PLUTO @Can't Speak French @aaronhansome @Petty Mayonnaise @ohnostalgia @ohdenny @K94 @that boy is a monster
Lowest Score: 4 x 1 (
@Itty Bitty Piggy)
My Score: 9.5/10
I'm actually surprised that this lasted as long as it did, and with as little backlash for lasting as long as it did. I'll repeat what I said about it the last time I did a rate with "XO" in it: it kind of falls into a weird space where current Beyoncé fans probably find it okay and score it accordingly, but fans of old Beyoncé latch onto it as a lifeline and adore it. I think I'm somewhere in between. Has she outgrown songs like this? Perhaps. Does Beyoncé still sell it to hell and back? Yes.
I feel like this doesn’t get enough credit for how special it is and instead has become the pariah for everyone who thinks Beyoncé is “beneath” pop music when the reality is that it will always be a part of her, and the way she imbues this with so much feeling is proof. Her soft, slightly grainy vocal (thanks, bronchitis) works perfectly to give the song this bittersweet feeling, like the love she’s talking about is fleeting, so they need to hold onto it for as long as they can. Singing it with her on what was essentially the first night of the tour for this album was so special as well. Eh, I don’t know. I get the complaints about it, but sometimes you just need to let a song dazzle you and not front about it. It’s gorgeous, and her voice on the first verse is one of the most beautiful vocal moments of her career. Let me be soft and warm for a second.
We open with 11/10 giver,
Remyky22, " the philosophy of living in the moment summed up in a short and sweet sparkling ball of magic, glimmering the same way as the moment when you see the person you love under the lights in a club. And this feeling of deep infatuation that drives you to love because you know that you may fall out of love in the very next moment (because it's one of the forces you cannot control), has been one of the most overused ideas in pop music, and a very difficult one to pull off successfully. This makes the song even more impressive. It shines like a falling star, leaving a short trail behind it, but when it shines, it shines larger than life, eternal in its transience and epic in its tininess." Jesus Christ sis it's only the opening paragraph of the write up and you're killing us like this?
"A highlight in her discography. Such an amazing, euphoric track." proclaims
munro.
FresherThanYou gets his Xs and Os up, "Love this track so much! Has a special place in my heart." and
KAG is similarly all up in his feelings, "This is genuinely pop perfection to me. It's got great melody, a killer chorus and robust production. I also think its message of loving someone unconditionally is incredibly heartwarming and one everyone can relate to, or at least strive for, and Beyoncé sounds fantastic as she always does." while
joe_alouder gets wistful, "It's such a song full of life but also melancholy at how fleeting it all is. I love it and it's a classic." However, it ain't shit to
IMHO, who was actually one of the lowest scorers of the song at 6.5/10, "This has just never hit me in the feels like it has for some many others. I appreciate it well enough but, overall, something about it feels quite small and anonymous, leaving me a little cold."
Sprockrooster moves on the mess of the last elimination to... another mess, "Such a much-needed breath of fresh air on this album." Disaster. "Ryan Tedder is a master at building up songs to a perfect a climax and this song proves that. A joyous middle-8 and that full speed final chorus lift this to a solid 10." Okay, not too bad this time.
Oceandrive awards full marks and shades the intolerant video in the process, " Homophobic Queen of Pop." Oh God, remember when that was a thing? Gays, if you want representation in the video, you should have gone to the fair the day Beyoncé was shooting. She made up for it in "All Night" after all.
ohnostalgia gets personal, "I used to put this on repeat during my aforementioned breakdown and for a few minutes everything was okay." You should try the version HAIM did for extra feels. K94 gives it every mark he can and labels it, "Pure euphoria." while
ThighHighs grabs the tissues, "Not ashamed to say I've had a cry to this one. The best parts of love in one song."
I want to actually close with resident Ryan Tedder stan
Beginner, who didn't give this his 11/10, but with this commentary, he might as well have, " Most songs on the charts are about crushes, unrequited love, first dates, and break ups. There are probably a hundred times more songs about relationships before marriage than there are about ones after marriage. And I don't blame them: I'm sure it's hard to write exciting songs about being married the same way it's hard to keep being married exciting as the years go by.
I think this song is so emotionally dense because Ryan Tedder and Beyonce both brought years of marriage and experience raising children to the table when they wrote it. They both know what it's like to fall in love and fall out of love while still being committed to make it work--because even though you might not like your spouse some days, that love doesn't die out. They did a fantastic job of summing up those years of experiences into a three and a half minute song, and threw in some pretty great hooks while they were at it.
I see this and All Night as sister songs. This was the "I know what you've done and I forgive you and I love you" song a few years before we got Lemonade."
"XO" was swiftly included in the encore of the Mrs Carter Show Tour, as the first leg ended just as the album dropped. Below, I've included the first ever performance where her vocals shake a little, she fucks up the lyrics, and generally is a bit of an endearing mess (as much of a mess as Beyoncé can be) because she's just dropped the album of her career out of nowhere and she
finally gets to share it with everyone and it begins here. It also got a high profile performance at the Brit Awards in 2014, which was also included. Enjoy!
