Recently, the song “You Da One” by Rihanna has been stuck in my head. On my short drives around town, to and from the dog park, with friends to the creek, or by myself leaving my boyfriend’s house, this song is my jam. As far as a summer vibe goes, I think this song embodies that well. With its pop and somewhat reggae feel, accompanied by light dubstep, its an upbeat, dance friendly song. The song is very Rihanna in that it begins with a slow, vocal-heavy rhythm and then transitions to a more pop-esque chorus, that makes you want to sing along. There is also a middle section in the song in which Rihanna unleashes her bad girl Riri side in a bit of rapping accompanied by some dubstep. With the chorus going:
“You the one that I dream about all day
You the one that I think about always
You are the one so I make sure I behave
My love is your love, your love is my love”
the song centers heavily around a happy romance, and the ay-ay-ay’s she annunciates in each short-a word create a consistent rhythm to focus around. For me, that sound she makes for each of those words, “day”, “always”, and “behave” is the most striking part of the song that sparks my interest and keeps it in my head all day.
Unsurprisingly, the music video is much more sexually-focused than the sound of the song connotates to me. I was kind of off-put by the provocative dance moves I saw in the music video, not because I don’t think that style has a time and place, but because the song is more light-hearted and innocent sounding, to me.
In response to the article “Implications of Music on the Brain”, i found the information about infants and music quite interesting. This summer, I have spent a large amount of time babysitting a 4 month old newborn. The idea that this tiny human that can’t comprehend language yet can be drawn to and respond to music is incredible. I myself have experienced this with this baby in that I’ve sung to it, at times, to try to calm it down and distract it, which did work incredibly well. It is weird that when I did this, and played some music from my phone, it immediately looked at me and was curious, however, when a pan is banged in the kitchen or adults are speaking over it, it hardly notices. The baby’s mother has told me repeatedly that it likes Opera music, something I think is quite surprising given the intensity of Opera, at times.
It also struck me as interesting the assertion that all humans are musical and can stand to benefit from being involved in music. I don’t think I had ever thought about it in this way, as something similar to language, that is innate in our brains and develops similarly. This makes me feel more strongly that music/art education should not be forgotten in our schools.
Writing on Music, Summer 2015 
I often find this song stuck in my head after I listen to it on the radio. It’s catchy and makes me want to sing along. I like how you talk about the sexual-focus of the music video. I feel like the music video is very Rihanna, though like you, I feel like this song is more light-hearted and innocent than she portrays. I feel like music videos sometimes ruin the song, rather than enhance it because of today’s society norms.
Good response to the article. It’s interesting to learn that the baby you babysit likes Opera music. I wonder why that is? The article also mentioned how babies respond to music even while in the womb. I wonder if the music that the mother listens to while she is pregnant affects the baby’s musical interest.
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This song is so catchy, it is hard not to enjoy listening to it! I agree with you completely about the premise of the song not being represented well in the music video. Music videos, since they entice the audience, frequently display levels of sexuality inconsistent with the songs. Unfortunately, sex sells, so it is not surprising that the music video is sexualized more than the lyrics.
With regards to the article, I question whether the music we enjoy is because we are socialized into it or if it is genetic. With regards to the baby you babysit, perhaps he only enjoys opera because it reminds him of the comfort he has when his parents are around, especially if his parents listen to it around the house. For me, there are certain songs that remind me of my parents, and that is essentially the only reason I listen to them. Interesting to think about! I wonder if animals have the same disposition to music that we do?
Great response!
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Hi!
I love this song too! I actually haven’t heard this song in a long time but I’m glad you brought it back to my memory because it’s definitely a fun and catchy summer song. I’ve always really appreciated Rihanna’s music. I really appreciate her care free attitude and how she expresses that in her music. I had never seen the music video before your post though, and I agree that it is a little off-putting. I think that sometimes it’s so unnecessary to bring that much sexuality into something that could be just as great without it! To each their own though, I guess! (;
As far as the article goes, I found the section of infants and hearing very interesting as well. I am babysitting this summer, too, and I always wonder about their little brains and think about how amazing and complex they are at such a very young age. It really is so amazing how newborn or infant babies can respond to music even though they can’t yet respond to simple commands. Our brains are so complex I just love learning more and more about how they functions!
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