Timbaland ft. Justin Timberlake – ‘Carry Out’
I know it’s just a loop, I know it’s just a 2-second thing Timbaland put on the track to lift it a bit, and give that heartbump bass a bit of a lift, but I have two things to say on the subject of the go-go bell that this song has running through it like the veins in a stilton.
The first is that, while it’s true that if you concentrate on the bell you’ll end up feeling a bit frazzled and irksome, it’s the grit which forms the pearl of the song. Take the go-go bell out, and it’s just another Timbaland production. A cut above most of his recent output, but nowhere near the astonishing brilliance of ‘Give It To Me’. Plus go-go bells are COOL, ask Run DMC.
The second thing is just a helpful piece of advice. If you do find yourself unable to enjoy the plush velvety goodness of the song because of that bell, do what I do: imagine it’s not a loop, and that some poor soul had to bash out a solid four minutes, bell-whack after bell-whack, until Timbo got that looped, robotic feel. Picture the bloodshot eyes, the blistered hands, covered in plasters, the thousand-yard stare, the beads of perspiration and the slight facial tick as Tim asks for just one more take.
HOURS of amusement, I’m telling you.
(Here’s the video. Look! It’s Mr Schuester from Glee! In a bowtie!)
The man has a way with a chorus too, doesn’t he? On form, he can transform some silly lyric where getting closer to someone you fancy can be compared to getting a takeaway into something almost noble.
“Have it your way, foreplay” is a strange thing to say, don’t you think? On the surface of it, it’s just a play on the slogan of a certain burger chain, a burger chain who Justin Timberlake cannot really be seen to be advertising if a certain other burger chain wants to keep playing his little “I’m loving it” jingle thing. If you think about things that way round, it makes perfect sense.
Try saying something that passive-aggressive to a real, actual girl when you’re chatting her up, and it suddenly seems a bit grudging, a bit “well if we MUST…”, a bit “frankly, as soon as we’re done here, I’m off. Time is money, lady, and I am LOADED”.
Not that you’re gonna get a long way in life analysing the lyrics of a Timbaland/Timberlake team-up, but it’s kinda fun to think about what any sensible girl might say to the idea that foreplay – even with the great Trousersnake himself – is like a special favour you can have just because he likes you.
Cocktail facial, anyone?
Download: Out now
CD Released: April 12th
www.timbalandmusic.com
BBC Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
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