Hey You review by Adam-Michael James
And here’s another review of Hey You, coming from Adam-Michael James,
co-author of the upcoming musical “The Nine Lives of Lucy Maud Montgomery“, coming June 2008:
“Hey You” is a very interesting mix of new and old for Madonna. On the one hand, it’s not the first time she’s gone quasi-acoustic, the bells near the end are very reminiscient of 1989’s “Spanish Eyes” (from the “Like A Prayer” album), and of course there’s the references to her old songs – “keep it together”, “open your heart”, and “Holiday” is evoked in the line “a celebration is going on tonight”. And yet, for all that, she does some very interesting things melodically, and especially vocally, seemingly reaching into territory she hasn’t covered before – it almost doesn’t even sound like her at times! The lyrics border on the simple, yet some of them rise above as standouts. There’s almost a ‘60s feel to it…something very earthy…appropriate for Live Earth! And, as much as I loved “Confessions on a Dance Floor“, it’s nice to see her move away from the disco dolly thing and get back to something with roots, like the trees Live Earth advises us to plant!
Of course, it’s easy to pick apart a song and analyze all night, but the fact of the matter is…I like it. My MP3 player is certainly going to be cranking it out a lot in the next few weeks! And I look forward to hearing the live performance on Live Earth 7/7/07!
Adam-Michael James