Music Monday #26: Good Girl Gone Bad by Rihanna

2007 saw the release of 'Good Girl Gone Bad' by Rihanna, and for a time the lead single 'Umbrella' dominated radio stations and clubs up and down the country, there are few songs that become ubiquitous when they are released, that almost everyone knows and everyone loves, this was one of them.  It wasn't without its critics, but its success was not feigned; 'Don't Stop The Music' and 'Shut Up And Drive' went on to dominate continuing the success.  The album itself remains my favourite Rihanna album, although 'Rated R' does give it a run for its money particularly for 'Te Amo' and 'Russian Roulette' that featured on it.

Umbrella touched on something that most people yearn for, a desire to find someone who will stand by you through everything, weather every storm, and be there right by your side.  Not surprisingly when you get caught up in emotions these promises are often made in the heat of the moment but never kept.  2007 was a year of change for me, my first year of University ended and I started my second, I moved out of the Halls of Residence and into private rented accommodation, suddenly the insular community built up among the students in Halls fell apart and you got to see where friendships were sincere and where they weren't.  People drifted apart and I saw more than a few people who never spoke again to people I presumed they were close to when they lived together.  For the most part I knew how deep my friendships were and had my expectations of who would and would not try to maintain connections with me, and for the most part I was right save for a few.

What this divergence taught me however was that despite the maturity, the growth, and the new environments we were experiencing together, most people still had the same high school mentality, indeed when I spoke about this with a friend I shared a lot of music with he shared a track that's worthy of note here by Bowling For Soup called 'High School Never Ends' released in 2006 that perfectly sums up the frustration with that realisation.

Rihanna's music was pop by most definitions but it also incorporated EDM, it was this together with the lyrics that appealed to me, that and I was frequenting gay clubs at the time owing to me living with two other gay guys and a straight girl which led to quite an active social life and much more exposure to the LGBT community and Gay Scene in general.  On top of this, one of our mutual friends became the President of the LGBT Society, I became the Chief Technical Officer which was de rigeur given my major was in Computer Science and the fact that I enjoyed a degree of infamy at University, one flatmate was also the Treasurer again to be expected as he was studying Maths with Finance, and the other became the Events Coordinator which equally fit him like a glove since he was studying Music and was also a professional DJ.  If there's anything I regret from that time it would be that I didn't capitalise these connections.  Although as I have mentioned previously on this blog in one of my regular posts I generally don't have regrets because I do believe that every decision I made in the moment was based on what I wanted in that moment and what I knew in that moment, some of those decisions were stupid, some had stupid consequences but they were all decisions I made in the moment.

Shut Up And Drive was a song that grew on me, the more I began to spin out and abandon the regimental mindset I had held up until that point, the more the song resonated with me, in particular when it came to exploring my sexuality the song fit perfectly with the mindset that evolved.  The frustration with the games guys played who said they wanted commitment but never followed through, versus the pursuit of guys who were only after one thing which suited me just fine because that was all I wanted at that point.

A lot of songs remind me of moments in time, people I knew, experiences I had, but still to this day Umbrella remains one of those songs that brings everything back up all at once without warning.  It's been almost 13 years now and the emotions attached are still strong and the song itself hasn't aged a day, nor has the album for that matter.  This is definitely one of those albums I would miss if it was lost and I'd notice pretty quickly that it was gone, I still seek it out from time to time when I want to relive those moments.  It's not a good head space for me to linger in though for all that was attached to it, a bit like that song 'Frankie' by Sister Sledge it's a trip down memory lane.  Sister Sledge were legendary for the record, they didn't make this list because my love of their music is a pick and mix and I couldn't pick one album to include, but honourable mentions here go to 'When the Boys Meet the Girls' which features Frankie, as well as their 'We Are Family' album not only for the title track but also for the track 'Lost In Music' which exemplifies my relationships with music in general.