Music Review: Skyscraper

Skyscraper - Sam Bailey

Hmm, It seems Demi Lovato is now being spelt Sam Bailey. Oh no wait it's my pet hate in music of stealing other people's songs caused by just a sheer lack of creativity thanks to the X Factor being a commercial whore and packaging artists way too soon and relying on just their voice to make a good song. Unfortunatley this usually works as the public are like mindless husks just because she was on TV and then consequently forgotten in five years by her 'devoted' fans. Fortunately for you Christoforge isn't a moron and therefore can see through what is essentially a popularity sham and shed some light on Britain's christmas number one single.

I will start by mentioning that the proceeds, well I say that but I bet it's about 1p, of this song go to Great Ormond Street Hospital which you may think is nice. Of course you've just fallen into commercial trap number one which is guilt. This system is effectively blackmail as it says to the public "buy this song or this kid dies". You could say that last point was harsh, but sometimes the truth hurts. I just wished they had given a load of money to charity and not released this song.

They may have won over morons that easily but they picked a bad song to cover as it was only released two years ago and therefore still fresh in the mind of even the public meaning most will prefer the original version. I will say I don't particularly like the original as it sounds like Demi Lovato is trapped in a cold shower as she appears to shiver whilst singing the majority of the song. She also looks like she's in a yoghurt commercial and seems to sing two octaves too high throughout giving it that Mariah Carey feel, which is that feel when your hands are over your ears. Just because you can go that high doesn't mean you should.

Moving on to the actual song and I must say I am rather disappointed, although not surprised. What I thought would turn out to be a decent ballad is actually rather dull. The piano player must have Alzheimer's as they play the same segment over and over again until it just becomes quite boring. Sure it's sung well, very well in fact, better than the original, but as I have said many times before, the voice is only one element to a song and in order for something to be a good song it needs to have a good compilation of all the components needed to make a good song. I wouldn't complain about the lack of instruments if it fitted the genre, but this is a song about staying strong, almost a power ballad and so there is a much greater call for greater variation.

Let's analyse the lyrics:

Skies are crying, I am watching
Catching tear drops in my hands
Only silence as it's ending
Like we never had a chance
Do you have to make me feel like
There's nothing left of me?

Okay, nothing really of note hear, she's obviously feeling pretty down about a previous lover and predictably it's always their fault.

You can take everything I have
You can break everything I am
Like I'm made of glass
Like I'm made of paper
Go on and try to tear me down
I will be rising from the ground
Like a skyscraper
Like a skyscraper

Oh no, I hate it when you break paper. I mean usually you'd tear it but this paper, no this sheet is broken. Poor metaphor. Then it seems to appear that they think skyscrapers are usually made of paper as this one is torn. Writers seemingly not understanding verbs, which is a worrying sign. The metaphor also falls apart in the fact that skyscrapers rise from the ground very slowly. It isn't really a positive that you will pick yourself up after a few years after millions of pounds have been poured into you.

As the smoke clears, I awaken
And untangle you from me
Would it make you feel better
To watch me while I bleed?
All my windows still are broken
But I'm standing on my feet

[Chorus:]

It seems even after he made her cry, she still returns to him. I don't have sympathy for anyone who doesn't learn their lesson. No idea if windows is a euphemism as skyscrapers do have windows but not feet. Sam Bailey has feet but not windows, surely you stick to the bloody metaphor.

Go run, run, run
I'm gonna stay right here,
Watch you disappear
Yeah, oh
Go run, run, run
Yeah, it's a long way down
But I am closer to the clouds up here

[Chorus:]

Now she wants him to leave, typical woman, always changing her mind. If you don't like being treated like shit then why the hell would you treat him like shit. Maybe there is more to this than we originally thought and Sam Bailey isn't as innocent as we thought. I don't know if the clouds are referring to cloud nine or referring to the fact that she is close to death, there isn't really a way of telling, but I'm failing to see this 'inspiration' that this song has been noted for.

Now let's see what other people thought of it, Sam W commented on Amazon:

"This woman is awful. She looks herendouz with really bad gappy teeth. She will get nowhere and will be nowhere all year around just like the others! Only one winner has ever came out of the fix factor and that was Rylan. Bad like all the others!" 

Well Sam, I don't know what appearance has got to do with the actual song which you are meant to be reviewing, but I doubt many people are going to be masturbating to this. To be honest I'd rather have the competition fixed than what the public votes for as I've seen what trends on Twitter and I really don't want that. Rylan is such a winner that he switched careers and now appears in television. Yep, in her opinion he's a winner, not Olly Murs with a measly 600,000 album sales, no Rylan, with zero.

An Avid Reader went on to Amazon to say:

"Right from the very start my husband and I knew Sam Bailey should be the winner. I would put her up against Celine Dion any day, especially when we know that she mimed quite alot of her Vegas shows. My husband has been a singer for many years and used to teach singing lessons. He said he could not believe that all those high notes were full voice and not head voice. Her vocal range and power is amazing! As other comments, please X Factor, do not let Sam just fade away like so many others. These people audition in there thousands. They are supposed to be the best we can find, but most are just allowed to fall by the wayside never to be heard of again. I will be downloading her album when it is released. Again X Factor, don't leave it so long before releasing her album. That is why so many are just forgotten, never to be heard of again." 

Blimey I agree with her for most of this until the part she suggests rushing the album. If anything the album should be delayed so some actual good songs can be put on it, she has the potential and I'm sure she doesn't need to copy other people. The reason many X Factor contestants are forgotten is due to the lack of personality, which the judges seem to skip over. Although that doesn't really come as much of a surprise as they have the collected charisma of a wardrobe.

Overall then this really isn't the song it's been billed as, but then what do you expect from a rushed single that just copies another person. Surely somebody might think they could possibly win the X Factor and then write a song that isn't rushed and not copied to be released in time for Christmas because at the moment we are getting this crap every year.

Final Rating: 3/10