There she is. THIS is the Christina Aguilera I’ve been waiting for. Christina Aguilera’s duet with Demi Lovato called “Fall In Line” was released this week and it’s good. REALLY GOOD. It’s so good it should have been the lead single off of her upcoming album Liberation.
When Christina ushered in her new era with a bare-faced photoshoot I was hoping the music that followed would be as refreshing as seeing Xtina’s fresh face. Instead, we got “Accelerate”. I am still underwhelmed by “Accelerate”. It’s not a strong first single and it says nothing of the message or attitude Christina Aguilera is trying to bring with Liberation. Then, she quietly dropped “Twice”, an introspective ballad that’s not bad but it didn’t quite land. I forgot it existed until right now.
My guess is that Xtina didn’t want a duet to be her big reintroduction (no disrespect to Demi but my only beef with the song is that it would have been even better as an Xtina solo track) but she chose wrong. “Fall In Line” is trying to be an empowering feminist anthem perfect for the #MeToo era and even though lyrically, there are some eye-roll inducing platitudes, “Fall In Line” works because it IS an empowering feminist anthem perfect for the #MeToo era. It delivers on its promise.
It's just the way it is
And maybe it's never gonna change
But I got a mind to show my strength
And I got a right to speak my mind
And I'm gonna pay for this
They're gonna burn me at the stake
But I got a fire in my veins
I wasn't made to fall in line
Christina Aguilera and Demi Lovato are going to sing “Fall In Line” live at the Billboard Awards on Sunday. At the end of the song, an auto-tuned male voice says, “Who told you you’re allowed to think?” There may be a few record execs in attendance on Sunday who need to hear these lyrics. Of course, singing some nice words doesn’t make Demi or Christina heroes of the movement but I like that they are attempting to use their voices to lift up young girls and stand up for women in an industry that has told women to sit the f-ck down for decades.
Aside from its strong message, the triumph of “Fall In Line” rests on the strength of its vocalists. Christina and Demi are no Whitney and Mariah on “When You Believe” but goddamn can these two women SANG.
I’ll leave you Christina singing “Fall In Line” live-ish on Carpool Karaoke. It’s a good tease for Sunday. Ignore the fact that James Corden doesn’t know the words. Ignore James Corden altogether.
