In my opinion, “Pocketful of Sunshine” by Natasha Bedingfield is absolutely terrible; i mean there is literally no sort of musical talent or creativity behind this song whatsoever. This song honestly sounds like Natasha found her elementary school diary one day and decided to make a song out of its contents. First off, the majority of the “lyrics” is just her screaming the same damn line (TAKE ME AWAYYYYY) over and over again as if she’s some beaten child pleading to be taken away from her abusive parents. In addition, the remainder of the lyrics are just plain juvenile, “I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine … sticks and stones are never gonna shake me” what are you, six? I don’t even think my classmates in the second grade said that garbage. Not to mention the lyrics just seem contradictory, in each verse she talks about how she’s like this happy person who is impervious to the haters however in each chorus she cries of being taken away to some sort of nirvana where “there’s only butterflies”. Furthermore, not only are her lyrics and singing unbearable but it is agonizingly catchy, so if you’re unfortunate enough to hear this song at the beginning of your day, it’s ruined. I almost feel bad posting the music video for this song above in case anyone hasn’t heard it before, if I got this terrible song stuck in your head, I’m sorry. Also, my apologies if anyone on this blog actually likes this song, I’m sure Natasha Bedingfield is a talented artist and I know I’m being slightly dramatic on my criticism here but I just cant stand this song.
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Writing on Music, Summer 2015 
Haha well said, I was skeptical of your criticism until I read it, and I think you make some fair points. I have good feelings towards this song just because of youthful memories and Emma Stone singing this in “Easy A”. But otherwise, I think you hit the nail on the head when you talked about the lyrical complexity–it really does seem like a 2nd grader’s diary ramblings. I never thought about how hypocritical and nonsensical it is that she talks about her own personal strength but then begs to be taken away to a better place. It’s funny how you can sing a sing a hundred times in your car and never really question the actual message it presents. There is music I absolutely analyze when I hear it for its lyrical quality, but I agree that this song isn’t really one of those.
Do you typically dislike music similar to this, or was it just this one specific song that gets to you?
Thanks for posting!
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Christian!
Wow! I could really sense your distaste for this song. I completely agree with you on the lack of lyrical complexity. I do think that Natasha Bedingfield is a talented singer, it’s just a shame she has to waste her groovy voice on kind of a lame, gets-stuck-in-your-head-and-you-hate-it song. I realized writing my blog post, that lyrically inept songs are the ones that I hate the most. Do you think you fall under that category or is it just this particular song? I wonder since the lyrics are the worst, why the song seems to be so catchy. This song to me is way too overproduced, and usually I tend to stray away from those. But this song never fails to infuriatingly get stuck in my head.
I liked your title of the post too! Thanks for your post!
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Hi Christian! I completely disagree with your post, but to each their own!
I actually love this song because it brings back memories of the hilarious shower scene from “Easy A”, and because I used to love dancing to this song in middle school!
The lyrics, although not particularly creative, do show musical talent. Her voice has a particularly enjoyable sound that is very expressive. Although this song may sound like a series of screamed words, I believe that is the intention. Bedingfield wants to express passion and joy through the loudness of her voice.
This is the wonderful thing about music is that everyone has a sound that appeals to them, and nobody can discredit an opinion. Even though I don’t agree, I value your opinion on the song!
-Payge
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