Music Review: Usher "Dive"

Usher

Dive

Album: Looking 4 Myself

Year: 2012

            Usher and his girlfriend make love in the rapturous “Dive.”

          Mindful synths open the single, setting an assuaging tone.  In the intro, Usher swears he’s ready to have a monogamous relationship and he won’t run off once she starts moving some of her stuff into his apartment. With that issue resolvd, it’s time to have sex. (“I know you think I'm afraid/To take a chance, go to the deep end/Usher baby/Turn the lights off.”)

             She’s a virgin. While they both had talked about what sex meant to the both of them, he had shared the number of partners he had. However, she had been cagey and changed the topic. A couple nights later, he found out. He told her he was ok with it and that he wanted to make her first time special. He explains to her it’s going to be awkward and to expect it not to be earth-shattering. (“These waters can get a little busy/But I got experience/Don't mind trekking through the storm/Long as I know that you're here with me baby/Shedding all your innocence.”)

              In the pre-chorus, as they are kissing, she is pulling at his clothes. He promises her he will be there in the morning. (“I see the walls are looking like they might precipitate/Until I'm in so deep, it's up to my waist/But I promise girl I ain't afraid.”)

             In the chorus, he hears her moan as he kisses her body, knowing she is turned on. The emotion arises in him as he thinks of being a part of her dreams. He was falling in love with her before he asked her out. (“It's raining inside your bed/No parts are dry/Love makes you so wet, your legs, your thighs/And ever since we first met I knew that/I, I knew I was ready baby to take that dive.”)

               He wants to sleep with her and have the emotional connection. He enjoys being with her. When they talk, he feelings tumble out of his mouth. It’s just easy to have conversations with her. (“Can't help it, no/I want you to feel me/Every little bit of me baby/I don't need a life saver/Baby going deeper ain't gon kill me/And I love the rush you get from me.”)

          The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

         In the bridge, he say he’ll stick around for holidays with her parents and the rest of her family. He’ll take care of her when she’s sick. It’s something new for him, too. He wants a serious relationship for once in his life. (“I'll be inside when the tides are rolling baby/You'll be my place to hide, all night/I'm not afraid to try/And no I, don't mind playing in the rain/And I was hoping that I get to take that dive.”)

            The chorus is sung again to end the single.

          Usher’s gallant, cherishing vocals are selfless, eroding the graphic diving metaphor with his thoughtfulness. Somehow, it doesn’t end up being a tail-end of a public conversation that can’t be unheard and rather not know what caused it to be brought up at all.

            The sublime “Dive” is a surprising find.