Music Review: Demi Lovato "Skyscraper"

Demi Lovato

Skyscraper

Album: Unbroken

Year: 2011

          Demi Lovato recovers from a harsh breakup in the  visceral  “Skyscraper.”

           A bewildered piano opens the single, setting a catatonic tone.   You won’t amount to anything. You ruined my life. She keeps hearing those words in her mind. In ten minutes, he left her and blamed her for everything that wrong. He said the last couple years have meant nothing and have been a waste of time. She walks inside in her home, shaking and as though he cut her down the size of an ant. (“Skies are crying, I am watching/Catching tear drops in my hands/Only silence as it's ending/Like we never had a chance/Do you have to make me feel like/There's nothing left of me?”)

          In the chorus, she vows to not let him destroy him. She will let this be a learning experience and grow from it. She will be stronger because of it. (“You can take everything I have/You can break everything I am/Like I'm made of glass/Like I'm made of paper/Go on and try to tear me down/I will be rising from the ground/Like a skyscraper/Like a skyscraper.’)

             It’s a couple days later and the shock has left her. She finally has been able the process her emotions. In his emails, he reminds her again that she didn’t really matter much. Her dreams are in pieces on the floor. However, she is ok. (“As the smoke clears, I awaken/And untangle you from me/Would it make you feel better/To watch me while I bleed?/All my windows still are broken/But I'm standing on my feet.”)

                   The chorus is sung again.

                   In the bridge, she realizes he doesn’t care about her well-being and took off. However, she’s going to pull herself up. She’ll make it without him. (“Go run, run, run

I'm gonna stay right here/Watch you disappear/Yeah, oh/Go run, run, run/Yeah, it's a long way down/But I am closer to the clouds up here.”)

            An extended chorus ends the single. (“You can take everything I have

Like a skyscraper/Like a skyscraper/Like a skyscraper/Like a skyscraper/

Like a skyscraper.”)

             Lovato’s vulnerable vocals bleed with hurt. It feels real: the huskiness from crying herself out, quietness as she deals with what just happened to her. Like Sam Smith, she is a powerful singer. It may make her uncomfortable to hear, reminding listeners of emotions they’d rather forget.

              The raw “Skyscraper” is one of her best singles as she rises to another level.