Music Review: Usher "Numb"

Usher

Numb

Album: Looking 4 Myself

Year: 2012

      Usher can handle whatever life throws at him in the contented “Numb.”

        Whirling synths open the single, setting an even tone.He’s heard a lot of people say life is tough. He’s ready to deal with it. Life is too short to dwell on what went wrong. It’s the hardships which let people grow and mature. However, people need to listen to themselves and what they need to do. Otherwise, they’ll end up miserable. (“They say life is a battlefield/I say bring it on/If you wanna know how I feel/Live it till it's gone/I'm just saying that what don't kill, only makes you strong/If you don't recognize what is real/Then forever is a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long time.”)

         In the chorus, it seems like it’s one issue after the other. It’s neverending and beginning to overwhelm him. He takes a deep breath, calms himself down and puts it out of his head. What’s done is done, nothing he can do change it, he has to accept it. He won’t let himself get worked up about it anymore. (“Some things never change here we go again/Feel like I'm losing my mind/Shake it off, let it go, I don't care any more/Just go numb/You never know until you let go/Let's go numb/I can feel you now.”)

       People often talk about making a move in their life but then wait for the moment to happen to them. He doesn’t understand it.  Waiting for a moment means life is on hold. However, taking risks can lead to more heartache. He listens to his instincts, imagining other’s people reactions may be: “you rely on a random nervous stomach to make your decisions?”  (“Keep on doing the same old thing/And you expecting change/
Well is that really insanity/Or just a losers' game?/I only trust in the things I feel/Some may say that's strange/You better recognize what is real/Cause forever is a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long time.”)

        The chorus is sung again.

       In the bridge, he repeats “I can you feel now” four times. At the end, he asks “but can’t feel it, do ya?”

      The chorus is sung again with the word “numb” added after each lyric.

     He asks if people get him to finish the single. (“Can you feel it?”)

 
     Usher’s resolved, collected vocals  are luminous , lighting up the entire single with positivity. He realizes making changes in life are necessary. While he will deal with his problems, he won’t let it weigh him down.

  The whirling beat, uncomplicated and easy, is able to maintain itself without becoming repetitive. It’s an introduction to the genre which distances itself from the usual cliched elements (pounding drum beat, diva vocals, repeated catchphrase).Usher and dance music mesh well. It actually suits him better than R&B.

 The mellow “Numb” gives a taste of what dance music is like with the right amount of spices.