CanTunes Tuesday: "Here" - Alessia Cara

Do you ever just have that one party that you feel pressured to go to and you don't really want to go, but all your friends are there so you decide to make the best of the situation? Yeah, uh... here's a song for you.

This is an interesting one, for sure. I've heard a lot of songs as of late go against the typical tropes you see in popular music, most notably "Royals", but this one does so in a different way. It tells a story from the person's perspective, and she's actually encompassed in the party environment. It's really quite interesting, and I think we sort of needed a song like this.

At the same time, though, I'm not sure how well this song connects to pop music culture, and I think that's what it's, at least in part, trying to do. If you don't listen to the lyrics, you might mistake this for your run-of-the-mill pop song. But the subject matter presented here negates that perspective. However, some of the diction choices, such as the repetition of the word "here" over and over in the chorus take very broad brushstrokes from pop music. It's a bit of a muddle, and I honestly would prefer that this song be a little more interesting. But at the same time, I can see the irony in adapting a style that contradicts your message, sort of like a parody. But it's just not presented with enough self-awareness for me to identify it as such.

Overall, I think the song is good, but not great. I can definitely see how it would appeal to some people, but for me, I think the message is a little muddled by the musical choices made in the song, and it also doesn't do enough to stand out.