Music Review: Jonas Brothers "Pom Poms"

Jonas Brothers

Pom Poms

Album: V

Year: 2013

            In an unrelated and completely random note, I watched "Spring Breakers" last night. I shook during the entire last act. Alien (played by James Franco) was absolutely terrifying. The young women are products of their generation, influenced by the hypersexualization of the music videos they'd seen as children and MTV's reality shows. They expect to be exploited. It's Alien who preys upon it which made him an unsettling character. For the uninitated, it's written and directed by Harmony Korine. It's a hard watch but it's also the most mainstream movie he's done. There's social commentary going on during the depravity. While as I was watching I thought, "the culture is what Miley Cyrus is emulating."

            Joe Jonas lusts after the head cheerleader in the short-sighted “Pom Poms.”

          A whistle starts off the single, setting an excited tone. The chorus opens the single.  The guys on the football team annoy him. They brag about going to state every year. But every Friday night during the fall, he’ll attend the games. He has his eye on the head cheerleader. When the game ends, she usually heads to the field and talks to the guys. One day, he hopes she will recongnize him in the crowd, run to the stands and say hello. (“More to love when your hands are free/Baby put your pom poms down for me/Come on shake it up 1-2-3/Baby put your pom poms down for me.”)

             The marching band gets everyone revved up. It’s almost half-time.

            Their routines are unbelievable. Part gymnastics and part dance, they put on a incredible show that has won them multiple trophies of their own. People stomp and clap, shaking the seats. But the head cheerleader is the most talented one. When she arrives, there’s a roar. More than half them reside in nearby towns in the area. (“Yeah, they come from miles away/Just to see how you get down/Feels like an earthquake/Every time you come around.”)

           In the pre-chorus, the crowd responds to her, cheering along with her. She’s a true leader and he’s proud of her. She yells “State” and he gets up from his seat, whistling and yelling for the team do well. (“You hear 'em saying yeah (yeah)/Every time feels like a revival (glory)/So get up (get up), right now (right now)/We're coming for the title.”)

                 In the second chorus, he adds that he blushes when she does the splits. He only hopes no one notices. (“More to love when your hands are free… When you move I fall to my knees/Baby put your pom poms down to me/Come on shake it up 5-4-3/Baby put your pom poms down to me.”)

              It would make his year if she asked to study with him. After several study dates, she would fall in love with them. He’d have his first kiss and lose his virginity to the hottest girl in school. He’d be a legend among his friends. (“I want you on my team/Want you like a kid just wants a milkshake/And I won't let it go to waste if I get a taste/I'm gonna drink the whole thing.”)

              The pre-chorus and second chorus are sung again.

             In the bridge, he fantasizes that she’s cheering to him. (“Ladies to the left/Fellas to the right/If you wanna see me put my pom poms down/Then sing it to me baby, sing it right now/Let sing it now/Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na/Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na/Yeah, yeah (Yeah)/If you wanna see me put my pom poms down/Then sing it to me baby, sing it right now/Ah-I say sing it now/Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na/Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na/Yeah, yeah (Yeah.”)

                   The second chorus is sung again to close the single.

                  Jonas’ lewd vocals stalk her every move, trying not to be obvious. None of his friends are on the team. The cheerleaders don’t even talk to him in class. He has some acquaintances in the band but doesn’t know them well enough to hang out with after the game. He’s there to only see her, a girl he doesn’t know much about. But she’s gorgeous and popular. It’s all that matters to him. Unfortunately, he fails to see that she treats the sophomore girls on her team like crap, viewing them as competition.

           The oblivious “Pom Poms”  has the best seat in the stands, creating a realistic atmosphere but needs to focus its priorities somewhere else. It’s not going to happen.