It seems that the more you dominate the pop landscape, the less you have to say. (Don McLean’s epic “American Pie,” for those who wonder, clocks in at 324 words.) RiRi, your oeuvre is shedding words rapidly, and this is not a good thing. ( MORE: Which Pop Song Do You Want Played At Your Funeral?)Īccording to a songwriting blogger named Graham English, a typical pop song has anywhere from 100 to 300 words, with the Beatles at the low end of that scale and the verbose Bruce Springsteen at the high end. But the limitations of verse-chorus cycles are becoming apparent on your recent records, giving them a vaguely joyless sheen, and we fear it may be a case of good girl gone fembot. You see, your songs have always relied on a certain amount of repetition, and those bouncy verse-chorus reps have served you well ever since “Pon de Replay” and “S.O.S.” established you back in 20. No, our concerns are purely musical in nature.
Not because of your tumultuous romantic life, and not because the makeup artist for your latest Vogue cover shoot appears to have had a vendetta against you.
