Music Review: Selena Gomez "Who Says"

Selena Gomez

Who Says

Album: When the Sun Goes Down

Year: 2011

          Selena Gomez stands up to her cocky boyfriend in the strong-willed “Who Says.”

            A canny guitar opens the single, setting a perceptive tone. Before the first verse begins, she tells him she likes being herself. (“I wouldn't wanna be anybody else/Hey.”)

        In the first verse, she tells him she’s tired of his put downs.  He would compare her to other girls, asking her why she didn’t dye her blond or let it grow long. He would tell her her grades weren’t high enough and she wasn’t sociable enough.  She tells him he has no right to demand perfection from anyone. He’s a hypocrite with his own flaws. She likes her dark, shiny hair and cropped haircut. (“You made me insecure/Told me I wasn’t good enough/But who are you to judge/When you’re a diamond in the rough?/
I’m sure you got some things/You’d like to change about yourself/But when it comes to me/I wouldn’t want to be anybody else.”)

          In the pre-chorus, she admits she won’t be type of the girl to appear on the cover of Maxim. She’s pretty in her own way. People shouldn’t be chained to distorted images of themselves, unable to move past it. They should feel comfortable with themselves.  (“Na na na na na na na na na na na na na/Na na na na na na na na na na na na na/I’m no beauty queen/I’m just beautiful me/Na na na na na na na na na na na na na/Na na na na na na na na na na na na na/You’ve got every right/To a beautiful life/C'mon.”

          In the chorus, she addresses everyoone who has ever felt dumb, worthless, ugly or has their pain pushed aside for a more “deserving” person. She responds it’s the other people who are afraid and can’t deal with their insecurities. No one is better than anyone else. (“Who says, who says you're not perfect?/
Who says you're not worth it?/Who says you're the only one that's hurtin'?/Trust me, that's the price of beauty/Who says you're not pretty?/Who says you're not beautiful?/Who says?”)

        She points to her boyfriend (who calls other people nerds and excludes those he doesn’t deem cool enough) immediately starts protesting when he’s called a dumb jock. He justifies his nastiness by saying he’s being honest. His hurtful words affect people and they start to believe it. The people he judges are unappreciated like a piece of writing which keeps getting rejected and aren’t given a chance to shine. (“It’s such a funny thing/How nothing’s funny when it’s you/You tell ‘em what you mean/But they keep whiting out the truth/It’s like a work of art/That never gets to see the light/Keep you beneath the stars/Won’t let you touch the sky.”)

        The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

       In the bridge, she says anyone is capable of being a star, either in politics, entertainment or in school. It pains her when she hears she won’t succeed at something because of what she looks like or who she’s friends with. (“Who says you’re not star potential?/Who says you’re not presidential?/Who says you can’t be in movies?/Listen to me, listen to me/Who says you don’t pass the test?/Who says you can’t be the best?/Who said, who said?/Won’t you tell me who said that?/Yeah, who said?”)

       The chorus is sung three times to end the single.  

       Gomez’s encouraging, amiable vocals are soothing.. She sympathizes with other people who don’t fit in at her school. Since her boyfriend started directing his negative comments towards her, she’s become disgusted by his behavior and defies his ideas of what should she be.

      A majority of self-esteem songs want people to embrace their differences and celebrate it. Gomez takes it a step further by asking people not to let others to determine their worth and refute the cruel remarks.

     The certain “Who Says” offers a proactive, specific point of view to have a postive self image.