Fresh Judgment: Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You"

My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson

The original American Idol is back on the music scene with a brand new album (her fourth dropping in March) titled All I Ever Wanted and arguably amusingly-titled comeback single. Kelly Clarkson goes back to her pop/pop-rock roots last heard from her Breakaway days to revive her mainstream music career since releasing the critically praised but commercially flopping My December.

The song opens with a drumbeat hook reminiscent of "Since U Been Gone" but quickly builds up to a dancey electro-pop chorus. Sure, the lyrics seem to find Clarkson falling back in love rather than love-scorened, but there are subtle hints in her delivery that indicate some unresolved aggression. As if she is begrudgingly giving in (or giving up?) to a second chance relationship with this guy. Perhaps this was a result of my initial confusion upon hearing the song for the first time. I secretly hoped she would go pop again, but also take her organic and angsty My December outlook with her. But since she takes a backseat on the songwriting this time, the result is a shiney, made-for-radio pop song. The first indication is the sing-a-long chorus and catchy hook. The second are the song's co-writers, Max Martin and Dr. Luke, who helped credit Clarkson with major chart success with "SUBG".

No doubt, this song is almost guaranteed to have chart success, thanks to the presumed record label support it (and the album) will receive, unlike the last time around when Clarkson butted heads with her label and label-head Clive Davis over the direction and content of My December. Maybe it is a stretch or over-analyzation, but a second-take on the lyrics may also indicate Clarkson eating humble pie (read: compromising) and acquiescing her creative control to those who have developed her career.

Think about it when you listen to the lines in the second verse:

Maybe I was stupid for telling you goodbye / Maybe I was wrong for trying to pick a fight.../ Either way, I found out I'm nothing without you.

If indeed Clarkson has found peace with the direction of her music this time around and truly has found all she ever wanted (pun intended), I hope she hasn't lost complete creative control and the rest of her new album will showcase all her strengths: originality and vulnerability, which unfortunately is lacking here, as well as the pop-rock sound she has successfully mastered.