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

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

tracer hand otm, those feelings of liberation and inhibition-releasing are one of the biggest reasons i love beyonce and also, for example, kevin barnes

btw thanx dan for the RTA stuff! dredging through my memory for grade v music theory, it's nice that it's still there.

I think after "Irreplaceable" she thought releasing a ballad w/ acoustic guitar as a lead single would be a big smash, but forgot that "Irreplaceable" had a beat and worked as well on urban radio as anywhere else. So that kind of seemed to have a slightly higher promotional priority than "Single Ladies," but then the latter ended up much more popular.

Yeah, "If I Were a Boy" sounds like it could just as easily be Taylor Swift as anything that gets played on urban radio.

"Single Ladies" definitely has more of a big major lead single hit event song vibe

it's easy to say this in retrospect but when it first emerged, wasn't everyone like "uhhh isn't this a tad weak?"

b wants to make her lead singles EVENTS so obviously, i admire that. it reinforces the precision-controlled nature of her career, and the vague feeling that she stays up at night plotting her world domination on, like, spreadsheets and shit. the only lead single she's been involved in which still doesn't scream EVENT is 'deja vu', though i still like it.

i sorta thought these were the same song tbh, in my head i just hear 'get me bodied, get me bodied, get me bodied ALL THE SINGLE LADIES'

back to the TS: Get Me Bodied by a landslide. Single Ladies needed the video and the pop culture juggernaut to get it to grow on me. All Get Me Bodied needed was one play.

"Get Me Bodied" is my favorite Beyonce song, period.

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

― Barack You Like A Husseincane (HI DERE)

v. otm - GBM sounds too cluttered, throwing everything to the wall, and totally loses momentum in the last half when she starts speak-singing. It starts reminding me of a louder version of that Lumidee song by that point, all that throw-away clapping. The wailing/shouting/lack of a chorus doesn't help either.

Single Ladies destroys it, no contest

Also lyrically speaking Single Ladies is a great, classic, pop song - a timeless message that will resonate with women worldwide cross-culturally (lol but true)

and the Mexican Breakfast / Gwen Verdon inspired rips of SL are much >>>> than the Sweet Charity rips of GMB

The soul-shouting is at least 45% of what is awesome about "Get Me Bodied"

also, god, speaking of the videos Beyonce's hair in Get Me Bodied just looks atrocious. wtf was she thinking?? this is important

The rest breaks down something like 45% double-dutch beats and 10% Swizz Beats adlibs

i dunno how to describe this but the part near the end when she sings "get me bodiiiiieeeedd" all high is so awesome

all of it is so awesome

yeah

truth be told i like this - song & videowise - better than either

haha lex "shoot your shot" by divine is pretty regimented too!!

good call on lumidee

GBM sounds too cluttered, throwing everything to the wall, and totally loses momentum in the last half when she starts speak-singing. It starts reminding me of a louder version of that Lumidee song by that point, all that throw-away clapping. The wailing/shouting/lack of a chorus doesn't help either.

Single Ladies destroys it, no contest

― Vichitravirya_XI, Tuesday, January 27, 2009 1:23 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

like i said, if you like the extended version better, think of that, if you like the shorter edit without the speak-singing at the end, think of that.

GBM sounds too cluttered, throwing everything to the wall, and totally loses momentum in the last half when she starts speak-singing. It starts reminding me of a louder version of that Lumidee song by that point, all that throw-away clapping. The wailing/shouting/lack of a chorus doesn't help either.

― Vichitravirya_XI, Tuesday, January 27, 2009 1:23 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^ I agree. GBM does have a pretty awesome money-shot, though, just before the extended part. "Baby all I want is to let it go..."

Either way, I don't lovelovelove either of these songs without the video. And "Single Ladies" is... perhaps my favourite video of all time.

Why is Beyonce dancing like a gimpy oversexed preteen candidate for "favorite video of all time"? I think almost every other video she's done is better than this one, including the ones for the songs I hate.

'single ladies' isn't even the best video from the sasha fierce campaign

the whole monochrome theme is dull and pointless (obv black and white fits the split-personality concept of the album but it's a naff cliche)

...really? I love that video so much I just assumed it was classic. It's pretty exhilarating, so well shot and choreographed. So often imitated!

Are you serious? That "Diva" video is shiiiii.

When I said "imitated", I meant "on the Youtube".

Yeah, watching a whole bunch of amateur dancers imitating an amateurishly-choreographed video is not my cup of tea.

amateurishly-choreographed

ok what

Yeah, watching a whole bunch of amateur dancers imitating an amateurishly-choreographed video is not my cup of tea.

― Barack You Like A Husseincane (HI DERE), Tuesday, January 27, 2009 3:33 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark

That's my cup of tea, for sure. Doesn't really apply to this video, tho.

Different opinions, cool, but what's your idea of pro dancers/pro choreography?

I mean: amateur dancers + amateur choreographers = Peter Greenaway = best.

Different opinions, cool, but what's your idea of pro dancers/pro choreography?

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"

The basic problem here, really, is that Beyonce isn't a good dancer.

(to be fair I'm not 100% convinced by "Come On Over")

HELLO PAULA ABDUL

ha yes, good call (not "Opposites Attract", tho)
J.Lo as well

I'm also trying to think of an Aaliyah video that I love because of the dancing and not because she is v.v. pretty.

Also, even though I hate him for the most part, Chris Brown.

Beyonce's dancing = Usher's singing
Beyonce's singing = Jacko's dancing

Her dancing isn't as good as Usher's singing! Come on now.

Her dancing is as good as Taylor Swift's singing; it's perfectly serviceable and enjoayble but no one other than a hyperfan is going to claim it ranks among the best and there are blatant moments where it's off.

you had me until Chris Brown. kid looks like he's having a seizure and really really enjoying it.

her singing isn't as good as michael's dancing!