The BEST Songs #1

As opposed to "Download This Song," where I'll be highlighting more current singles/songs that I happen to be, as the kids say, "bumpin," "The BEST Songs" will be a recurring department where I gush over slightly older/much older songs that make my life a little bit better.
That said, on to Number One!


I'm not even sure where to begin with this song. It is the opinion of Swim Through Frequencies that Ms. Carlton has penned three of the greatest pop singles of the decade: The universally-adored "A Thousand Miles," the less well-known (even, until recently, by me) "Ordinary Day," and, most importantly, the exquisite "White Houses."

Of her albums I know very little, because I'm sure that they will only disappoint. As is the problem with Sir Robert Kelly, it is very difficult to spread the glory of a perfect pop song over the span of an entire album. The thing is, girls like Vanessa never sell albums. Whereas Britney Spears and Beyoncé sell roughly a thousand million copies, for some reason, girls who write kick-ass piano riffs backed by full string arrangements and sing their little hearts out only get their songs played on Kay Jewelry commercials and rapped over by Raw D.I.

There is no justice, so Swim Through Frequencies is about to get all vigilante up in here.

"White Houses" begins with a single piano note, which plays five times before Vanessa floats in. The first few lines set everything up pleasantly enough: Girl gets some new roommates, has a lot of fun with new roommates, expects to be BFFL with new roommates. They start drinking, and playing co-ed games of spin the bottle, which is always fun, (as far as I know from that one episode of Full House.)

The best part about the beginning of this song is the way the instrumentation builds up. Carlton's voice bursts with emotion and volume one second and quietly rides the melody the next. After the first note is hit five times, vocals and piano carry the song for a few lines, before being joined by a steady high hat roll. Thus ends the first verse.

The second verse explodes as a full drum set and string section attack the melody, taking Vanessa along for the ride. The line "Jenny screams out, and its no pose," is so vocally dynamic it makes me fall in love a little. Carlton's vocals manage to reflect her lyrics wonderfully: She is loud when her characters are loud, but immediately reverts to something that sounds a lot like regret for the narrator, who is shy at the beginning of the song and ashamed near the end.

"White Houses" tackles a lot of shit, something that most contemporary pop songs don't. Yeah, every once in a while you stumble across an "Unpretty" or that fucking Ludacris and Mary J. Blige song. But, most of what pop artists consider "reflection" sounds like Brittney Spears' "Lucky," in which Brittney sings about how it's lame to be Brittney, even though everyone loves her and she's rich. And pretty.

"White Houses," on the other hand is about a shy and naive girl who somehow falls in with a group of people who are in to boozin' it up and steamy make-outs. She tries to take it all in at once, tries falling in love and partying and not getting hurt, but it all sorta backfires.

And like, goddamn she makes it work. It's not heavy-handed, it's not preachy. By focusing the perspective on the specific people in her memory, she avoids spouting some sort of "Wish I had stayed abstinent, kids!" diatribe while still expressing her regret for making herself so vulnerable so quickly.

In the end, the song just works on every level. Sonically, it forces the listener to go on the journey with Carlton, whose lyrics do the job of getting her point across while taking some HUGE emotional risks, especially for a pop singer.

We here at Swim Through Frequencies are honored to have Vanessa Carlton's vastly under appreciated "White Houses" be the first on our list of "The BEST Songs."