Kelly Clarkson's "Catch My Breath" Review

Nikki Grossfeld ’16 / Emertainment MonthlyEditor

Originally becoming a hit with her song “Breakaway,” Kelly Clarkson has managed to become a sensation and idol to numerous people within a fairly short period of time in her career. From deep depression to ultimately upbeat, Kelly Clarkson’s music manages to range to a large scheme of emotions that are relatable for different audiences. Her new song “Catch My Breath” begins off strong, making it relatable instantly for many, but once the first verse ends it goes into a chorus that appears to be used to fill up the four-minute requirement of a pop song.
Breaking out with the phrase “I don’t wanna be left behind” instantly captures the attention of her audience, making people remember past events that they wish had gone differently – times where they had felt alone; perhaps even felt as if no one else knew what they were going through. Individuals feeling nostalgic for their past, will instantly be hooked to this song (if they are fans of the pop-country-esque genre).
The issue is, as the years go on, more and more songs come out that truthfully all sound the same. From one artist to another – from one song to another – between Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Swift, all of the songs seem to blend together with a loss of a relationship and a knowledgeable gain of who they are themselves – sometimes changing the cards and only including one of these qualities.
“Catch My Breath” begins off strong and powerful, with an ability to show people that they are not the only person who has felt left behind. Unfortunately, after the first stanza, the song goes downhill fast. Switching back and forth between two different two-line stanzas, the chorus repeats itself nine times. Nine stanzas of the twelve-stanza-song is a repeated chorus. By the time the second original stanza comes around, the audience has zoned out the words due to the immense repetition and the new stanza’s lyrics go unnoticed and unappreciated.
This song is essentially a carbon copy of any other pop song out there. It has the basic backbeat of most pop songs, and once the lyrics are ignored for their distasteful echoing, the backbeat is all that is listened to – and because this beat is the same for all other quintessential pop songs it is viewed as “good” and enjoyable, when in fact the lyrics mean nothing by the end of the song and seem to be the result of the inability to expand upon one good idea.