DEAR JIMMY REVIEW Written by: littlefish @ Fan Forums
This song sets the scene of a girl composing a letter to "Dear Jimmy". Maybe the girl has not actually written the letter, but is imagining what she
would say in it. Jimmy might be someone the girl knows personally, or he could just as well be a film star or a pop idle. The girl is obsessed with
Jimmy; indeed she is almost mentally deranged! In a sense the song is a companion piece to Catch You, except whereas in CY the girl is stalking the man,
here her state of mind has made her a victim.
I reproduce the lyrics because there are mistakes on many websites.
Clock watching, heart stopping
So pretty, he's got me
Playing the waiting game
Longing to say his name
How will else, nothing else
In my head but he
True love can be so strange
I'm in the firing range
Why don't you take your aim at me?
Chorus:
Dear Jimmy, what's a girl like me to do?
Your picture on my wall says I'm for you
Dear Jimmy, in my sleep we rendezvous
This love will last forever
This love will last forever
On paper we're made for each other
Why bother fighting what makes such sense?
Put us in present tense
I live for each encounter
Where's it gonna be?
True love can be unkind
If you don't read the signs
When will you say "you're mine" to me?
Chorus
I'm waiting patiently for you
This table's always set for two
It's your move
Chorus
I think the words should be relatively easy to understand for non-native readers of English, but if anything is not clear, please ask. I find them quite
clever and amusing. In the verses, Sophie sings the words in groups of three syllables that cross over the top of the meaning, creating the most
absurd, funny rhymes.
The first verse sounds like
Clock watching,
heart stopping,
so pretty
He's got me
But of course he hasn't "got me", even though the girl wishes it. As the verse continues the true sense becomes clear:
Clock watching, heart stopping;
So pretty he's got me playing the waiting game
The first time I heard the song I laughed out loud as "pretty" was made to rhyme with "got me"!
It gets even better in the second verse.
It sounds like
On paper
we're made for
each other
Why bother
fighting what makes such sense?
whereas the meaning is
On paper we're made for each other.
Why bother fighting what makes such sense?
Who would have thought of making "paper" rhyme with "made for", and "each other" rhyme with "why bother"!
Those are just two examples. The extent of this girl's obsession becomes more pointed as the song progresses. The first verse has her putting herself
"in the firing range", asking him to take his aim at her (a quaint variant of Cupid's arrows maybe). The chorus has her dreaming about meeting him.
The second verse has her living for the next time she sees him. You have to smile because she says "True love can be so strange", and "True
love can be unkind". True love, indeed! For her it is intense and real, but adolescents sometimes grow through a phase like this, poor darlings....
Now let's consider the music. The track depends so much on electronic effects and colouration that I cannot imagine how it could be performed live.
Has Sophie ever sung it in public?
The first thing we hear is a fade-in start, with the high frequencies missing. As the music gets louder, the high frequencies are progressively
restored, so that the music seems to open up too. It feels as though we are gradually entering the girl's strange world. There is a incessant
pounding drum beat, and a deliberately fuzzy distorted sound. It's like the throbbing going on in the girls head. Notice the fuzzy, staccato guitar
chords and the "Oooh-Ooohs":-
In the verse, notice the rapid echo effect that affects not only the staccato guitar chords and drums, but Sophie's vocals too. At times it almost
seems as though there are several Sophies, as her words reverberate (particularly marked at "waiting game", and "say his name").
In the chorus, the clattery guitar chords give way to a twanging sequence of individual guitar notes
Some clever electronic processing must be happening.
There is a great deal of syncopation, (placing emphases on weak beats). This device is used in many kinds of music, usually to add life or interest,
to help the music "swing". In this song, I feel it serves a different purpose; it creates a curious feeling of dislocation. To understand what I
mean, try tapping the beat with your fingers whilst listening to the chorus. Almost none of Sophie's notes fall on a beat, and the long ones dangle
strangely in the air.
The short instrumental interlude between the chorus and the second verse is marked by a busy piano pattern. It reminds me of someone tapping
impatiently on the table with their finger-tips. Here you can hear the piano combined with drums and Oooh-Ooohs
"I'm waiting patiently for you
This table's always set for two"
and returns to earth with uncomfortable abruptness
"It's your move"
This is clever harmony.
Usually I dislike fade-out endings. It's a device that should be reserved for special occasions, but it has become over-used. In this song however,
I think the fade-out ending works brilliantly. Not only does it mirror the fade-in beginning, but it matches the words "This love will last forever,
This love will last forever.....". The girl is held captive by her obsession, and the song continues forever, as we make our exit and return to
normality.
Where does Dear Jimmy fit within the Sophie canon?
The song appeared in October 2006 on the Pop!justice: 100% Solid Pop Music compilation, and was said to have been recorded during the sessions
for Trip the Light Fantastic. The credited co-writers are Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Hannah Robinson and Matt Prime. According to Wikipedia,
Hannah Robinson is a British songwriter who has co-written numerous songs for various artists, including Sophie's tracks China Heart,
What Have We Started? and Me and My Imagination, all from TTLF. On the Discogs website, I read that Matt Prime played a part in producing
MAMI.
My view is that DEAR JIMMY is probably as good as any of the tracks on TTLF, but I think it stands apart from them stylistically. Is that why Sophie
omitted it from the album? I've no idea how the popularity lists on the last.fm website are compiled, or whether they are statistically valid.
Bearing this in mind, DEAR JIMMY comes in at number 58, with a rating of 347 . By contrast, Murder On The Dancefloor comes in at number 1, with
a rating of 26,805. Perhaps DEAR JIMMY deserves greater popularity.
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