"Suddenly I See" what's going on here...

By Christina R.

This song is, apparently, THE song to play in a movie or television show about someone in the fashion business. Not only has it appeared, or the audio equivalent of "appear", in The Devil Wears Prada and ABC's "Ugly Betty," it also actually appears to be about a model. (Edit: it was also played during a scene in ABC's "Six Degrees" in which two people go shopping for nice, dare I say designer clothes. Hmm.)

"And she's taller than most / and she's looking at me / I can see her eyes looking from a page in a magazine / she makes me feel like I could be a tower..."

It seems to say that models make people feel better about themselves. Perhaps my interpretation is off, but I'm not so sure about that. But negative-role-model issues aside, it's still a catchy song.

It begins with a wicked base line and a bass drum. There's also an unidentified electric (which means it's probably synthesized) sound that leads into an echoing electric guitar. The airy vocals of a female singer come in. It's airy, but it's grainy. It's possibly one of the best female voices ever. At least it's one of the best sounds for a female voice ever.

The bass drum continues as do some soft "oohs" in the same airy voice. "Suddenly I see / this is what I wanna be / suddenly I see / why the hell it means so much to me," repeats the airy chorus.

So maybe it's just about a role model in general. "She got the power to be / the power to give / the power to see yeah yeah." Yeah, yeah.

The repeated chorus brings it on home. The song never loses its urgent beat, carrying you to the end. Yeah, yeah.

Perhaps it has more appeal to women; perhaps it's more of a "chick" tune, but whatever. Doesn't mean it's not worth a listen. It's bass driven, it has (potentially) a good message. Hell, it's even got a chick singer. But it's not your typical chick rock.

This is actually good.