BRITNEY SPEARS – “Born To Make You Happy” (MP3)
Mr. Tim Finney swears by this one. On the other hand, Mr. Tim Finney is Britney’s age: for an old geezer like myself it’s a disquieting experience, a throatier-than-ever Britney plumbing now-absurdist, now-frightening depths of teen abjection. She’d do anything, she doesn’t know how to live without his love, she sounds like the title is if anything underplaying matters. This way lies an injunction order. It’s not a ballad (thank goodness), but the music is statelier and less piston-pop than previously, giving Britney more room to emote. Which she does: the general line on teenpop singing seems to stress its blandness, but “Born…” gives the lie to that argument – the only problem is, it’s precisely because it’s such a felt performance that it seems so grotesque.