A song which is played more than once by different radio stations in one day within seven days of the week can be classified a radio hit. Very odd way to begin an article but that is what you get when you neglect a song for the past two weeks as a writer of pop music but get reset by the massive airplay the song is getting. I live in Nigeria and I am an addicted listener to radio stations because they have a way of putting a song on replay when the song makes real sense. When this song came out, I was so reluctant to write about it but toms up to the radio stations because they made me rethink my stand. I would wake up in the morning and I hear this song on the radio. I step out to grab lunch or brunch in a café close to my work place and I hear this song in my ear piece. I come back and tune the small radio piece in my crib and I have this song playing again. I have actually skipped stations and heard this song playing simultaneously on the radio by two different radio stations. Maroon 5 Girls Like You is a knock out song.
This song for me is “epic” and deserves knocking out Drake’s “In my feelings” off the billboard hot hundred top chart because it has a different sound and groove to it. A song which has been fighting off pressure from Nigerian afrobeats hit songs like “Mr lova lova”, “Amaka” and “Fake love” by Tiwa Savage, 2baba and Wizkid respectively; surely deserve an accolade. This song is a real five star hit when judged by the creativity, message, sound production and engineering.
THE MESSAGE
Everyone who must have heard this song must have been drawn to this song by the “Girls like you” chorus and never pay attention to the lyrics of the song; let me break it down. This song has Maroon 5 talking about a guy who is messed up and is compelled to beg his girlfriend to forgive him because he needs her. He opens up the song by stating that he and his lady spent the weekend trying to make up after he had misbehaved and let her down. He declares that he needs another twenty-four hours with her because they wasted the late nights of the weekend trying to solve the problems facing their relationship. He declares that it was cool because they have resolved their issues which was a massive win but however, he still needs her.
In the second verse, he goes on to describe what his lady is meant to him. He tell her that he had to travel a long distance on a flight just to get to her. He declares that he came around just to make things right with her. He goes on to tell her that he knows overtime that he has been bad and of bad behaviors such as getting drunk; but however he begs her not to judge him because a guy like him doesn’t just want her but needs her.
Cardi B comes on to wrap things up stating that she also needs him but tells him that she can’t be playing with her heart all the time. She tells him that he has to behave better because she was getting fed up with drama. She claims that he always brought up quarrels between them accusing her of being wild. She tells him that it would have been better if he chose other girls but she knows that he wants her because other girls can’t just be like her. She agrees with his plea of forgiveness but tells him that his last bad action was the last one she was ever going tolerate.
THE BEAT
Produced by seven experienced music makers who are members of the Maroon 5 band; this sound stands out because of the serious attention given to limiting the amount of instruments used. Most at times song which has so many talented music producers working on it usually suffer from beat overcrowding because everybody wants to have an element of their sound it the proposed song. With the song, a lot of compromise would have been made to allow for a beautiful sound. The stand out instruments for me is the acoustic guitar intro which opens up the song. This is given a proper depth and carriage with the orchestral octave sound which comes on after the first four bars of the intro. The way this particular sound introduces the sound it really nice. The vocal recording is something very unique to single out. The voice of Levine was up there when you talk about harmony and balance of the song. Keeping the beat simple was just the right thing to do with a sound like this because it made it thick.
THE VIDEO
This song has a video which has close relationship with Drake’s Nice for what video which has a star showcase approach to it. What makes this song’s video different is the way it is shot in one place with creativity coming from arrangement of the cameras and cast. Simple video, relatively low budget but who cares when there is a good airplay on radio.
