General Gregory N. Pigott: Late Night Music Part 68........"Pronouns"

I can't think of anything fancy to say here tonight except the fact that I always wondered who "you, I, he, she, me, and we" always were in these songs I hear- who are "they" talking to? It seems that every song is talking about this mysterious person, and it finally drove me over the edge. Anyway, I picked some tonight that go to the next level of personal pronoun usage.

In order to be considered in this category, a song had to have at least two personal pronouns in the song title, this one was tricky, as the official title of the song was the one that was used "Can't Falling In Love With You" by UB40, "Run To You" by Whitney Houston, and other single pronoun songs were disqualified. Also receiving votes in this category were "Just Between You And Me" by Lou Gramm, "The Way You Do The Things You Do" by The Temptations, and "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks.

"You Got Me"- The Roots featuring Erykah Badu. In 1999, The Roots, while already having a steady fan base really broke through with their mega album "Things Fall Apart". Determined to make a huge splash, The Roots took 2 years to make this album, which was their fourth, but their first album ever certified gold. This song went on to win the 2000 Grammy for Best Performance By a Duo or Group. Little known fact about this song is that Eve actually raps on the second verse but does not appear in the video (obviously). I'm super confused by this video, but I do love the fact that Erykah Badu really appeared as herself. So often you see artists change their look a little bit when they are a guest on another artist's album. I really like this song, but man it just seems so sad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJCHeEQV454

"You And Me"- Lifehouse. If there was an award given for "the person who looks the most like Howie Mandel but isn't Howie Mandel" I would nominate Lifehouse drummer Rick Woolstenhume. Look at him, I'm just saying. I've always liked Lifehouse and I really like lead singer Jason Wade's songwriting ability, with this song being no different, as I've always kept this one in my karaoke back pocket. Unlike the previous video, this one is easy to figure out, and it actually quite good if you ask me, but why in the world is the band just sitting around looking mad while Jason Wade is singing in a few scenes? Weird.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac3HkriqdGQ

"I Can't Make You Love Me"- Bonnie Raitt. First of all, I had no idea that Bruce Hornsby played the piano on this song. I guess that's good because I never cared to hear him sing. Check out "Great Song, Too Bad The Rest Of Your Songs Suck" for more info on that one. Alot of people don't like this song, but it's a song I would definitely sing karaoke if I wasn't a guy. I refuse to break my "no girl songs" rule. Just not happening. This song, while extremely emotional for Bonnie, was actually written by country/bluegrass songwriters Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin as an upbeat country song. They got the idea from a newspaper article about a guy who was on trial for shooting at his girlfriend's car and then told the judge "I learned, your honor, that you can't make a woman love you if she don't." How inspirational. I always remember this song in the random group of a few songs I heard in exhaustion in Europe during our trip in 1995. For some reason, this song is incredibly big in the United Kingdom. Great live performance here. I can't see how you can't sing this song without emotions running deep through your entire body.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSIHQfsnp3U

"Give Me You"- Mary J. Blige. True story. One night near my high school graduation I couldn't sleep. Desperate to pass the time, I began flipping through the channels and saw the music video for this song. I was instantly hooked on Mary J. Blige. This album, "Mary", which had also featured the singles "All That I Can Say", "Your Child", and the Elton John tag team "Deep Inside" not only was written by ballad pioneer Dianne Warren, but features Eric Clapton on the guitar. When she recorded this song, Mary had just gotten out of her relationship with K-Ci Hailey (even though he actually appears on the album), and was single at the time. I've never heard a more earnest plea from a woman to be loved. I was also very surprised at the appearance of Michael Jordan in the video being that it wasn't a big budget video. He was in his second retirement at the time, but I have to admit having him was a very nice touch. Great theme to the video by showing that the meaning of the song could be a child needing a father.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PF5K6Rissc

"I Run To You"- Lady Antebellum. I really hate I missed these guys in concert at Austin Peay. In 2008, Lady Antebellum exploded onto the Country Music scene with their self-titled debut album with this single being the last single released from the album to lead into their next studio release "Need You Now". These guys seem pretty cool and I really like Hillary Scott as a blonde like she is in the video. There is no doubt about the fact that Lady Antebellum is one of the better country groups out there right now, but can they please make a video that isn't exactly like Nickelback's "Savin' Me"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs38lKxmtI4

"I Belong To You"- Rome. I included this video just to show how bad solo r & b artists can really be. I hate this song. Rome sounds like a cheap version of Keith Sweat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGlQysq474k

"You Belong With Me"- Taylor Swift. I remember driving to work one day and listening to a guy laugh about how stupid it was that Taylor Swift played 2 different girls in the video and really only wearing glasses to look different. I have to say I agree. Is that guy in the video the new blonde headed kid on "Glee"? I like this song, but why do I get the feeling that I'm watching every other "oh my gosh I have to get the guy at the high school prom" movie?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw

"And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going"- Jennifer Hudson. I know I showed this one before, but I think this one is awesome enough to show a few times won't you say? I almost think Jamie Foxx may not have been acting here. He may have been that blown away by the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef9xsVdXTas

"Me, Myself, and I"- Beyonce. One Word- Beyonce. Bonus points for the backwards video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S37SGxZSMc

"You Can't Always Get What You Want"- The Rolling Stones. I wish I could find a better version/video of this song because the original studio version is quite incredible. Why is Mick Jagger sitting down? I guess his lips got too heavy. At this time of this live performance in 1969, the Stones were riding high with the success of their awesome album "Let It Bleed". Many music critics have compared to this song to the Beatles by calling it "The Rolling Stones version of "Hey Jude"". Not a bad analogy. Also, when Mick talks about "singing the song to Mr. Jimmy" he's not talking about Jimi Hendrix, he's talking about Jimmy Miller, who at the time was the Stones producer and was the lead producer for "Let It Bleed". I still think it's so cool that these guys can stay together for so long after so many years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxkdmL3iMCY

"You and Me"- Dave Matthews Band. When the third single for the Dave Matthews Band's album "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King" hit the radio in 2009, Dave Matthews admitted that he wrote the song on his IPhone while on a boat with his family. This is weird because it is the only song on the album that isn't co-written with at least one other band member, which is the norm for Matthews. I thought that Dave Matthews Band had hit a kind of funk, as I was not impressed with their album "Stand Up" in 2005, but I really love this song. This video is probably the band's best also. What a great concept! In a list with stereotypical videos, this one really stands out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD9CrZODlNA

"Just Between You And Me"- DC Talk. DC Talk enjoyed mainstream success when they jumped from the Christian charts with their 1995 album "Jesus Freak", which reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 200, and this single which reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart in 1996 and gave the most popular Christian band ever (despite only releasing 5 studio albums) their biggest mainstream hit, which was capped off with a 1997 Grammy Award. I have to admit, while I've always liked the message DC Talk had throughout their career, I really got sick of this song just due to it being played all the time, and I have to be honest, it was probably my least favorite song on that CD at the time. However, listening to this song now, I really like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kXJdshVNq0

BONUS VIDEO- "Paparazzi"- Lady Gaga. Just because.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2smz_1L2_0%EF%BB%BF