Music Review: Santana & Michelle Branch "The Game of Love"

Santana & Michelle Branch

The Game of Love

Album: Shaman

Year: 2002

    Michelle Branch can’t accept her boyfriend is no longer interested in her in the pitiful “Game of Love.”

         A hush and a flip guitar open the single,  setting a persistent tone.  Branch checks her cellphone for the fiftieth time. He still hasn’t called. She grabs her keys and heads straight for his house. After knocking on his door and not getting an answer, she decides to leave a voicemail for him. She’s certain something is wrong with her. In the message, she says she will change. If he needs her to be around more, she’ll change her schedule. She fell hard for him right away and is willing to make the effort to set things right. She doesn’t know what happened or why he changed his mind. It’s really hurting her. (“Tell me just what you want me to be/One kiss and boom you're the only one for me/So please tell me why don't you come around no more/Cause right now I'm crying outside the door of your candy store.”)

            In the chorus, she reassures him they can work it out. Misunderstandings happen a lot in relationships and theirs is being tested. There are days full of inside jokes and playful teasing. Then, there are moments when they are going to get on each other’s nerves.  It’s all part of  being in a committed, loving relationship. (“It just takes a little bit of this/A little bit of that/It started with a kiss/Now we're up to bat/A little bit of laughs/A little bit of pain/I'm telling you, my babe/It's all in the game of love.”)

        She says it’s up to him to define their relationship. It could be a postive thing for him right now. Despite what he’s going through, she will be there for him. She’s a good listener and won’t give up on him, no matter what he did. (“This, whatever you make it to be/Sunshine set on this cold lonely sea/So please baby try and use me for what I'm good for/It ain't sayin' goodbye that's knocking down the door of your candy store.”) 

         In the bridge, she says he’s her whole life. She needs his affection and comfort when she’s had an awful day. She knows what do when he’s around and makes her think about things in a different way. (“It's all in this game of love/You roll me/Control me/Console me/Please hold me/You guide me/Divide me
Into what.”)

    It leads to Santana’s guitar solo, adding some fighting spirit to the single.

 Branch adds she needs him to satsify her and says she can’t live without him. (“Make me feel good, yeah/So please tell me why don't you come around no more/Cause right now I'm dying outside the door of your loving store.”)

    The chorus is sung again, without the guitar for the first part.

      Branch sings “it’s all in this game of love” four times.

 A part of the bridge is sung again to close the single. (“Roll me/Control me/Please hold me/Make me feel good, yeah.”)

   Branch’s breathy, come hither vocals curl around the notes in an awkward pout, lacking any dignity. She will get him to talk her again even if she has to leave a dozen messages on his machines, a care package of comfort food at his door, and talk to his parents. Her put-upon sexiness only magnifies how clingy and clueless she actually is.

     The embarassing “Game of Love” stumbles on the tip of the guitar hook, depending on it for support.