Charice - Nobody's Singin To Me [Review]

If....
Leona Lewis had "Bleeding Love",
Rihanna had "Take A Bow",
Beyonce had "Halo",
Christina Aguilera had "Walk Away",
Mariah Carey had "We Belong Together"...
Charice has "Nobody's Singin To Me"

Step back, relax and prepare yourself for a sure hit from new comer Charice. "Nobody's Singin To Me" is a mixture of R&B and Pop backed-up by a melodic exposition of witty lyrics and sounds. Definitely a stand-alone track! If released as a single, Nobody's Singin To Me is a sure hit from Charice's Debut Album.

Some people might contest that "not again! this track is just another R&B/Pop song out there that talks about love and pain, sadness, loneliness and desperation". Yet, there is something extraordinary about this:

(1) Overall: "Nobody's Singing To Me" is a fusion of talent, passion, and note-worthy rhythm. This song got "class" and "style"!

(2) Talent: Undeniably Charice was able to showcase a vocals that is both soothing and power-belting. The vocal transition (soothing to power) is suave and not forced. The talent is raw and definitely not auto-tuned. It's a revelation that she is indeed versatile even in this genre of music. She proved once again that she is not limited to singing Ballads.

(3) Passion: Charice recorded this song with so much emotion (Note that she was barely 18 at that time). She was able to capture the void and the level of desperation that the music wanted to convey. about love. She was not just singing...she was telling a story...and in that story-telling, she was "immersed" and "in-touched" with her feelings. How did she do that? I guess we need to revisit her own personal life story HERE.

(4) Note-Worthy Rhythm: Catchy and has the power to leave an "indelible" impression in one's mind and heart. The song begins with an orchestra fused with a soothing R&B mix. The whole mix did not overpower the vocals of Charice; rather, it accentuated more what Charice could offer. There was also this almost like ethereal backing vocals, a very subtle addition to the power of Charice's voice.

(5) The Lyrics - is phenomenal. This is one of the few songs that presents an almost perfect marriage between "its backing track and its lyrics". The title "Nobody's Singin To Me" sets the tone for the song. It is both the message and the metaphor used to capture and convey the state of loneliness when someone misses or even loses a special someone (or something for some). This theme is consistent through out the whole song. It is rhythmic and poetic. I love the idea of inserting "iPod" in the end, suggestive that this song is both mature in nature yet keeps the youthfulness of Charice (talk about "gizmo/tekki"ness, here's an "ipod" for you).

Verses 1 & 2:
Every time you go
I'm in the shadows
Everyday you know
The pain inside grows

Without you i lose the way
Fall apart, go insane
Used to be hiding inside the TV
Lately that's not really workin for me

No one with anything to say
Not to me, not to me
On and on and on
The days drone
I need a song

Refrain:
What to do
Tell me what I gotta do
I can't sustain
Now the way I'm missing you
So I turn the radio up
Looking for a melody
But nobody's singin to me.

Its a blur don't remember what I heard
You say goodbye now I don't know where to turn
So i turn the radio up
Thinking I'm gon' find relief
But baby nobody's singin to me.

Verses 3 & 4:
Every night I'm just a victim of the silence
Nothing there to help
I tell you love is violence
Hurts more and more with each day
If you are asking me
the price is pain

Use to be that I could call on my DJ
Tell him what it is that he could play play play
Play those words, I wanna sing along
Make me feel, nothing is wrong

Refrain:
What to do
Tell me what I gotta do
I can't sustain
Now the way I'm missing you
So I turn the radio up
Looking for a melody
But nobody's singin to me.

Its a blur don't remember what I heard
You say goodbye now I don't know where to turn
So i turn the radio up
Thinking I'm gon' find relief
But baby nobody's singin to me.

Bridge:
One word
to take take away this hurt
Waiting for one dream
to bring you back to me
I need a Song

Refrain:
What to do
Tell me what I gotta do
I can't sustain
Now the way I'm missing you
So I turn the radio up
Looking for a melody
But nobody's singin to me.

Its a blur don't remember what I heard
You say goodbye now I don't know where to turn
So i turn the iPod up
Thinking I'm gon' find relief
But baby nobody's singin to me.

(6) There's something "innocent" about this track that is contrary to the "in your face" intermingling message of sweet desperation on love and the desire for physical pleasure when someone is lonely (apparent in most contemporary songs under this genre). In other words, this song certainly has depth in it that is provocative in its own terms yet does not illicit an immediate reference to sex. What it does rather is to use the metaphor of "listening to radio music" to capture the inner void that is insatiable by any words, melody or rhythm. This is, indeed, an existing human condition...something not new to us. If given the same circumstance (losing someone or even something valuable in our lives), at certain point the world stops and no matter how hard we try to concentrate to let go and move on...things seemed to be unchangeable and gets even worse and worse by time. This is what it means to be in the "shadow", "the victim of the silence", "price is pain". Turning the radio or the iPod on and even resorting to other material stuff seemed could not pacify this condition of longing. Indeed, a crazy and insane situation to be in! This is one of those moments when we feel like nobody could understand us...nobody can feel the void inside us....nobody can truly be one with us in that seemingly deafening moment...the moment when we find ourselves alone and powerless to say that "Nobody's Singing to Me".