The Atlantic - Latest Comments in Things we like for no good reason

Re: Things we like for no good reason

w&w — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:27:52 -0000

The beat for this song is bonkers -- it really gets pretty weird during the chorus when those unsettling synths swoop in. & the upbeat handclapping is a pretty undeniable call to dance.

But, and for some reason I don't really see this in the comments above, I get really hung up on the lyrics. Sure, I'm all for single-lady empowerment, but that seems so deeply undermined by the whole "shoulda put a ring on it" bit. No?

I dunno. For me it just smacks of ol fashioned territorializing -- if you like it, then you shoulda marked it as yours. Makes me think of dogs peeing.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

Catch — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:16:29 -0000

This video is a problem.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

sv — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:41:46 -0000

To me, she's great if you don't listen to the lyrics or the attitude at all. I'm not sure why but the stuff she (or that group she used to be in) talks about and the way she says it just reminds me of the dumb chicks back in school whom I disliked so much that I didn't even want to fuck them. Not that I'd ever have had a chance in hell anyway, but for me to not want to fuck a female when I was 15, especially a young pretty one, was really really saying something. She's like the epitome of female attitudes that I don't like - and I don't mean confident, that I like; I mean she's got this classic airhead prom-queen thing (no offense intended to prom queens) that really irks me somehow.

But this song is really good, the video is amazing, and she really is a classic beauty. Overall good for her.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

Adrienne — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:31:12 -0000

@shani:

No lie! I felt the same way. She was dancing harder than B was. And she murked it.

@zereyda:

The edit you saw wasn't from different takes it was from different camera angles. You can tell that it was one continuous take that was shot from more than one angle using different cameras.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

Beth — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:39:06 -0000

This is the first time I even heard this song, TNC, so the rocks can be thrown at my little old lady self. But I love it, and am having fun shaking my chunky white booty to it.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

Zereda — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:07:26 -0000

@ Rachel

I can believe that the video shoot took 12 hours or even longer, but there is no way that this video was a single take. You can clearly see the cuts where it was edited together.

I like the song! The video takes it to another level, in that it inspires me to get to the gym more often.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

Sabrina — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:29:00 -0000

I hate to wreck the party especially when it's just meant to show appreciation toward Beyonce but I have been thinking about this post and been re-visiting the comments a few times and now I feel the need to say that I think this video feels degrading to watch. Beyonce is beautiful and I think the choreography is really cool but I don't know, all the excitement for her (and her thighs) makes me a bit uncomfortable.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

Jay C — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:40:56 -0000

I just want somebody to come out with a pop song where the message is "I don't wish to get married and be shackled by a diamond ring, I would prefer to stay home from the club with a book and read, and though I could do otherwise, I am wearing clothes."

MJ, you should check out P!nk. U+Ur Hand is pretty much what you're describing.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

Nick — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:08:14 -0000

To follow up on Michael Jackson's post, re: Mary J Blige:

That's the perfect antidote to the kitsch of Beyonce. MJB may lapse into melodrama, which is its own variety of kitsch, but can anyone imagine MJB in that upgrade commercial, as if it's no big deal at all?

Re: Things we like for no good reason

Nick — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:02:59 -0000

I like Beyonce, but I like her BECAUSE she's pure kitsch. There's talent there, no doubt. But as anyone who's seen that "Upgrade" commercial can attest ("Let me upgrade YOU, baby"), there is clearly no distinction between artistic production and pure commercial prostitution in the oeuvre of Ms. Knowles.

(Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Warhol proved that there need be no distinction, but one has to be very agile to pull it off. I'm not sure that Beyonce is any Andy Warhol, but she's appealing for that glimmer of self-recognition coming through that it's all just absolutely preposterous.

I approve!

Re: Things we like for no good reason

Michael Jackson — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:48:45 -0000

That being said, when I don't think about it too much, I like Single Ladies.

PS. Check out what Mary J Blige has to say about Beyonce:

http://www.wwd.com/lifestyle-news/eye/proud-mary-552194

Re: Things we like for no good reason

shani-o — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:46:12 -0000

Adrienne- Shut. Up.

The dark skinned dancer is the one I can't take my eyes off of. What is it with men being able to knock this dance out of the park?

Re: Things we like for no good reason

Adrienne — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:24:14 -0000

I love Beyonce. But, the darker skinned dancer is/was a man. I think she was the choreographer. And, she absolutely MURDERS the dance. I'm all woman and I'm fucking jealous.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

GKM — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:56:19 -0000

I like Beyonce's music sometimes, but that song was a bit repetitive. The dancing was fun, though.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

Lee — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:34:01 -0000

I was in the civil rights museum in Memphis a few years ago, and in the lobby, they had an exhibit of quilts done by African American women. One of them was just awesome- it was a quilt of Tina Turner, onstage, with crazy yarn hair, and a little girl in the audience in front of her with a 3D Tina doll (also with crazy yarn hair) in her hand, and a thought bubble that read "I want to be TINA!"

Every time she sees Beyonce on TV, this here 30 year old white chick thinks, "I want to be BEYONCE!!!" Everything she does looks incredibly fun.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

E-roc — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:16:50 -0000

oh thank you, I thought I was the only one. And bodacious is exactly the right word.

this discussion really can't be complete though without mentioning how god awful her other 'if I was a boy' song is. I thought Ciara had already killed that theme with 'like a boy'.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

roselin — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:14:13 -0000

deva, JaQuel Knight and Frank Gatson are the choreographers. JaQuel Knight is from Atlanta which is where those Drill Team moves come from!

Re: Things we like for no good reason

SpottieOttieDopaliscious — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:00:17 -0000

My girlfriend and I are always transfixed by the grinding and bouncing that goes on in this Video. Beyonce's face might be beautiful, but her lower-half is positively bodacious.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

KevDog — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:35:57 -0000

I love the video, though it makes her look like she married Dr. Doom.

Well, about a half an hour after marriage the super-villian would be known as Dr. Whipped. No power on Earth can stand up to that hotness.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

Sean — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:19:30 -0000

I never really got Beyonce before. A pretty face (that tends to wear the same expression in every photograph I've ever seen of her...easy smile, vacant eyes; in essence a comely female version of Ben Stiller's 'blue steel') and indeed a nice voice, but her star-ish-ness eluded me. Then I watched the AMAs last night.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

laborlibert — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:07:04 -0000

Ehh... she's good to look at and all, but this sounds like a Christina Aguilera rip-off to me. Maybe not, since I don't really listen to either.

Since this is usually the blog of racial discussion, I'll point out that a big difference between white and black culture is that a black guy can admit to listening to Beyonce without getting his ass kicked by his peers. To this day I get confused when I see an otherwise straight-looking black dude blasting Beyonce or Rhihanna thorugh his head phones. I mean, without the visual, what the eff is the point?

Re: Things we like for no good reason

DB Cooper — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:06:06 -0000

I'm not a fan of her music, ordinarily (now "her," that's a different story).

But this song . . . My wife has been staring at me strangely as I walk (strut) around the house singing it, nonstop.

Re: Things we like for no good reason

Nonie — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:01:40 -0000

Everytime I hear that song, I think of this guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGemjUvafBw

I can NOT get him out of my head. He is the new "Chocolate Rain" for me.

Here he is with more clothes on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81RKVG4dFcA

Here's the mashup with Beyonce:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ifGHUfR5Ks

Isn't he fantastic?

(Or is it just me?)

I just can't get enough of that guy...

Re: Things we like for no good reason

Bruce — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:58:17 -0000

Ta...right on point! She's smokin' and so is the video...the album has a couple of strong songs. nuthin much, but a decent attempt! Now, the SNL-skit on this video is hilarious! the whole episode with paul rudd and beyonce was a hit. Her performance....damn...her thighs should be considered a national treasure...sanctify them, consider them a national reserve or something, just dont ever make her or them leave!

Re: Things we like for no good reason

lolagib — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:46:14 -0000

I guess I will be the one who says that I don't like the song or the video...and to be honest, I think Beyonce has long worn out her welcome. The double album is ok at best.