| Category | Rating |
|---|---|
| Track Structure | 9 |
| Interest | 10 |
| Melody | 9 |
| Performance | 10 |
| Lyrics | 10 |
| Enjoyment | 9 |
| Recording Quality | 8 |
| Commercial Appeal | 10 |
| Overall | 9.4 |
Jennifer Rafferty (Pop) – Soulful Singer Songwriter from Liverpool (
Ragdoll (Acoustic)
Way back when Jennifer first came onto the site I could tell she was going to shine. I said it then & I’ll say it again – she deserves to be signed. Not one of the tracks I have heard on her page hasn’t pleased my ears & each time she ventures into a new area of music she gives it her best. Each time she brings an eager & willing to learn attitude & it shows in the quality of her discography. Do you want to know how it shows…well right now while I’m listening to her latest (Acoustic) track Ragdoll (June/July 2007) I’m also looking at her band profile on bebo (www.bebo.com/jennymusic) & today she has precisely 315 fans. Here are some examples of some of the words/phrases fans comments have used to describe how much the love her music.
*Gifted
*Your voice is beautiful
*I wish I could sing that well!
*You’ve got talent & will go far!
*Good luck with everything
*I have CDs that aren’t as good as you!
*Amazing Voice
*Very Talented
If these words don’t convince you of how much her growing fan base adores her & how much they love her music or the pure inspiration she gives just by hearing her voice, her lyrics, her music then only the comments left by other musicians on Jennifer’s mp3unsigned will (http://www.mp3unsigned.com/showmp3.asp?mp3id=47076) Some of these people leaving her comments are as young as 13 years old and the admiration doesn’t stop there, nor does the fact that overly keen stereotypical listeners of opposite genres have shown their appreciation of this young women’s talent. The reasons these points are being raised in this review are as follows;
1) I think an artist’s progress should be praised in reviews as much as the quality of the track. This is not just a review of the track. This is a review of the person behind the words & emotions, every note & key.
2) I didn’t want to jump in with my first my first review as few lines & a perfect 10, I wanted to watch and see how artists like Jennifer develop & who better to start with than the woman who just got to number 5 in the official charts on mp3unsigned.com, who has gone from no fans to an estimated 500 fans or more.
3) My first review had to be done on someone worth the effort and all the research I am willing to do to write a good review – but this woman makes it so easy.
In the artist comments section under the track I found a quote among comments that I phrased with sarcasm upon hearing the first keys being played, the first melodies & the first words sung. “Just piano & vocals” .Modest, as anyone listening would hear so much more.
“There were times when I couldn’t bring myself to cry” these words set the scene along with the beautiful but sad melody. From this point onwards you find yourself feeling sorry & sympathetic for the writer as everyone has felt that way at some point and you feel the emotion crawling back into you as you think of your old memories, the feeling in the pit of your stomach that says ’I’ve been there too’.
“There were times when I couldn’t sing” a bit unbelievable if you’ve ever listened to her songs before but it shows just how strong the emotion was. When someone is feeling so low that even the things they love to do are pleasureless or simply impossible to do it shows there’s a something much deeper eating up the normally pleasurable experiences and being so powerful happiness is a distant memory.
“You took my life and you tied it in knots gave me love hearts made out of strings” Now normally if someone took the time to make love hearts out of strings, a girl would be quite thrilled but you know what was risked was so much more. It’s almost like a consolation prize for risking everything you had & losing.
“If I picked a daisy, for each time you blamed me I could make a daisy chain for you” you get the impression that there’s a fair few daisies don’t you?
“Maybe you love me, maybe you love me not” from this you get the impression that there’s a part in the writer that just doesn’t care anymore, a numbness.
“I’m just a ragdoll to you” A rag doll – A child’s toy. Even the common description of the toy is not held highly a traditional but cheaply made doll traditionally home-made & stuffed with scraps of material. Keeping this in mind & the word just it’s fair to say the character this song is written to/about doesn’t hold the writer of great value.
“Smiling like a clown” Clowns being an object of comedy are laughed at for their unfortunate mishaps although these are mainly framed incidents, this paired with the fact that the majority of clowns have their smiles painted on. This implies a fake happiness, an image of happiness on the outside often only an image and nothing more. This theory is supported by the next line that reads “when inside I feel grey” A dull colour on most accounts.
“Kiss me better just like before” to me, having to suggest something so small that would make a significant impact on someone who’s hurting implies the kisses won’t fix everything anymore or the degree of intimacy is missing leaving a hole.
“You hold me close, then you push me away” someone who has contradictory feelings or someone who changes their mind quickly. ”like a toy that’s been thrown on the floor” A toy would normally be held highly but thrown on the floor shows the child doesn’t hold the toy highly at all.
Back to the chorus and an alteration in the first line changes the perspective you have on the character. “If I picked a daisy, for each you saved me” The first thoughts I had on “Ragdoll” were tainted by the first verse. Now you consider that the Ragdoll could be so loved that it’s thread bare.
“You want me to be who I’m not, to slip into line, and have it all your way” The bridge brings the blurry picture into focus; you see new elements to the song. Changing for someone else can be a problem, especially when the person does not wish to change.
“Your perfect ideal just isn’t real” Anything perfect or ideal is none existent in reality. Hence “It’s not me”, ”I’m not pretending to be your ragdoll no more”
I think the perfect ending was achieved when the last alteration to the chorus was replacing “blamed”/”saved” with “changed” as this is an appropriate term as “blamed”/”saved” are contradictory.
After listening to this track for maybe the 20th time I know less than when I started, although I’m not confused as much as I am curious. Words/Lyrics are always something I look for in a good song. But I also believe that the best songs are the ones that could/can have many meanings. I think it’s always great that people will interpret things in different ways. I would like to see more songwriters explore this. I know I have looked into things maybe too much but I decided to look into all available options/opinions as a way of exploring lyrics.
The production as mentioned in Jennifer’s comments on the track “aware of quite a lot of distortion” the recording wasn’t crystal clear but knowing you’re using an 8 track recording system MRS ZOOM and knowing how it feels, as I have never (ever) had crystal recording & I can appreciate technical problems as I attract them nearly constantly.
What I would recommend to Jennifer is that she should get some professional photos taken for promotional purposes or edit some clear pictures with Photoshop, write a biography in 3rd person, pick ¾ of her best/favourite tracks & send off her new demos to the top 20 Major labels. Get herself promoting more, because she is someone who deserves to be in the actual charts. More than this, she is a really talented woman.
Abeey Williams. X
To listen to the track Click Here