New Good Song: Ready Or Not by Bridgit Mendler

Here's a new good song -- "Ready Or Not" by Bridgit Mendler

Bubblegum pop, which like it or not is certainly making a resurgence, is for kids. In my mind, the target age for this music is 12-16 and, with a sense of irony, maybe ages 17 to 22. But that certainly doesn't mean it can't be good. Lots of things targeted at kids are good, like Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

As a bias, I tend to be more open to bubblegum pop from female vocalists. I can't imagine liking a song by Justin Bieber, or One Direction, although having stated this I'm sure I will one day have to back-track, because good songs can come from unlikely sources. I don't know where my bias came from. My superficial psycho-babble explanation is that flirtation and fun seem innocent and genuine coming from a young girl, and cloying, creepy and corny coming from a young boy.

All this said, even when the deliverer of bubblegum pop is a female, I am still pretty critical. For me, bubblegum is hard to sell. It has to be sincere, well-produced and at least somewhat creative and interesting. When I heard the snippit of "Ready Or Not" by Bridgit Mendler several times over the past few weeks on iTunes, I dismissed it instantly as stupid and far too Disney to even be considered.

But, as is often the case with this genre, I kept going back to it to give it another listen. Finally I decided to give the entire song a listen from front to back, remembering that often the best part of these songs are the verses, and lo and behold, I discovered that this is actually a pitch-perfect pop song from start to finish, if you're willing to go along for the ride (i.e., forgive lyrics such as "You'll be my William, I'll be your Kate").

This is a great song. It follows the cookbook of pop songs perfectly, and the result is delicious. The chord progression, though simple, is infections and evocative, and the melody in the verses is very nice and shows off Bridgit's ability to navigate notes nicely. And what really hooked me is the pre-chrous, particularly the unexpected turn of the dancing bassline on the third line. If you listen to the clip above, I'm referring to 00:33-34.

Another reason I was reluctant to give this song a chance is that the chorus so flagrantly "borrows" from "Ready Or Not" by the Fugees. Then it occurred to me that the Fugees have probably never done an original thing in their lives, and likely stole their chorus from some other song. A quick search on Wikipedia proves this to be the case. The Fugees' "Ready Or Not" chorus was taken from the Delfonics' "Ready Or Not Here I Come," which, quite honestly, I had never heard of until now. So, there's nothing new under the sun. At least the Bridgit Mendler song just winks at the chorus slightly. That's forgivable. And it's ubiquitous in pop.

Bridgit Mendler's "Ready Or Not" is a very crisp pop song that is both contemporary and classic. I may be too old to like it, and I may not want people overhearing it on my headphones, but oh well. In 2012, we take what we can get.

Enjoy!