Music Review: Bruno Mars "The Lazy Song"

Bruno Mars

The Lazy Song

Album: Doo Wops & Hooligans

Year: 2010

    Bruno Mars plays hooky from work in the flaky  “Lazy Song”

  Casual synths open the single, setting a goofy tone.  The chorus starts the song. He can’t take another day of trying to sell credit cards to customers. They argue with him or ignore him. A t9 am, he calls in to his boss and coughs, telling him he’s sick. Once he closes his cell phone, he fluffs up his pillows and goes to back to sleep. In between, he hears his cellphone chirp, letting him know he has texts and voicemails. He remains asleep, pretending it doesn’t exist.(“Today I don't feel like doing anything/I just wanna lay in my bed/Don't feel like picking up my phone, so leave a message at the tone/'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything.”)

    At about 1 pm, he wakes up and sits in his bed. He looks around his room, noticing the detail on the fan and plans out his day. Maybe he might watch television or stay in bed, doing nothing. In the corner of his room is his Snuggie, which he got from Christmas and rarely gets a chance to wear. He throws it on and grabs the remote. After surfing through cartoons, reality shows with women with plastic faces and too heavy makeup and news commentators screaming at each other, he picks MTV. There, he catches Cali Swag showing people how to Dougie at home. He kicks off his slippers and starts practicing, trying to bend his right knee the correct way. (“I'm gonna kick my feet up then stare at the fan/Turn the TV on, throw my hand in my pants/Nobody's gon' tell me I can't/I'll be lounging on the couch just chilling in my Snuggie/Click to MTV so they can teach me how to Dougie/'Cause in my castle I'm the freaking man.”)

      In the pre-chorus, he says there are no rules for him to follow. He’s the boss. (“Oh yes, I said it, I said it/I said it 'cause I can.”)

       The chorus is sung again, except he adds “nothing at all, nothing at all” at the end.

     He thinks of maybe calling in tomorrow again. The P90X DVD he bought six months ago has been sitting on his table for awhile, unopened. He can work out and get some muscle on him. He’s thinking of going to the bar and hitting on a good looking girl and bringing her back to his apartment. He can already hear her orgasm and cooing. He’s always wanted to get a degree in marketing. His dad thought he would go college after high school. However, he decided to get a full-time job instead. He wasn’t ready to take on more school. He knew his dad was disappointed. His dad would would tell him to take off the work he needs and offer to pay if it meant he would go to college. Mars changes his mind, though. It was a thought but not something he actually wants to do. (“Tomorrow I'll wake up, do some P90X/Find a really nice girl, have some really nice sex/And she's gonna scream out/This is great (Oh my god, this is great)/Yeah, I might mess around/And get my college degree/I bet my old man will be so proud of me/But sorry pops, you'll just have to wait.”)

        The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

       In the bridge, he’s not going to fix up his hair or make himself look presentable. No one’s going to see him. He’ll walk around his apartment naked and just enjoy his body. (“No, I ain't gonna comb my hair/'Cause I ain't going anywhere/No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no/I'll just strut in my birthday suit/And let everything hang loose/Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah/Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.”)

         The chorus is sung again.

        He sings “nothing at all” three times to end the single.

        Mars’ rascally, callow vocals  pinch, squeezing the notes until they turn black and blue. He starts off relaxing. However, by afternoon, he’s planning to quit after realizing he doesn’t do what he wants ever. But there isn’t much he wants to do. He only thinks about doing things, not acting on them. He’s burned out from working a ton of hours and has lost ambition. He only wants to sit all day and watch television.

     The pseudo-rebellious “Lazy Song” lacks effort to make any real changes.