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Cheryl Cole - 'Promise This'

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Fraser McAlpine | 10:01 UK time, Sunday, 24 October 2010

Cheryl Cole

Some people are very good at leading lives in which things happen. Not always nice things, but things nevertheless. Good things, bad things, some amazing, some terrible, all in a fairly constant stream of constant upheaval which, if you could just stop and examine one thing at a time, would be the stuff of family legend.

Taken all at once, and the patience of friends and relatives starts to wear thin. It's almost as if they think you're doing it on purpose.

"You've WHAT?", they'll splutter, "you've seperated AND got malaria AND recorded a new album AND been a judge on the X Factor AND been at the centre of a huge tabloid row about your choices as a judge AND made a video as a ballerina AND had a bit of an argument with your boss about something AND started divorce proceedings..? Don't you ever take a day off? I'm exhausted just LISTING all that stuff!"

Such is the life of Cheryl Cole/Tweedy. And if it has led her to make some interesting song decisions, well that's all grist to the mill too.

(. Babe in the wood.)

(Here's Cheryl having a lovely long chat with Sara Cox)

The brilliant thing about that "alouetta wettah wettah" refrain is that you kind of forget that it's there. It's a trap laid at the beginning of the song, a trap which is clearly marked, practically with a sign that says BIG TRAP HERE and yet it's still possible to be caught up in the disco drama and distracted by the velvety swoon of that chorus, to such an extent that the triggering of the refrain feels like a slap around the chops from a spring-loaded wet flannel.

It's a very distracting song all round, really. Almost punishing, the extent to which it demands your attention. There's no respite. It goes from weird refrain to panicked verse to dignified chorus - complete with Robert Miles piano, popspotters - without so much as a pause for breath. Listen to it three times in a row and you'll end up feeling faint. Go for the full half-dozen and you might need to call for medical assistance.

What with this and the Rihanna song it is officially not a good week for the frailer pop fan.

Three starsDownload: Out now


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(Fraser McAlpine)

"I was expecting something more on the lines of 'Fight for this love' but it's growing on me."

"The melody itself seems almost Super Mario - esque"

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    This song is almost painful to listen to. What on earth is "alouetta wettah wettah" supposed to mean?

  • Comment number 2.

    What does it mean? You are trying to operate at too high a level if you are looking for MEANING.

    The target audience is one where a discussion about hair straightners versus curling tongs is considered demanding.

  • Comment number 3.

    "Alouette, ouette, ouette, plumerai le á laile"

    Translates as "Skylark, skylark, skylark, pluck the wings"

    For that reason, this get's 1 star for not makes any sense what-so-ever.

  • Comment number 4.

    It's gonna be an action packed babe battle for Sunday's number 1 .

    I put my money on Cheryl Cole days ago and I still stand by that .

    Promise This is a very strident pop song , which is laden with hooks from start to finish .
    Such is the Lady Gaga approach to songwriting , where she crams 5 huge hooks into her singles , this track recognises the template and utilises it to the max .

    On saying that however , I like this song more , each time I hear it . It is a very warm song and has huge commercial appeal.
    High in the T.v and Radio Airplay charts ,and the X Factor profile .
    I expect this to sell well over the 100,000 mark

    The beauty of the chorus is a real winner .
    Ticks all the pop song , comeback single boxes , that will ensure success .

  • Comment number 5.

    Anyone remember the Chart Blog review of Fight For This Love ?

    It basically said that the song was poor with minimal appeal and that the other members of Girls Aloud should drink champagne , as it represented no danger to the career of Girls Aloud , and that Cheryl's solo career would have very limited success .

    You can see why Chartblog don't do predictions .

    Fight For This Love sold over 283,000 copies in it's first week , went to number 1 and went on to outsell every Girls Aloud single .
    To many it had HUGE appeal.
    (Cliched lyrics , though.)
    Fantastic bridge and chorus .
    Cheryl's album , 3 Words has gone 3 times platinum and is still in the album charts , nearly a year later .

    Cheryl is due to release her second solo album , while Girls Aloud have no concrete plans for a reunion .

    Promise This is heading to number 1 .

    Glass of champagne , Cheryl pet ?

  • Comment number 6.

    All well and good but that doesn't mean it's good.

    And I'm SURE you're prediction have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the fact Rihanna got snubbed by The X Factor last minute in place of Michael Bublé, meaning Cheryl got The X Factor performance and Rihanna still only has radio promotion?

    Now sit down, spirit, before you have a aneurism. This really isn't the rocket science you make it out to be, pet.

    Oh, and the only reason '3 Words' is "still" in the charts is because of anticipation for her second album - this happens all the time to big acts (it's happened this year alone to the likes of Katy Perry, The Script, Kylie, Robbie Williams, and Kings of Leon); it fell out of the charts 'round about April just gone and has only just reared it's ugly, "I'm off to a bee-keeper's funeral" head two weeks ago.

    :)

  • Comment number 7.

    Actually Rihanna was meant to be on XF at the weekend, but couldn't because she was at Katy Perry's wedding. She will be on the show this coming weekend instead, which could easily help her to knock Cheryl off no.1 next week.

  • Comment number 8.

    Hello my little fly in the ointment ! lol

    I said that Cheryl would be number 1 , well before Buble shot his bubbles all over Rihanna on X-FACTOR .

    283,000 people buying her last lead single was a big clue .

    One of the biggest factors in making a good pop single is having tons of appeal and judged on that , of course it's good .
    It's got appeal and then some .
    Looking at the big picture ,it's the perfect pop single for Cheryl .

    Of course we will get the people on here,who won't like it, moaning about this and that, regarding Cheryl , X Factor etc , that will be predictable , but that won't matter a jot , cos this little pop single will set up her second album nicely .

  • Comment number 9.

    Oh and Oddie , my little Parachute (who always catches me when I fall ) , Cheryl's 3 Words album , has been in the top 75 album chart for 52 weeks .

    It will be 53 weeks this Sunday .

    xxxx

  • Comment number 10.

    @7 Brilliant !

    Look at Special K with the celebrity gossip !

    :)

  • Comment number 11.

    @7 Oh I knew that but now it's not as interesting because we know Cheryl's heading to #1.

    @9 I meant Top 40.

    As for the single, I fail to see these hooks, spirit, unless you count the "Alouette" part that wasn't even written by her, or any of her song-writers for that matter.

    The reason I don't like this song is because it's lazy. It's an incomplete hash of a song with the tempo setting on too fast and a non-existant chorus.

    And people said Sophie Ellis-Bextor's 'Bittersweet' had a bad chorus... at laest you knew it was actually THERE.

  • Comment number 12.

    I'm surprised no-one's mentioned the French in this is almost identical to Bang Bang Bang. It's too specific to be a coincidence. Since when were skylarks a common topic in songs? MNDR is imaginative enough to think of something like that, the lazy songwriters of this don't convince me. Let's be honest, forgetting all the issues of insincerity and vocal talent for a moment, it's not even that catchy? Get back to Girls Aloud pronto. Actually, disappear altogther; in this current climate, girl bands don't stand a chance.

  • Comment number 13.

    Amen to that MozFoz! I couldn't possibly call it catchy and believe myself when I said it.

  • Comment number 14.

    allouette wettah wettah is a rip off of Mark Ronsons Bang Bang Bang, which is a ripoff of Alouetta, that folkish french song

  • Comment number 15.

    btw Mozfoz are you sure MNDR wrote it or was it Mark Ronson...

  • Comment number 16.

    MNDR wrote the majority of Bang Bang Bang in fact, which surprised me too at first as I thought Ronson wrote all the songs, and I personally found her inclusion of an old French Canadian nuusery rhyme quite a nice touch; very creative considering chart music nowadays. Cheryl Cole has now released a song which sort of 'cheapifies' it if you get me? It's quite shameless in a way.

  • Comment number 17.

    And thanks OddOne :)

  • Comment number 18.

    Hi, im new to chart blog and I enjoy reading your comments.

    This song is a bit autotuned don't you think? And, OddOne, I completely agree with you. Doesn't make sense. 2 Stars for me.

  • Comment number 19.

    Hi MassiveFlapJack, you're more than welcome to chat with us any time :) At the bottom of each page here there is the 'Topical posts' box which says where the latest comments are. We are currently using this page for general music discussion. Hope all that helps :)

    Come to think of it, I am still to state my thoughts on this song... I will do so later.

  • Comment number 20.

    Thanks, see you around. :)

  • Comment number 21.

    I personaly fail to see anything in cheryl cole.

    And secondly this song is a vein attempt to seem edgy cool and above all talented which she ovbiously is not because if not for the x factor she'd be back in newcastle in nothing but a mini skirt sipping on smirnoff ice and i hate the fact she will be number 1 in plce of rihanna which is a much better song all because she's little miss x factor that is not what music is about.

  • Comment number 22.

    Cheryl Cole already many directions attempt after expand of independece. I enjoy is the she's take the judge are very good on X Factor. in latest, a songs "Promise This" is the very excellent and background of ballet in MV. Cheryl Colenis a many-sided of the surface artist.

  • Comment number 23.

    Could not have put it better myself . Good work .

  • Comment number 24.

    @21 . We could all use the word "if" for any person in the world , including ourselves . You are the master of your fate and the captain of your soul . Be your best at everything you do .

  • Comment number 25.

    Hello, is that you, Lady GaGa!?

  • Comment number 26.

    and can any of you peeps do better plz? NO?? Didn't think so :)

  • Comment number 27.

    Given the same equipment, and the same producers, we'd pwn Cheryl.

  • Comment number 28.

    Smileey i like cheryl cannot sing in tune but put on the xfactor put me in any red top paper and you or i could like cheryl sell millions :) yes it does seem to be just that easy these days.

  • Comment number 29.

    Well said, Tom!

  • Comment number 30.

    Well done on your number 1 Cheryl .

    Have a glass of champagne , pet .

  • Comment number 31.

    I find it quite amusing that Rihanna is performing on X Facotr in a few hours, and Cheryl will be there. "Judging". :L

  • Comment number 32.

    Bet she stands up and claps !

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