Safe – The Daily Duranie Review

The reviews continue!  Here is the 5th song, Safe.

Amanda’s take:
Musicality/Instrumentation:  The song starts out right away with a funky, disco sound showcased by John’s funky bass, which can definitely make people want to move along with the music.  Quickly, Ana Matronic shows up as the first vocal to introduce us to the seductive nature of the song.  The song continues in the same vein as Simon begins the vocals.  As the chorus comes in, both Simon and Ana are featured in sort of a call and answer vocal.  The thing I notice as Simon’s vocals begin is that I’m no longer as aware of the instrumentation of the song.  For me who is not the biggest disco fan, I want to hear the funk in a clear and noticeable fashion the whole time.  Instead, the focus turns to the vocals.

Vocals:  This song is unique in that the female vocal is as equally important as Simon’s.  The last song that comes to mind that featured such an important female vocal is Come Undone and I’ll be very open in saying that I have grown very tired of that one.  While this song is a much more upbeat song, the sexiness is found in both.  If I just listen for Ana’s vocals, I can completely appreciate them, but if I think about the song as a whole, I’m not sure what I think.  I think she did a fabulous job but I don’t know what I think of having a female vocal featured as much as it is in a Duran song.  I can understand why it was included or written in this way as it acts to counterbalance both Simon’s vocals and lyrics.  I think, for me, I just prefer less female vocals when it comes to Duran.

Lyrics:  I pondered what this song was going to be about for a long time since it is one word and a word that can vary in meanings and contexts.  I have to admit that the lyrics were not, at all, what I expected them to be.  Obviously, they didn’t want to just stick with the basic premise of “you look sexy, I want to be with you” type of song.  They wanted a twist and, in this case, it is the idea that while Simon feels safe, he is also scared.  I’m not sure that I completely believe it.  Yes, I understand that this type of attraction can cause someone to be “scared” but I never quite know what to make of Simon’s lyrical attempt to seem less than cool around women.  It worked for songs like Last Chance on the Stairway back in the day but it didn’t with Night Runner. 

Production:  It seems to me that there was a clear decision to allow the vocals to be the most focused upon element of the song.  Personally, I would have prefer more of the musical funk.  I think, for example, John’s bass in the beginning of the song is fabulous but it isn’t emphasized as much once the vocals begin.

Overall:  While this song is enjoyable for me, I doubt that it will ever be one of my favorites for a couple of reasons.  First, I’m not that big of a fan of the disco genre.  I appreciate that disco is a big influence for Duran but their goal was to marry it with punk.  Therefore, I appreciate songs that do that more, like Sound of Thunder, for example.  I also can’t figure out Ana Matronic’s role.  While she has a fabulous voice and definitely comes across as sexy, I’m not sure female vocals in Duran works for me. 

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Rhonda’s take:
Musicality/Instrumentation: This song is pure disco, and I must admit it’s a bit overdone in the disco style for my taste. It is very reminiscent of the album version of My Own Way on Rio, and I can almost imagine the Spanish style dancers from that video when I hear this song. That said, the percussion is not at all boring – adding in the appropriate cowbell and disco-fills when appropriate. John’s funky bass is alive and well, and that along with Roger’s drumming are among the bright spots in this song. I know the band owe a good part of their musical influence to Chic, but in the past I’ve felt that this particular musical style doesn’t always work for them – this song is generally an improvement over similar style songs from their back catalog.

Vocals: The very best part of this song is Ana Matronic, plain and simple. Her voice has the smoky sexiness of Blondie a la Rapture – and I think that ultimately the song would have been 100% better had they just let Ana do the entire song. Simon seems to be just a bit whiny on this song and given the other songs on the album, I have to wonder why they chose this one over other possible choices.

Lyrics: The lyrics on this song don’t jump out at me and yell “Listen Up”, but overall -they aren’t bad. I think that for me, it’s hard to take a disco stylized song such as this one seriously enough to even give the lyrics a good listen. That said, when I sit down and force myself to pay attention (and how many people really do that?) the song becomes a little more than just another disco song. The lyrics are far from frivolity and fun, which is an interesting juxtaposition given the disco nature of the song. It just goes to show how much of a thinking band Duran Duran really can be. It’s far too easy to cast this song aside as being much ado about a one night stand, when really it’s about far more. They could have set the lyrics to completely different music and fans would be falling all over themselves saying it’s the best Simon’s written in a while. Funny how that works. To paraphrase: ….that stillness I get when I’m close to you. Contentment, calm, peace and safety, even in the most stressful of moments. Don’t we all want that?!?

Production: This is the one area I have the most difficult time with on songs like this one. On one hand, yes – I think that the production is kind of overdone, but truthfully, I think that has far more to do with the style of the song in general than it really does with the production. It’s appropriate given the style of the song, and while I might not love it…to be fair I don’t think it’s horrible. I can hear all of the band members equally, it doesn’t seem to be overdone with regard to all Nick and no one else, and while I think they could have mixed the song a little differently so that John’s bass work was a bigger and better standout, to have done so would have completely changed the spirit of the song.

Overall: Disco is not one of my first loves, which probably puts me in the minority as far as the fan base goes. I remember an interview from several hears ago where Roger descries My Own Way as the stepchild that no one knows what to do with – and I can see where on this album, this song may eventually end up being characterized in the same manner. Ana is the brightest spot in this song, and she gives the song an edge it would have never had otherwise. On the album as a whole, I have to wonder why this song was chosen as opposed to other choices they have had, but on the same token it does provide a reminder as to where the band came from. On the earliest of interviews that Duran Duran did – they always made sure to say they were a band that wanted to mix disco and pop, and I think that this song is a fair representation of those roots. While it is not my among what I consider to be the stronger songs on the album, I can see that it will find a home among other classics in the Duran catalog of this nature and yet still be among the edgier experimentations in that group.

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