Music Review: 98 Degrees "Because of You"

98 Degrees

Because of You

Album: 98 Degrees and Rising

Year: 1998

            Nick Lachey wishes he could make things right with his girlfriend again in the  beseeching “Because of You.”

         Contrite strings start the single, setting a receptive tone. The chorus opens the single.  He glances at the empty chair in his room He can see his now ex-girlfriend and a smile crosses his face. He returns back to his homework. It’s good knowing she’s there. A hug from her drains away the angry words from his boss. She inspires him to do better, causing him to crash through every barrier he ever put up. (“It's all... it's all... it's all/You're my sunshine after the rain/You're the cure against my fear and my pain /'Cause I'm losing my mind/When you're not around/It's all... it's all,It's all because of you.”)

                        She’s a kind soul. He was wandering around campus, trying to find his biochemistry class. She asked him what was wrong and then walked with him to the building. He hadn’t made many friends yet at college. She was the first one who really talked to him. Every chance he gets he tries to do something for her. It’s the one way he can show how he cares for her. Words fail him. He wishes he could find them now, though. They had an argument and he said some awful things he didn’t mean. He can’t let her think their relationship is one-sided. (“Baby I really know by now /Since we met that day/You showed me the way/I felt it then you gave me love/I can't describe/How much I feel for you /I said baby I should have known by now /Should have been right there/Whenever you needed love/And if only you were here /I'd tell you, yes I'd tell you.”)

          The chorus is sung again.  

          He calls one of his friends to check on her. It’s been two weeks. It’s unsual that he hasn’t heard from her. Whatever he said or did, he won’t do it again. He wants to be forgiven and have their relationship back. She’s the one who means the most. All the other girls who flirt with him do not know see him like she does. He closes his eyes, imagining her arms around him. There’s no else he’d rather be except in her arms .(“Honestly, could it be you and me/Like it was before/Neither less or more/'Cause when I close my eyes/At night I realize that no one else/Could ever take your place/I still can feel and it's so unreal /When you're touching me kisses endlessly/It's just a place in the sun/Where our love's begun/I miss you,  yes I miss you.”)

             The chorus is sung again.

              In the bridge, he doesn’t know how to express himself. He can say he’s sorry and that he loves her but it won’t be enough. He doesn’t know how to make her believe in him again. (“If I knew how to tell you/What's on my mind/Make you understand/Then I'd always be there/Right by your side.”)

             The chorus is sung again.

         Lachey’s lovelorn vocals dwell on her every feature, idealing her as some perfect human being. He thinks of himself as the idiot who lost her over something petty. In his sadness, he can’t see that dialing her number again and again while having his friends stalk her is perhaps not the best idea.

         The humbled “Because of You” self-flaggetes itself until it's an unsightly bruise.