9/23/08

The Gift that Keeps on Giving
My Review of "Light On"

I had a bad day at work, and came home exhausted, stressed out, and ready to scream and stamp my feet like a petulant child. I didn't want to talk to anyone, I didn't want to see anyone, I didn't want to clean my house or walk the dog or listen to my teenage daughter talk about how mean and unfair her teachers are. All I wanted to do was hide myself in my room with my laptop and escape into my Cookieverse, a place that always seems to lift my spirits, a place where I spend far too much time. As if I care.

I've been a little sad since the tour ended, worried about not getting my daily fix of David. I worried about the same thing after Idol ended, but of course my worries were in vain.

So I sat down on my bed, opened up my laptop, booted it up, and immersed myself in all things David Cook, and what was the first thing I found? An audio of "Light On," Cook's long-awaited first post-Idol song. Heart pounding with anticipation, hands trembling with excitement, I clicked on the audio and prepared to be swept away on a tide of aural euphoria.

Cook does not disappoint. He has some uncanny way of "knowing" exactly what I need, when I need it, and he always delivers: "Light On" was no exception.

The song is just a bit overproduced, but that's okay. I expected that. But Cook's soaring vocals shine right through the "wall of sound"--his range is amazing, and his voice is infused with intense emotion, as it always is. He can hit those soaring glory notes, bringing me chills, and then descend into his low, growly range with as much skill. He makes singing seem so effortless. I could float away on his voice.

The song is catchy; it's one of those songs you find yourself singing to yourself long after you hear it. That bodes well for a record's commercial success. This has hit written all over it. There is one part toward the end of the song where the heavy instrumentation becomes quiet, and all you can hear is David's voice; this comes just before the final chorus. I've found this arrangement is quite common in many pop and commercial rock songs; "Time of My Life" was arranged this way too. It's like the calm before the final storm. Quiet, but with a building tension, which all gets released in the explosive final chorus. It may be manipulative, a commercial technique used in popular music to elicit emotion, but no matter--I usually like songs with such an arrangement, and liking a song is all that really counts anyway.

While the lyrics may not be Cook's (they are written by Chris Cornell), I'm sure they have still have great personal meaning for David. The lyrics seem to be not about a person so much as the desire to be able to return and be welcomed back to his old pre-Idol world when he needs to, to not be forgotten by those who supported him in his recent past. A poster on another site explained "Light On" is like the third song in a sort of trilogy: "The World I Know" (David standing on the edge of fame, about to leave his old reality forever), "Time of My Life" (embracing his new reality), and now, "Light On" (looking back, reaching out, asking a door to be left open, a light to be left on should he want to return to that old reality). This is not a man who will ever forget his humble midwestern roots or the everyday people who helped pave the way to where he is today. He may be a celebrity, but he is still one of us.

I feel David must somehow know how much his fans need him, because now that the tour is over, he keeps giving us gifts that keep us hooked: first, this interactive site where we can communicate with him--and he with us--as much as it's possible given how very busy and popular he is; and now, this early release of a song that lets us know he really hasn't changed.

So once again, because of David Cook, my bad day turned into a good one, and now I can go to sleep a happy woman, ready for whatever happens tomorrow.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you, David. I can't wait to hear what's you have in store for us next.