Thicke’s ‘make-up’ single is…umm…underwhelming…

Robin Thicke • “Get Her Back” (Single) • Star Trak / Interscope • Single Release Date: May 19, 2014 

Robin Thicke has been in the headlines in 2014 for a couple of different reasons, namely his split with wife Paula Patton.  Rumors have swirled the breakup was on old boy, potentially based on unfaithfulness.  Besides news of the split heard ‘round the world, Thicke is also planning to release a new album, led by single “Get Her Back”. This new album supposedly will arrive July 1^st – an ambitious release date given that Blurred Lines arrived just July 30^th, 2013 (less than a year ago!).  While listening and analyzing Thicke’s new single, I took a few notes, made a few judgments, handed out a few grades categorically…customary, right?

Production / Sound:

• Soulful-sounding in a neo-soul style

• Use of guitars is a notable feature

• Bare-bones as opposed to being overt

• Even though it is “bare-bones”, don’t think of the minimalism of “Blurred Lines” for a comparison point nor the more developed, more memorable “For The Rest of My Life” 

GRADE: C; nothing really earth shattering…

Songwriting:

• Concept: Love centric; particularly atoning for the “wrongs” he’s committed

• Lyrically, it’s not deep (vague), but Thicke makes his point generally – he’s got to “get her back” and “treat her right”

• Almost certainly certainly written based upon his recent split with long-time sweetheart and wife, Paula Patton

• Memorable lyrics:
  • “I should have kissed you longer / I should have held you stronger  / And I’ll wait for forever for you to love me again”  (Verse)
  • “All I wanna do is make it right, make it right…” (Chorus)
  • “I gotta get her go, get her go, get her back…” (Chorus)
  • “Oh it’s so hard, oh it’s so hard / but it doesn’t have to be” (Bridge)

 GRADE: C; A lack of lyrical depth makes this song a bit of a lightweight musically

Vocal Performance: 

• Thicke’s vocals are smooth and soulful

• Sings in both chest voice and falsetto

• Don’t call the performance electrifying – gets the job done though

GRADE: C;  Merely good/average, not Thicke’s best nor most memorable performance

Final Thoughts & Evaluation:

After all is said and done, “Get Her Back” feels a bit underwhelming.  Thicke merely makes his point, but doesn’t really develop the song into something truly special, connective, or meaningful.  To his credit, he says what he needs to do in basic terms, but listeners and likely his ex- would likely get more out of the song with better attention to detail.

★★½