Music Review: Jennifer Love Hewitt "BareNaked"

Jennifer Love Hewitt

BareNaked

Album: BareNaked

Year: 2002

        Jennifer Love Hewitt experiences one humiliation after another in awful unending day in the easygoing  “Bare Naked.”

          A mopey guitar opens the single, setting a fretful tone.  The cafeteria erupts in cheers and applause. Her crush gives her a thumbs up and laughs. Ketchup is splattered all over her new white blouse. She picks up her food, avoiding other people’s eyes. She walks to the garbage can and then goes out the door, asking permission to go the bathroom. With some paper towel, she tries to clean her blouse. But it only smears the stain more. She stays in the bathroom until the bell rings and hides the stain behind her books. At the start of the fourth hour, her English teacher announces everyone will be put into groups for the assignment. Once in her group, she tries to contribute.  However, the other 3 people look at her and then snap right back to their conversation. After class is dismissed, she hangs her down as she walks to her locker. This morning, her favorite song played on the radio when she got up. She made every green light on the way to school. It seemed like it was going to be an awesome day. Around her, couples are holding hands and friends are sharing jokes. Their days seem t to be going great. (“Do you ever have that dream/Where you're walking naked down the street/And everyone just stares/Do you ever feel so deep/That you speak your mind/To put other strangers to sleep/You wonder if anybody cares/Sometimes I think I'm the only one/Whose day turned out unlike it had begun/And I feel.”)

               In the chorus, she just wants to go home and cry in her room. She wishes she could transfer schools and start there tomorrow. She’s supposed to be happy and enjoying her youth. It’s the best of her life. She thinks it’s a lie now. She spouts off sarcastic remarks to her parents when she comes home. She wants to fast forward to being 25 and working at an office somewhere. (“Bare naked/And I just can't take it/I'm getting jaded/No I just can't fake it anymore/'Cause I'm bare naked/And I know life's what you make it/Wish I could float away/To some other day.”)

           Sometimes it’s as though she’s the butt of the family jokes. She remembers one day, walking into the garage and her car wasn’t there. She freaked out, asking happened. Her brother, mom and dad were in the kitchen, laughing. She tried flirting with a boy by asking if he was okay. He said sure and then wondered what caused her to say it. She said because he had to have fallen from heaven. He heaved a loud sigh and walked away to talk to another girl. She tried to erase it in her memory. But there are times she sees him in the hallway and she cringes. (“Did you ever go downstairs to start your day/But your car's not there/Yeah you know the joke's on you/Did you ever try your luck with a pickup line/But you just sucked/You tell yourself it wasn't you/And I know it's hard to hold it inside/It's days like these I run and hide/When I feel.”)

            The chorus is sung again.

             In the bridge, she says to tries to maintain a positive attitude. Otherwise, if everyone had an awful day and dwelled on it, the world would become miserable. (“It's all a state of mind/But I don't mind trying to find a way/To keep my head above the mess I make
What the world creates/Sometimes it feels so good to let it all fall/As the world fall, I may fall, we all may fall/And then the world comes tumbling/Down down down down down

            The chorus is sung twice to end the single.

           Hewitt’s well-defined vocals breeze through the mishaps, her confidence undermining the lyrics.  She’ll make a fashion statement out of the ruined blouse, painting it with more ketchup. It’s a charmed life for her.

            The smiley  “Bare Naked” turns that frown upside down, by golly!