The Wall Street Journal has a piece today about the Pussycat Dolls’ remix of Slumdog Millionaire's “Jai Ho,” which I posted about yesterday.
Remember those awful lyrics? Here's what Ron Fair, the A&R man with the golden touch (PCD, BEP, Xtina, etc.), has to say about them:
Mr. Fair enlisted several lyricists to create English lyrics that satisfied competing goals. “The challenge was not to make it too literal, too uncool,” he says. “We were trying to make something that would appeal to contemporary music fans, yet still be true to the story of the film.”
Oh come on.
Granted, “You are the reason that I breathe/You are the reason that I still believe/You are my destiny” is vague enough to suit pretty much any romantic film ever made. But how do “When you touch my body/I’ll make you hot" and “This beat is heavy, so heavy/You gonna feel it” remain “true to the story of the film”?
Admit it — it’s a skanked-up remake that borrows the hook and nothing else. And there’s nothing wrong with that, in theory. In practice? It’s no “Don’t Cha.”
