Pop Merit Poll #5

[Soot and Stars]

"In this series of polls I'm going to take a song that at one point was playing everywhere and like it or not you likely heard it unless you lived under a rock! The purpose of pop is to write something that the masses will like. It's not a self indulgent genre writing wise and I like that. Some songs are well crafted and still universally liked, some are very simple but brilliant in execution and some are just a very fresh way lyrically and sonically to express something to/for the masses they haven't heard before. Oh yeah, and some are just fun and people catch on! Anyway, I'll give you a hit song and you can pick whether it stands out in the world of pop exclusively or not. Feel free to discuss in detail your reasoning whether it be based on originality, beat, instruments used or not used, melody, lyrics, etc.! Peace!"

Here's one that really eased it's way into the listeners consciousness! Definitely a buzz artist as well as critical darling and the name Norah was all over 1999 following this track!

Norah Jones-Don't Know Why

 

[Magic]

I do remember this song. I always thought her voice was very seductive and sexy in this song.


Again, I voted "Yes, but not a major hit"

 

[Khor1255]

I like her quite a bit. And I'm not really into newer music or vocal jazz.

 

[b.o.b.]

Yes, but not a major one

 

[ILoveJimmyPage]

No, absolutely not. This one is up there with Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten" as one of the most annoying songs of all time for me. I could go forever without hearing it again and be content.

 

[AboutAGirl]

Awarded this one the highest honor. I find a fair bit of the smooth R&B pop strain to be boring, but I find this song lusciously romantic and with such a beautifully subtle instrumentation. Reminds me of another favorite, Ingrid Michaelson's The Way I Am. Granted, Don't Know Why is smoother.

 

[Mr. Bob Dobolina]

I'd never heard this before. I gave it a spin. It was OK, but I have two questions. One, if this was a big pop hit, what stations were playing it? And two, I might be nuts, but does this song remind anyone else of "Christmas Time Is Here" from "A Charlie Brown Christmas"?

 

[AboutAGirl]

I don't know that I was familiar with specific radio stations in 1999 but Don't Know Why still gets plenty of play on easy-listening, adult contemporary, variety, & pop stations that aren't strictly new music. Maybe R&B stations as well though I'm not specifically familiar with any.

 

[Soot and Stars]

I'd never heard this before. I gave it a spin. It was OK, but I have two questions. One, if this was a big pop hit, what stations were playing it? And two, I might be nuts, but does this song remind anyone else of "Christmas Time Is Here" from "A Charlie Brown Christmas"?

The song itself peaked at number 30 as it was a slow burner and propelled Norah Jones to great success. The album "Come Away With Me" has sold 10 million copies in the U.S. in just three years after release. She also won 5 Grammies for that album that year (Album of The Year, Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album) with two being for the song itself (Record Of The Year, Best Female Pop Vocal). Being that Norah was a buzz artist and had her niche she would be played massively for her genre like AAG said but would pop up all over the place in the mainstream too. You just heard the song plugged a lot.

My opinion, I picked no. I really hate this brand of sound. Whether it be John mayer or Ingrid Michaelson like AAG mentioned I hate this lazed, summer breeze type of pop. Hell she sounds like a modern day female version of Randy Newman. I don't mind a nice steady tone. I mean her voice isn't even unpleasant itself like I think about Celine Dion. It's just flavorless, drawn out, lethargic and the Nyquil of music IMO. It's just my version of boring for sure.

 

[AboutAGirl]

You did NOT just compare her to John Mayer.

Boring? Sure. Flavorless? Sure. But Mayer? THAT is harsh.