Drake - Hold On, We're Going Home ft. Majid Jordan - Video, Review and Lyrics

 

Lyrics

 

[Verse]
I got my eyes on you, you're everything that I see
I want your hot love and emotion endlessly
I can't get over you, you left your mark on me
I want your hot love and emotion endlessly

[Pre-Hook]
Cause you're a good girl and you know it
You act so different around me
Cause you're a good girl and you know it
I know exactly who you could be

[Hook]
Just hold on we're going home
Just hold on we're going home
It's hard to do these things alone
Just hold on we're going home

[Verse + Pre-Hook + Hook]

[Bridge: Majid Jordan x2]
You're the girl, you're the one
Gave you everything I loved
I think there's something, baby
I think there's something, baby

 

Review

 

Drake makes a significant change in direction here away from hip hop to 80s inspired soul music, and it works. The deep, airy production is the biggest star here. "Hold On We're Going Home" may be a bit spare lyrically, but the sound is elegant and pleasing matching perfectly the retro atmosphere of many of this year's biggest pop hits.

Pros

• Elegant, spare production
• Smooth 80s soul sound
• Drake's confident singing

Cons

• Simple nature of the song

Description

• Produced by Majid Jordan and Noah "40" Shebib
• Included on album 'Nothing Was the Same'
• Released August 2013 by Cash Money

Guide Review - Drake - "Hold On We're Going Home" featuring Majid Jordan

When "Hold On We're Going Home" kicks off with drum machine and lightly ticking percussion effects, you might think you have taken a time machine back to the early 80s. As Drake begins to sing the overall impact is that of slick, but warm soul music perfect for a sultry summer night. This is a significant change of pace from Drake's recent hip hop hits. However, we've always known he can sing from the first major hit "Best I Ever Had" to the ultra-elegant "Take Care" with Rihanna. The difference here is that "Hold On We're Going Home" is more relaxed and unassuming than most all of his past releases. The relaxed nature sounds like maturation.
Lyrically, this song is light as air, but there is a resonance in the production that helps the words of love and devotion sink in. The words are also completely clean, which is a rarity for a Drake single release. Majid Jordan, a production duo made up of Majid Al Maskati and Jordan Ullman, provide the beautiful, spare backing vocals as well as playing a major role in the overall sound of the track. Particularly beautiful is the echoing, nearly beatless, extended bridge that kicks into the song's final reprise. Majid Jordan are not well known yet, but the elegance of this track seems to indicate they soon will be.
Drake's recent hit "Started From the Bottom" quickly rose into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 but it failed to get significant attention from mainstream pop radio. "Hold On We're Going Home" seems destined to reverse that problem. It is likely to be appealing to both mainstream pop and R&B radio programmers. It is an elegant addition to end of the summer playlists with the soul and disco influences allowing the song to bookend Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" kickoff to the summer of 2013.

 

OneRepublic - Counting Stars - Video, Review and Lyrics

Lyrics

Lately I been, I been losing sleep
Dreaming about the things that we could be
But baby, I been, I been prayin' hard
Said no more counting dollars
We'll be counting stars
Yeah, we'll be counting stars

[Verse 1]
I see this life
Like a swinging vine
Swing my heart across the line
In my face is flashing signs
Seek it out and ye shall find

Old, but I'm not that old
Young, but I'm not that bold
And I don't think the world is sold
I'm just doing what we're told

I feel something so right
By doing the wrong thing
And I feel something so wrong
By doing the right thing
I could lie, could lie, could lie
Everything that kills me makes me feel alive

[Chorus]
Lately I been, I been losing sleep (hey!)
Dreaming about the things that we could be
But baby, I been, I been prayin' hard (hey!)
Said no more counting dollars
We'll be counting stars
Lately I been, I been losing sleep (hey!)
Dreaming about the things that we could be
But baby, I been, I been prayin' hard (hey!)
Said no more counting dollars
We'll be, we'll be counting stars

[Verse 2]
I feel the love
And I feel it burn
Down this river every turn
Hope is a four letter word
Make that money
Watch it burn

Old, but I'm not that old
Young, but I'm not that bold
And I don't think the world is sold
I'm just doing what we're told

And I feel something so wrong
By doing the right thing
I could lie, could lie, could lie
Everything that downs me makes me wanna fly

[Chorus]
Lately I been, I been losing sleep (hey!)
Dreaming about the things that we could be
But baby, I been, I been prayin' hard
Said no more counting dollars
We'll be counting stars
Lately I been, I been losing sleep (hey!)
Dreaming about the things that we could be
But baby, I been, I been prayin' hard (hey!)
Said no more counting dollars
We'll be, we'll be counting stars

[Bridge 4x:]
Take that money
Watch it burn
Sink in the river
The lessons I learned

Everything that kills me makes me feel alive

[Chorus]
Lately I been, I been losing sleep (hey!)
Dreaming about the things that we could be
But baby, I been, I been prayin' hard (hey!)
Said no more counting dollars
We'll be counting stars
Lately I been, I been losing sleep
Dreaming about the things that we could be
But baby, I been, I been prayin' hard
Said no more counting dollars
We'll be, we'll be counting stars

[Outro 4x:]
Take that money
Watch it burn
Sink in the river
The lessons I learned 

Review

OneRepublic released Counting Stars as the second single off Native. While the band's latest album became their highest charting album to date, its singles Feel Again and If I Lose Myself are not chart success stories. Although the former managed to hit platinum with 1,000,000 sales.

While the previous tunes released are reminiscent of Coldplay's style, Counting Stars brings us back to their roots. The song borrowed sound from their Dreaming Out Loud pop rock production mixed with indie elements which makes it edgier than their debut recordings. The chorus alone shows the difference as it doesn't rely on catchy hooks.

Radio support might be the least concern of OneRepublic these days. They are more interested in reaching out to a wider audience. Maybe, having their songs played in the movies might do the trick just like how The Sorcerer's Apprentice pushed Secrets on a higher pedestal. But I'm not sure this song will do that. Burning Bridges has bigger chance.

Eminem - The Monster ft. Rihanna - Video, Review and Lyrics

Lyrics

[Chorus - Rihanna]
I'm friends with the monster
That's under my bed
Get along with the voices inside of my head
You're trying to save me
Stop holding your breath
And you think I'm crazy
Yeah, you think I'm crazy (crazy)

[Eminem - Verse 1]
I wanted the fame, but not the cover of Newsweek
Oh well, guess beggers can't be choosey
Wanted to receive attention for my music
Wanted to be left alone, public excuse me
Been wanting my cake, I need it too
Wanting it both ways
Fame may be a balloon cause my ego inflated
When I blew seep it was confusing
Cause all I wanted to do is be the Bruce Lee of loose leaf
Abused ink, used it as a tool when I blew steam
Hit the lottery (oh wee)
With what I gave up to get was bittersweet
It was like winning a huge meet
Ironic 'cause I think I'm getting so huge I need a shrink
I'm beginning to lose sleep: one sheep, two sheep
Going cucko and cuckier as Kool Keith
But I'm actually weirder than you think
Cause I'm...

[Chorus]
I'm friends with the monster
That's under my bed
Get along with the voices inside of my head
You're trying to save me
Stop holding your breath
And you think I'm crazy
Yeah, you think I'm crazy

Well, that's nothing
Well, that's nothing

[Eminem - Verse 2]
Now I ain't much of a poet
But I know somebody once told me to seize the moment
And don't squander it
Cause you never know when it all could be over
Tomorrow so I keep conjuring
Sometimes I wonder where these thoughts spawn from
(Yeah, ponder it, do you wonder there's no wonder you're losing your mind the way you're brought up?)
I think you've been wandering off down yonder and stumbled on Jeff VanVonderen
Cause I needed an intervention in this to intervene between me and this monster
And save me from myself and all this conflict
Cause the very things that I love is killing me and I can't conquer it
My OCD is clonking me in the head
Keep knocking, nobody's home, I'm sleepwalking
I'm just relaying what the voice of my head saying
Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just friends with the...

[Chorus]
I'm friends with the monster
That's under my bed
Get along with the voices inside of my head
You're trying to save me
Stop holding your breath
And you think I'm crazy
Yeah, you think I'm crazy

Well, that's nothing
Well, that's nothing

[Eminem - Verse 3]
Call me crazy, but I had this vision
One day that I'd walk amongst you regular civilians
But until then drums get killed I'm coming straight at
Emcees, blood get spilled and I
Take it back to the days that I get on a Dre track
Give every kid who got played gat
Pumped the villian and sh*t that say back
To the kids who played 'em
I ain't here to save the f*cking children
But if one kid out of a hundred million
Who are going through a struggle feels and relates that's great
It's payback, Russell Wilson falling way back
In the draft, turn nothing into something, still can make that
Straw in the gold chump I will spend
Rumpelstiltskin in a hay stack
Maybe I need a straightjacket, face facts
I am nuts for real, but I'm okay with that
It's nothing, I'm still friends with a...

[Bridge]
I'm friends with the monster
That's under my bed
Get along with the voices inside of my head
You're trying to save me
Stop holding your breath
And you think I'm crazy
Yeah, you think I'm crazy

I'm friends with the monster
That's under my bed
Get along with the voices inside of my head
You're trying to save me
Stop holding your breath
And you think I'm crazy
Yeah, you think I'm crazy

Well, that's nothing

Review

‘Love the Way You Lie,’ Eminem‘s weighty duet with Rihanna, which explored a crumbling and destructive relationship, was one of the biggest hits of both of their careers. It makes sense for them to reprise with ‘The Monster,’ which will appear on his ‘The Marshall Mathers LP 2′ and is a much more upbeat and less serious track, sonically speaking. It’s not nearly as powerful or affective as the previous partnership, but it’s not supposed to be.
While the song does address mental health issues — essentially, the rapper and the topless wonder of the world admit to being bonkers — it isn’t melancholic. Em and Ri sing about OCD, the voices in their heads and more. While the song is lighthearted, their attitudes really are not. It’s as if they’re saying (and rapping and singing) that it’s okay to be cray cray.
Rihanna’s icy voice delivers the intro and the choruses, while Em pops off rhymes in the verses, with his trademark nasally style. “Everything that I love is killing me / And I can’t conquer it” is one of his most poignant lines, while RiRi sings about being friends with the monster under her bed. But when Em sings about being crazy, we can’t help but wonder if the monsters they sing about are really just the darker sides of themselves.
There is some vulnerability in the lyrics and some poppy synths sprinkled at the end of the choruses, but the whole song leads up to the final 30 seconds, which build up to a harmony and a fade out.
Em and Ri have undeniable vocal chemistry and it asserts itself on ‘Monster.’ This song has nothing to do with goblins and ghouls, unless, of course, they’re of the mental sort.