For the past two months, I have been suffering from the stuck-song syndrome, with the addictive piece of music being Ed Sheeran’s ‘I Don't Care’.
Layered with synthesised sounds, the song (an Ed Sheeran-Justin Bieber collaboration) comes with enough pop hooks to keep it stuck in your ears. Let me confess that I have been thrusting the song on unsuspecting friends, even sharing it in a WhatsApp group.
The song is a reassurance that all of us would do well with, that there is always — at least — one meaningful and soul-enriching relationship to be cherished amidst tiringly-synthetic human interactions.
Though Ed Sheeran shares songwriting credits with five others, which include Justin Bieber, the narrative style is echt-Sheeran. It is told mid-party, and it engages the listener the way a well-told story would.
‘I Don’t Care’ should be expected to manage a summit stay on Billboard Top 100, at least for a week, but that has been proving elusive, despite the song topping around two dozen other charts, including the U.K. Singles Chart. Besides performances, it’s doing well commercially, especially racking up huge numbers on Spotify.
The most the song has managed on Billboard Top 100 is a number 2 position. With the country-rap song ‘Old Town Road’ by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus firmly ensconced at the top, for 16 weeks, ‘I Don't Care’ just could not make that successful lunge to Billboard Top 100 glory, when the summit was within reach.
It is currently at number-three position, behind Old Town Road and Bad Guy (Billie Eilish). There are one more song in the fray that is capable of pushing its way up — Senorita by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabelo — but I will still keep my fingers crossed for ‘I Don't Care’.
Against this backdrop, I can't help recall how nearly 20 years ago, ‘Breathe’ by Faith Hill was so close to the summit, yet so far from it.
It seemed destined to get stuck at no 2 on the Billboard Top 100 largely because it was contemporaneous with ‘Smooth’ by Santana and Rob Thomas.
‘Smooth’ stayed at the summit for 12 weeks and within close range of the summit, spread across the last quarter of 1999 and the early part of 2000. The music was undoubtedly led by Carlos Santana’s wizardry on the guitar, with the maestro given enough air time, especially from around the third minute, when he gets to offer a bit of a solo performance.
The song had considerable musical depth, with its alt-rock soul fleshed out with Latin-style rock elements, and the sounds from the horns and the drums serving as a cladding of steel to the music structure.
It was unfortunate ‘Breathe’ was up against such a formidable competitor. Though ‘Breathe’ topped the Country charts, it was not typically Country, and was more of a pop offering. However, all in all, it was a well-turned-out song, as illustrated by the decision to adjudge it the song of 2000, when it stayed on Billboard Top 100 for a noticeable number of weeks, without ever making it to the summit.
