Is it possible for me to write this blog without bringing up one of the most popular and controversial songs of my tweenhood? Its time to face the elephant in the room, and his name is Justin Bieber.
The first five seconds of this song sent shivers of nostalgia down my back, not going to lie. It took me a little bit of conducting to realize just how fast this song is. According to my metronome, “Baby” clocks in at around 132 BPM, which any classical musician would easily classify as allegro. The fast pace gives listeners the illusion of movement, even though theres not really anything too interesting going on in the details.
It starts off with a simple piano rhythm and Justin singing some sweet sweet runs to give the audience a feel for the general chord progression of the song, which rarely changes. After our listeners are on board with the chord progression, Justin can begin singing his wildly egotistical lyrics, which rightfully start with the bold words “I know you love me.” This case is similar to Ariana Grande’s in that the lyrics were so iconic that they didn’t need a whole lot of background instruments. In this song’s peculiar minimalism, the producers chose to include some “woah woah”s in the background vocals and an extremely fast bass-drum-and-hand-claps rhythm that we all know and love. Justin is also accompanied by very faint guitar, which embellishes with tinny rhythms mirroring the piano introduction. This texture remains thin until the build, when everything cuts out and then grows suddenly in what I can only describe as a spaceship’s imitation of a piano glissando (0:43).
Once Justin enters the chorus and sings his most profound lyrics of all time, “baby, baby, baby, oh,” the background instrumentals start to get a tad more complicated. The same bass drum rhythm is being played, but its now accompanied by some sort of shaker. This instrument plays on every single sixteenth note, which puts just that one rhythm at a staggering 528 BPM. It is because of this miscellaneous fast sound that the music has any sort of excitement. Without it, we would be left with a now-boring drum beat, a synthesizer melody on the downbeats, and Justin’s vocals, which are the same three notes over and over. The sixteenth notes push the music forward and add some sort of much-needed chaos to the music, but its quiet enough that its almost undetectable. To get us ready for verse number two, the producers use the funky spaceship sound again.
This time, the verse has a bit more oomph. Instead of just percussion, background vocals, and conservative guitar part, a new, more electric sounding guitar plays the piano motif we heard in the beginning. Not much in this verse is different, though, except for when it comes to the build into the chorus. Last time, all we really heard was a slight crescendo, but this time around, the texture completely cuts out while Justin dips low in his range. At about 1:36, the dramatic silence makes listener’s ears perk up in anticipation for the chorus.
I’d like to say that Justin doesn’t disappoint after this build-up in energy, but this chorus is almost exactly the same as the first one. I love a good structural crescendo, but Justin and his producers seem to think that repetition is key.
So thats “Baby.” The song is catchy as anything, and I believe the producers knew that this song would be scream-sang by fans instead of analyzed by a freshman music major at Penn State, because they did not give me a lot to work with. Moral of the story: Egotistical teenagers with a catchy melody are literally unstoppable with a boring enough accompaniment.
As I read, I found myself waiting for you to share some insight into a hidden complexity that I’d never considered, as you have with so many of your posts. But nope. I’m relieved that my assessment (and subsequent dismissal) of the song when it first came out wasn’t in ignorance. I’ve never understood the appeal that comes with a song as monotonous as this.