#75. 'My sexy ass has got him in a new dimension'

Sugababes "Push the Button"

'When read properly, everything is lewd' - Tom Lehrer

I know that interpretation of lyrics is a dicey game to get involved in. A big part of the reason, outside of my preference to talk about the arrangement and production of a track above all else, that I don't go too deep into the pool of lyrical analysis is that it doesn't interest me to get that involved in such a subjective area of the song. If my enjoyment i that contingent on my own personal interpretation of the lyrics as opposed to the myriad of other aspects that could be discussed then it really shouldn't be a part of this list to begin with. That and the fact that analyzing lyrics just never struck me as being all that fun have pretty much put it far down on the list of things to do within the confines of these posts on any sort of consistent basis.

Sometimes, however, the lyrics and their meaning are a big part of what draws me to a song, or in the case of "Push the Button" the element that makes a given single stand out from its competition in the artist's discography. Sugababes wound up having one of the best runs of singles of any artist this decade, and no fewer than a half-dozen were part of my initial long-list, but "Push the Button" stands as their best achievement in my eyes, and at least half of the reason that's the case is it's well-played double entendre of a lyric. It's rare to see the level of commitment the trio, along with co-writer Dallas Austin, have to maintaining a double-edged narrative over the song. One the more innocent side it could all be about waiting for that cute guy across the bar to make his move and stop hesitating, or on the less innocent one it could be a nudge for that same guy to...well, go a bit further north during foreplay. The lyrics paint the picture just as vividly for both interpretations without the sort of stretch you might use to make some other songs have such lewd meanings. It's such a subtle and damned smart play on the writers' part to make both sides as obvious as each other when it comes to even a cursory analysis, the sort of songwriting excellence you don't see too often these days. I appreciate the level of thought that goes into this as compared the groanworthy wordplay of something like "Genie in a Bottle."

But even without that extra push, the song is definitely strong enough to stand on its own. It may only consist of one real riff, the repeated shuffling synth pattern that anchors the whole track, but that riff is probably the most addictive little four bar pattern - hell, one bar pattern repeated in a variety of chords - in British pop music this decade. The little additions it gets during the pre-chorus are a perfect compliment to Keisha Buchannan's rising vocal line, but outside of that the song just rides the simple pattern for its duration. It's almost hypnotic in a way, putting the focus more on the trio's vocals than many of their previous singles. This isn't a bad thing, as all three members of group at this point - Buchannan, Heidi Range and Mutya Buena - were good singers who didn't rely on the sort of vocal acrobatics that far too many female pop/r 'n' b vocalists fall into using excessively. The sort of nonchalance their tone exudes adds quite a bit to the central lyrical conceit(s) as well, giving an additional air of impatience and exhaustion to the lyrics - once again, relevant to both interpretations.