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noizemagazine - Index

noizemagazine - noiZe Magazine Issue 60 May 2009 - Index

by Jamie Nicholes
Britney Spears
If U Seek Amy
This one deserves an award
for her greatest F-you to pop
radio. Honestly, when I heard
“Womanizer,” I was a little disappointed.
After all the media frenzy
and the video for “Piece of Me,” I
got pretty used to everything she
did actually having meaning for a
change, and being line-by-line specific
to her life and her distaste for
the celebrity culture that was slowly
killing her. So when something
as safe and tepid as “Womanizer”
kicked off her comeback album, I
was left wondering whether pop
success has to equate to complete
removal of personal relevance.
And sadly it seemed to: Circus
followed. I hoped at least for the
title to be a metaphor for the craziness
that she’d been through, but
instead it was just another “hey
everybody, look at me, let’s dance”
insta-hit. But Brit’s finally calmed the
crowds enough to throw a little controversy
back into the mix. “If U Seek Amy”
is by far one of her cleverest songs yet,
and even if it’s a little cheap and trashy,
its “oh, damn...” factor renders all that
irrelevant. Essentially an excuse to say
on mainstream radio that, “all of the
boys and all of the girls are beggin’
to F-U-C-K me,” the song uses quick
elocution to deliver the homophonic
phrase and give the finger to the apple
pie/Lolita image that brought her to an
impossible level of fame.
The video takes the sentiment even
further and has Brit tip-toeing around
like a 5-year old wearing her mother’s
makeup and heels and silently radiating
the words, “look what I’m getting away
with...” I was never a Britney fan, but
after this one, I just might be able to say
that I am without wincing.
44
Happy Am I! Healthy Am I! holy Am I!