"Just A Dream" by Nelly

Half-jackets are all the rage in dreamland

Instead of my usual review, I'm just going to comment on a few select quotes from this song.

"I was thinkin' 'bout her, thinkin' about me.
Thinkin' about us, what we gonna be?
Open my eyes, yeah; it was only just a dream."

Summary: Nelly thought he was was thinking about a lady, but it turned out to be a dream. Apparently he doesn't think about relationships while awake, or maybe he does, but he just doesn't care to mention it.

"If you ever loved somebody put your hands up."

This is the new thing for cops to say when busting any kind of crime operation. It's like a preamble to the Miranda rights.

"Now I'm in the club thinkin' all about my baby."

This is a little bit confusing. Could Nelly actually be pondering the details of a relationship while awake? There's not enough evidence to say either way.

"I was at the top and I was like I’m in the basement."

Nelly excels at hide-and-seek because of this kind of clever treachery.

"And now you ain't around, baby I can't think.
Shoulda put it down. Shoulda got that ring."

Wait, what? I have searched the rest of the lyrics for the song, and there's no indication of what the "it" Nelly "shoulda put down" is.

We can only speculate

"Raise Your Glass" by P!nk

You better do what she says

P!nk has been very careful in crafting her image. She's mainstream, but not that mainstream. She's cool, but edgy cool. She's rough, tough and in-your-face, wasting no energy on sweetness or diplomacy. She may have sold 30 million albums, but P!nk is not like the other pop divas; she's a rebel.

"Raise Your Glass" is the quintessential P!nk song. It's a party anthem for those who are "wrong in all the right ways", those who will "never be anything but loud", or, as P!nk so eloquently puts it, "nitty gritty dirty little freaks".

People outside of the "nitty gritty dirty little freak" target demographic would probably still enjoy the song, though, since it was co-written by Max Martin and is therefore engineered to be a hit. This is not to say that the song doesn't have its creative moments, because it does have quite a few of them, most notably the third-chorus fake-out, which is tremendously effective.

Sound-wise, Martin's signature over-processed guitars feel right at home, giving P!nk the rock edge that so many pop stars seem to be without these days. P!nk's voice sounds great, as always.

Lyrically, I should also mention that P!nk chooses to use the line "why so serious?" twice in the song, preceding both of the first two choruses. Is she hinting at something?

Suddenly the "dirty little freak" line makes a lot more sense

"Raise Your Glass" walks a tight rope between a fun, silly party song and something that's trying to make a deeper and more artistic statement about acceptance. P!nk's spoken "aside" comments sprinkled throughout the song make me think it's intended to be more of the former, but whether it's about existentialist criminals or just a fun party tune, "Raise Your Glass" is a winner.

"Deuces" by Chris Brown

How cute, he named his middle and pointer fingers!

Chris Brown's new "Deuces" is, musically, everything that a pop R&B song should be. The arrangement is spacious and varied, the melodies free-flowing and the form fluid. Additionally, the song features not one, but two genuinely well-done guest rap verses. Not only has Chris Brown's smooth R&B voice never sounded better, it has never had a better-suited vehicle.

The song sounds somewhat depressing on paper: Brown, Tyga and producer Kevin McCall take turns describing failed relationships. It is a bit mournful, but the song turns out to be more about making the positive decision to leave the relationship behind. The "deuces" referred to in the song are the peace signs the speakers are throwing up, telling the object of the song they're going to "peace out".

Sorry, turns out this song's not about poker

All in all, "Deuces" is a compelling listen, but I'm more interested in hearing what's next for Brown. Maybe he'll write a song about pocket aces. Seriously, why aren't there more songs about poker?

Even "Poker Face" wasn't about poker

"Waiting For The End" by Linkin Park

Waiting for this cover art to make sense

Linkin Park's new single "Waiting For The End" is a very different sort of song for the band, taking place in a major key and featuring an industrial ballad aesthetic. While the arrangement may lack the depth and nuance of some of the arrangements from Hybrid Theory and Meteora, the song itself is as good or better than most of the material from those two albums.

My favorite thing about this song is its form, an altered sort of verse-chorus structure that allows the song to build throughout its entirety. All of this building culminates in the final section, which layers multiple themes of the song into a satisfying climax. This form also allows vocalist Chester Bennington to show off the dynamic nature of his voice.

Rivaled only by the dynamic nature of his hair

As for the instrumentation of the song, it works alright as is, but I miss the real drums and guitars.

More of these please

In the end, this song is one step closer to a newer, better Linkin Park. They simply need to take their new found songwriting sensibility and combine it with their older, more intricate arranging style. That would truly be the best of both worlds.