s is for songs. s is for senorita.

(Joshua Masayoshi Huff)

I'm at a reflective point in my life. Undoubtedly, I will have many, many more. But, while writing down all of these thoughts, I was presented by a problematic pop culture puzzle that I wanted to answer...which I will look at a little later in the post.

Ever since I started making playlists for Sarah, I titled every playlist I made s, even the playlists that I didn't make for her. They all were attached to numbers, as well, and i think i'm up to around s37 on my computer, or something. s1-s37. yeah.

This past week, I made a playlist. That's what I do in my free time, really--and yeah, John Cusack's character in High Fidelity more or less captures my essence (sadly).

This playlist was no different from the rest. It started with an s, though I attached no number to it. I have no idea why I gave it that name, and I don't care enough to try and figure it out. It'll probably be awhile before this changes, but whatever...I've since renamed most of the playlists, except for the ones that I did make for Sarah. Those keep the "snumber" formats. I mean, they're still a big part of my life and my feelings for her, and I'm not a revisionist. Who I am today is a culmination of the experiences that I've had, and Sarah is and always will be a huge part of my life.

Ok, enough. I'm not going to attach the playlist here, because I've more or less put up all of the songs in a certain format on the blog..well, ok, here are some vids that you may enjoy (Phoenix's "Too Young", Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour", The Carpenter's "(They Long to Be) Close To You", John Legend "Save Room"-this one reminds me of Timmy Thomas' "Why Can't We Live Toogether, and covered here by Sade,Pharrell's "Frontin", and Common and Kanye's "The Food").

I mean, I had no idea why I made it...it's really a combination of songs that I've loved for a long time and songs that I've just recently come to like. Songs that just felt comforting. Anyway.

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But, I don't want to talk about those songs or those playlists. I just want to discuss one.

Justin Timberlake's "Senorita"




Yeah man. Seriously. Before I talk about JT himself, (hold on, ladies), I'd just like to talk about the music of the song.

I've been thinking about this song hardcore for the last couple of days...for no particular reason other than the fact that I listened to his first record non-stop on my recent foray to Mexico...and this song stuck with me the most. As usual, the Neptunes killed it. This was in the midst of them absolutely tearing it up with futuristic "Neptunes" synths that burned up every dance floor on the planet...they totally flipped it, brought out a chill piano/bass/drum piece with horn stabs..and damn, that bridge is just way too sexy. I can't even deny that.

I always like to think that if I ever had any musical talent, I'd probably produce very similar to the Neptunes. Everything they do is something that I could see myself producing (as opposed to Diddy, Scott Storch, Kanye, J Dilla, Madlib, Timbaland, RJ..blah blah). Every song they put out amazes me, because it feels like they pulled the synth patches out of my own brain.

Of course, the lyrics can mean everything to everyone, so I won't present an overdone analysis on them. Really, what's the point?

Everything. Why do women love Justin Timberlake so much? It seems like every single woman on the planet does. My mom. My grandma. My sister. Every girl I ever met in high school or college, regardless of how into "pop" or "indie rock" they were.

This song capitalizes on the stereotypical pop lyric about seeing a pretty woman who's down and telling her she doesn't deserve that. Fine, fine, fine...it's been done a million times.

But not by someone like JT. Someone who is as old or young as we want him to be. He can dance--we all know that...he can sing (for sure)...and he can really do both at the same time. He plays the guitar and piano at his shows. He dresses well and pulls off college boy sweatpants as well as GQ suits.

I mean, in short, he really is everything to everyone. He's not REALLY a bad boy, but he has enough scruff and tattoos to convince you otherwise. Girls probably feel like, if they do accept Justin's offer to save them from their unhappy, loveless relationships and date him, they're making an acceptable compromise with their parents...he's a rebel, but within acceptable boundaries.

"I don't like his sideburns and his stubble!"
"But he's got a job!"
"And his tattoos!"
"You never see them when he's wearing his suit!"
"He slept with Britney Spears!"
"That was his first time, and he was in love!"

I mean, seriously. And then dude brings out that sing-along part, where the guys sing:
"It feels like something's heating up, can I leave with you"

and the girls sing:
"I don't know what I'm thinking of...me leaving with you"

and then he has the audacity to say "Gentlemen, good night. Ladies, good morning. And that's it"

He's right when he sings that "nobody does this anymore"...probably because no one can pull of both singing in a male and female voice. I mean, straight up: how have this kid and Kanye not hooked up on a track yet? They're both so acceptably and sexily cocky...yet we have yet to hear anything by the two of them in tandem (...and seriously, did you know Pharrelll is 34?).

It's unfortunate that a song of this sexitude will never be released again--it seems like the two have fallen out...and there wasn't one Pharrell track on "Futuresex/Lovesounds".

Sad, sad, sad. But really, JT doesn't really need anyone but himself. Pharrell, Timbaland...hell, dude could have a hit record with Yanni.

Why not a JT/Mika Nakashima/Radiohead record? Give it a thought, kids.


This post isn't about me being upset that JT gets all the ladies..he deserves it. It's just pure admiration. Dude has every woman on the planet in awe, from the children to the grannies. And, from every angle, this is an amazing song..you'd be flat out wrong if you denied it. It'd be hard to really buy the swagger of the song from any other artist, but JT pulls off just about everything.

This is one of his best pieces, and it is also one of the Neptunes' finest works, too.