The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
Himika Akram reporter
Canadian singer comes songwriter Shania Twain is back with the sixth album ‘Queen of Me.’ Going in with the expectation of listening of a country album, I was disappointed, because in this album, Twain kept jumping from genre to genre.
Before releasing this album Shania declared in this album there would be a ‘clear message’ about women empowerment; but exactly what she meant by that, remained unclear. I was really expecting something impactful like her 2011 track ‘Today Is Your Day,’ But did not find any such song in this album which can stand out or can inspire on that level.
The first song itself, ‘Giddy-up,’ would spoil your mood because not only the lyrics are nonsensical; the originality of country-dance seemed too much mechanical here. In the songs like ‘Brand New’ and ‘Not Just a Girl,’ she refused to be stereotyped by any word we like to define women with, but beyond that refusal, what is there to say? Nothing.
‘Not Just a Girl’ had good beat though, which made you feel like dancing. The lyrics of ‘Best Friend’ were good, but it is not clear what Twain means by ‘Best Friend.’ Does she meant a life partner or just a friend closest to your heart?
In ‘Pretty Liar’ she seemed trying to have some fun with her singing talent, it was a conceited attempt of showing your ex that you are doing better than him. Lyrics like ‘Your pants are on fire/ you’re such a fucking liar’ made is a shallow, teenager girls’ night-out song.
Tried to find some solace in ‘Got It Good,’ where the lyrics were meaningful; and the song had a groovy rhythm too. The only song I really liked in this album was ‘Last Day of Summer,’ which gave at least a glimpse of country which I found out nowhere else in this album. This album should have been finished with this song.
The titular song ‘Queen of Me’ was another frivolous attempt to refuse to be nice again, because everybody is taking advantage of her. The singer who gave us ‘You’re Still The One,’ which makes your soul want to fly to the song, ‘The Woman In Me,’ in comparison to those releases, this album fell flat on its face.
I understand ‘Queen of Me’ was an attempt to keep up with the time and the continuous changing taste of the modern time, but I wish she did not go overboard with the experimentation. It was an attempt to give a fresh start in a women’s life, introspection, trying to find the lost self and all of that; but in comparison to her body of work, the attempt seemed half-hearted.