Get Me Bodied vs. Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

i have not heard the UNRELEASED single "single ladies (put a ring on it)" but its name makes it sound unnecessarily browbeating

Tracer Hand otm. "Get Me Bodied" is so euphoric.

vocally, sure

"Get Me Bodied" is really euphoric in one critical spot that is totally awesome and massively overshadows everything else in the song. "Single Ladies" doesn't reach the same peak but the entire performance is more consistent, leading to a more satisfying listening experience; I want to dance the whole time I'm listening to it, whereas with "Get Me Bodied" I just want to fast-forward to the awesome bridge and then turn it off (unless I'm watching the video).

I like that "Get Me Bodied" is just a really energetic and catchy vocal over a brittle rhythm track that doesn't have any real melodic backing. I think "Single Ladies" would sound better that way, actually, I kind of hate that ominous synth line in the second half of the chorus, it really makes the whole browbeating vibe of the lyrics even more overbearing.

I don't find the vocal line to "Get Me Bodied" to be particularly catchy considering most of it is monotone shouting.

One needed a video to get me hyped, the other didn't.

― Barack You Like A Husseincane (HI DERE), Monday, January 26, 2009 3:08 PM (52 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^otm except for the opposite songs to you! really wasn't feeling 'single ladies' until the dance routine appeared and became this ubiquitous pop culture thing. really 'get me bodied' is just a better track, there's more variation in it and beyoncé rides the hiccupy beat better.

and the thing is, the video/dancing for 'get me bodied' is better than the video/dancing for 'single ladies'! the section from 2.5mins is A+ and i love how she breaks it down w/all the instructions in the extended version. v disappointed that "do the naomi campbell walk! the naomi campbell walk!" does not involve throwing swarovski-encrusted mobile phones at people though.

(bah non-embedded)

IMO there's a great tension and release thing going on when the kind of monotonous verses give way to the "why you standin' on the wall" part and then all the harmonies going on in the chorus and the bridge.

haha I really really REALLY hate the "Single Ladies" dance routine and think the choreographer who came up with it should be taken out and shot in the knees (unless, as I suspect, it was actually done by a 10-year-old)

xp: I don't know, I just don't buy "Get Me Bodied" without the visual component. The whole song is brimming with energy but it just seems complacent to me until it hits the bridge. (Part of this may be because I think the best song on that album is "Ring The Alarm", which does a similar thing musically only with deranged lyrics, a siren and a completely out-of-left-field modal switch in the bridge.)

To me this is kind of a reverse David vs. Goliath thing...."Get Me Bodied" was a deep cut that got a lot of radio/club play and kind of became a sleeper hit and was eventually released as something like the 8th single off its album and didn't chart very hihg. Then "Single Ladies" comes out as a lead single from the next album sounding very similar but (in my opinion) not as good, and shoots to #1 everywhere and places high on critics' lists.

"why you standin' on the wall"

i love how she gets all mystikal on that line

tbh I thought a lot of B-Day was incredibly half-assed. Most of the songs seemed unfinished, unfocused or confused and I wasn't as impressed with Beyonce's voice as I was when Dangerously In Love came out, so I wasn't handwaving things that irritated me about the way the songs were put together to luxuriate in her dulcet pipes (because really that's the only explanation for how hard I used to rep for "Naughty Girl"). I really liked "Deja-Vu", I LOVED "Ring The Alarm", and everything else... um. "Flaws and All" was nice...?

(full disclosure, I should really say "a lot of what I heard off of B-Day" because I never heard the full album due to hating the singles after "Ring The Alarm" so much)

I don't find the vocal line to "Get Me Bodied" to be particularly catchy considering most of it is monotone shouting.

idk it's a monotone but i love the tension of it all - it's so rigorous, it brooks no nonsense and never lets up, not even when the tension releases in the bridge - 'single ladies' by contrast feels a tad sloppy, probably because of that lurching synth line which i could really do without. (the bridge of 'single ladies' is definitely the least fun bit of the song.)

xps, yeah what al said

(i also think 'ring the alarm' is the best track on b'day but i don't see it as particularly comparable to 'get me bodied' - the arrangement might be similar but that's true of most of the album, and her rigorous dance instructor vocal approach to GMB is so different to the deranged scorned hellcat of RTA. though you might be able to tell me this, dan - i've always wondered wtf she is doing with her voice, technically, on the chorus of RTA, it sounds like there's lots of weird tonal shit going on but i don't know exactly what.)

I like that "Get Me Bodied" is just a really energetic and catchy vocal over a brittle rhythm track that doesn't have any real melodic backing. I think "Single Ladies" would sound better that way,

"single ladies" couldn't be much more minimal! i didn't realize just how minimal and amelodic the track is until i heard an instrumental though.

anyway these are more reasons why 'get me bodied' is better:

- drop down low and sweep the floor with it
- do the uh-oh, do the uh-oh, do the uh-oh-uh-oh-uh-oh-oh-no-no
- pat your weave, ladies, pat, pat, pat your weave ladies, watch it while he check up on it
- tick, tick, tick-tick-fight
- pose for the camera now, flick, flick
- do an old school dance, an old school dance
- stop! now cool off, cool off, drop! now cool off, cool off
- wine it back girl, wine it back girl, make your hair touch the floor, wine it back girl
- drop to your knees, arch your back girl, shake, shake it like that alleycat
- shake your derrière in them dereons
- do the scissorleg, touch your heel touch your toes, do the scissorleg
- do the naomi campbell walk! the naomi campbell walk! walk across the room like naomi campbell!
- snap for the kids, snap for the kids, snap for them suckas three times
- touch your body while you touch my body, we touching bodies tonight

though you might be able to tell me this, dan - i've always wondered wtf she is doing with her voice, technically, on the chorus of RTA, it sounds like there's lots of weird tonal shit going on but i don't know exactly what.

It isn't actually that weird, harmonically; she's harmonizing a minor chord but it's in the second position, meaning that the root note of the chord (the main melody line) is in the middle, the fifth of the chord is below it (the second vocal line that comes in) and the minor third is on top (the last vocal line that comes in). It's considered to be a very unstable-sounding spelling of the chord because the fifth on the bottom wants to resolve down to the root; that's part of what adds to the tension and urgency of the choruses (the other being the nasal edge she puts on her vocals to really make them buzz through the sound-effects and the shrill synth chords).

it's "tick-tick-fight"? wtf. I could never figure out what she was saying there, my best guess was "take flight" but the move in the video didn't seem to correspond to that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_chord

for visual reference (2nd inversion pic)

there is a jump up to a respelling in the root position in there, too, that I never really noticed before

xp: It's absolutely "tick-tick-fight" as is made clear by the video

lol sorry that sounded snotty because I didn't see you'd mentioned the video

as an instrumental Single Ladies > Get Me Bodied which is merely percussion (because B is doing a lot more there than on SL(PAROI) sure). i tend to value production in this way and want the music to be as substantial as the vocals (if not more so). that is why i personally prefer Single Ladies.

really? the instrumental of "single ladies" doesn't really even make sense without the vocals, as great as the beat is.

as an instrumental Single Ladies > Get Me Bodied which is merely percussion

lol this is like saying "the beat to 'Grindin'' is merely percussion"

"merely percussion" makes a backing track

I meant a great backing track, but whatever

i dont mind that its so minimal although beyonce isnt exactly the type of melodicist that can make you forget how minimal it is.

single ladies sounds really minimal to me. in a way i like it but i could do with more synths.

the instrumental of "single ladies" doesn't really even make sense without the vocals, as great as the beat is

so how much less sense does 'get me bodied' make without vox?

'Grindin' had the drip-drop melodic thing at least

when DJs use the instrumental as a music bed to just play out or talk over on the radio, i think "Get Me Bodied" sounds a lot better and still sounds danceable.

grindin was a hip hop track though - you dont necessarily need much melody for a hip hop beat.

in fact the less melody, the better.

that's what i'm saying, single ladies isn't much less minimal than get me bodied, except for the bridge! there are more synths but they're basically being used as percussion sounds.

xp

If you're not hearing Beyonce in the context of hip-hop pop, I have no idea how you're hearing her.

so how much less sense does 'get me bodied' make without vox?

it's weird, i totally love the "single ladies" backing track when it's working with the vocal, but it's almost annoying as an instrumental. whereas "get me bodied" just sounds like any ol' beat.

that is the context im hearing her, but id like to hear her in more of a pop context than a hip hop one ;)

but being synths they increase the sound palette, puncutate as events and crucially are a bit more inspiring than looped handclaps (xposts). at least that's the kind of sound i'm more into - irrespective of what's on top of that vocally.

tbh when the first whirring synths come in on Single Ladies it reminds me of a sound from early 90s Amiga game S.W.I.V. and that is probably the #1 reason i heart it

those synths remind me of a david lynch movie, the darkness

i just love that part so much

the handclaps make me think of some sweaty, friendly afterhours club, so i like them a lot

"get me bodied" also sounds to me like a coming-out gay anthem with its feeling of liberation, the joyful shout outs about being yourself, letting go, finally just getting out there and being you.

sub-question: which of these songs shoehorns in a mention of House of Deréon more awkwardly?

I don't think I've noticed the Dereon mention in "Single Ladies", so the other one. "Ring the Alarm" probably wins on that score, tho.

anyway these are more reasons why 'get me bodied' is better:

- drop down low and sweep the floor with it
- do the uh-oh, do the uh-oh, do the uh-oh-uh-oh-uh-oh-oh-no-no
- pat your weave, ladies, pat, pat, pat your weave ladies, watch it while he check up on it
- tick, tick, tick-tick-fight
- pose for the camera now, flick, flick
- do an old school dance, an old school dance
- stop! now cool off, cool off, drop! now cool off, cool off
- wine it back girl, wine it back girl, make your hair touch the floor, wine it back girl
- drop to your knees, arch your back girl, shake, shake it like that alleycat
- shake your derrière in them dereons
- do the scissorleg, touch your heel touch your toes, do the scissorleg
- do the naomi campbell walk! the naomi campbell walk! walk across the room like naomi campbell!
- snap for the kids, snap for the kids, snap for them suckas three times
- touch your body while you touch my body, we touching bodies tonight

― lex pretend, Monday, January 26, 2009 10:35 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

reasons why single ladies is better:

- it has a chorus

get me bodied has a chorus!

to be less trolly: i think there's a reason why single ladies is/was huge and get me bodied was just a deep cut and that's because the single ladies chorus is really immediate and noticeable and forceful (helped by the way it double tracks when it comes back around)

"Single Ladies" definitely has more of a big major lead single hit event song vibe, and in that sense I understand why it's a bigger song, but it also contributes a bit to my dislike for it.

for that matter, I dislike a lot of her/DC's lead singles (Deja Vu and Lose My Breath especially) for their kind of stifling lead-singley-ness.

yeah i've been ambivalent at best at every big beyonce single before "single ladies" that i can remember aside from "irreplaceable", and aside from me being an unrepentant tricky/dream stan, this one seems way less canned than those (esp. "lose my breath" ugh) and genuinely not-of-the-times in terms of top 40, even tho it is immediately a rewrite of some b'day shit

"get me bodied" also sounds to me like a coming-out gay anthem with its feeling of liberation

weird, this reading never occurred to me - lyrically i can see it but the beat and b's performance are so tense and rigid, it's all about not stepping out of line to me, about working and working and working to get the moves right, even in the middle 8. actually this is the key difference between sasha fierce and her previous uptempo work to me, the sasha fierce tracks are coded much gayer (even 'single ladies', check the no of youtube gays doing the dance as evidence) - it's her drag queen alter ego, really.

It's weird to me how "If I Were a Boy", which kinda screems "3rd single -- Now we are entering the Ballad Zone" took off before "Single Ladies" did.

lex otm about drag queen alter egos

maybe you should watch the video for <a href=";>"bye bye bye"</a> again

d'oh

btw lex what would be the best video from "i am..."? no way it's IIWAB

'diva' > 'if i were a boy' > 'single ladies' >>>>>>>>>>>>> 'halo'

Thank you, croup. Sorry for the blatant pulling of rank, but as likely the only paid choreographer on ILM, DP is mad incorrect about that (although I agree about Bey getting away with not being a tremendously great dancer on the basis of hot). I'll go into more detail when I can watch youtube.

hahahaha yes okay I think I completely conflated the "Making The Video" episode with the actual video, plus I conflated the dancing in "Bye Bye Bye" with the dancing in "Pop" and the dancing on "So You Think You Can Dance"

so basically there's one move they do in the cube that I thought was cool and the rest of it makes "Single Ladies" look like "Swan Lake"

Britney - pick any dance video pre: "Gimme More"
'NSync - Bye Bye Bye, Pop
Janet Jackson - pick a video, any video (except "Love Will Never Do (Without You)")
Usher - pick a video, any video (esp "My Way", "Caught Up", "U Don't Have To Call")
Xtina - "Dirrty", "Candyman", "Come On Over"
Madonna - pick a video, any video
Michael Jackson - pick a video, any video
Missy Elliott - "Work It", "Pass That Dutch", "Lose Control", "Ching Ching"

Hmm... I defer to you, I don't know anything about good dance vs. bad dance. But excluding a couple of Madonna videos, I'd take "Single Ladies" over all of these.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i just realized that "get me bodied" sounds a lot like sean paul, at least for the beats and the choruses - i've never seen the video but i actually picture it all happening down in that ad-hoc basement dancefloor in the "get busy" video. it's like beyonce finally decidced to turn up afterhours, after putting some facetime in at the sleek superclubs

owen is right about the single ladies video. the whole thing is just as great on snl too btw

btw rev you're a paid choreographer? dope

I still think that Beyonce's finest dancing moment was her bust-pump during the Sean Paul rap in the VMA performance of "Baby Boy" back in 2003.

My housemates and I spent some time trying to perfect that.

"Single Ladies" is pretty close though. It's the monomania of the video clip's focus on her dancing that pushes it so far.

Yeah also rev I now worship my idea of you.

actually the best beyonce dance is the one where she smacks her head like she has an itchy weave. there is a clip of it in this hilarious video by rich of four four fame

wow perfect preview point

this one?

xp

really sean paul couldn't make it out for the vmas huh?

at least for the beats and the choruses

sorry, meant to say beats and VERSES

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

ha!

too many people drinkin the koolaid

Yeah also rev I now worship my idea of you.

― Tim F, Wednesday, January 28, 2009 3:03 AM Bookmark

My life isn't that awesome. I am, after all, an interweb nerd.

i meant to post this earlier, but i was really just hoping "Bodied" would get at least half as many votes as "Single," so this is cool with me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIr8-f2OWhs

INDIE WINS!!!! GUITARS!!!!

SO AMAZING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-GssCjko1Q

that is p seamlessly done musicwise

omg is there an mp3? ysi?

dirpy.com

wonderful

http://craphound.com/images/beyonceblocked.jpeg

didn't put my video mash-up of Single Ladies over FlyLo's 'Melt!' on YT because figured it would be taken down quickly but here's an mp3

Congratulation to Beyonce

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb9eL3ejXmE

DAMN, KILT HIS DREAMS

haaaaa

loooool

:D

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj21/Yukant_Seame/u-mad1.jpg

would totally kiw that family tho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjehii-jjHE

someone sent this to me and I watched it, now my youtube recommendations are all "since you watched little girls going hard," just an FYI