Music Review: Little Mix "Wings"

Little Mix

Wings

Album: DNA

Year: 2012

     Jesy Nelson was taught to take risks in the feisty   “Wings.”

          A gutsy saxophone opens the single,  setting a brash  tone. The chorus begins the single. When she was junior high, she was getting bad grades on purpose. After she would raise her hand, she could hear her classmates snicker and whisper “geek” to her. In between classes, she would disguise her  tears and cry in the bathroom stall. Finally, she stopped and began failing the quizzes to get the other kids to back off. Soon, her parents were being called in a conference to find out what the problem was. She remembers her mother telling her she’s smart. When she grows up, she can get into a good college and maybe even study abroad someday. She tells her to not to pay attention to the other kids who are teasing her. (“Mama told me not to waste my life/She said spread your wings my little butterfly/Don't let what they say keep you up at night/And if they give you shhhh/Then they can walk on by.”)

            Jesy Nelson takes the first part of the verse. After all her hard work in high school,. she found out she got into Brown with a full academic scholarship.. She is the only one of her class to make it into a prestigious college.  She’s excited and grinning when the annoucement is made. She can see her classmates rolling their eyes. Jade Thirwall adds that she knows she earned. She’s been called every name in the book  for years. (“My feet, feet can't touch the ground/And I can't hear a sound/But you just keep on running up your mouth yeah/Walk, walk on over there/'Cause I'm too fly to care, oh yeah.”)

       In the pre-chorus, they all sing. Other people’s  remarks have become noise. Their opinion of her doesn’t matter. (“Your words don't mean a thing/I'm not listening/Keep talking, all I know is.”)

       In the full chorus, they all sing.  they are willing to make to mistakes. It will only be a learning experience. She won’t let other people define them and turn her into someone else. (“Mama told me not to waste my life,/She said spread your wings my little butterfly/Don't let what they say keep you up at night/And they can't detain you/'Cause wings are made to fly/And we don't let nobody bring us down/No matter what you say it won't hurt me/Don't matter if I fall from the sky/These wings are made to fly.”)

        Perrie Edwards take part of the second verse. She’s planning on a job in the fashion industry. Shoes have always been her vice and she views them as pieces of art. Working public relations for  Christian Louboutin would be a dream. It’s going to mean a double major, networking, and multiple internships to achieve it. She has the drive and interest to do it. Leigh-Anne Pinnock takes the next part. People around her tell her it won’t happen. She lets it go in one and out the other. They also told her she wouldn’t make into Brown, either. (“I'm firing up on that runway/I know we're gonna get there someday/But we don't need no ready steady go, no/Talk, talk turns into air/And I don't even care, oh yeah.”)

           The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

            In the bridge, they all sing. Telling her she can’t do it only makes her want to prove them wrong. (“I don't need no one saying hey, hey, hey, hey/I don't hear no one saying hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey/You better keep on walking/I don't wanna hear your talking, boy'd/You better keep on walking/I don't wanna hear your talking, boy'd.”)

         In the second pre-chorus, they add that insults roll off at this point. (“Your words don't mean a thing/
I'm not listening/They're just like water off my wings.”)

             The chorus is sung again.

           The last half of the chorus is sung again to end the single. (“And we don't let nobody bring us down…these wings are made to fly.”)

      Little Mix’s flawless. fresh vocals are electric, giving an unexpected shock.  They harmonize really well, making the chorus stand out. Each vocal section flows into the next without even a sigh.

      The magnetic “Wings” captures listeners with a full-blown force, knocking  them out before they figure out what happened.