I am not a Dua Lipa fan. I know many people love her, especially Sean from Diamond Axe Studios, but she just never connected with me. That being said, she has made some good songs. One Kiss is a fantastically funky 80s song, and Don't Stop Now and Break My Heart are both really good songs. However, I really, really don't like New Rules. And for those asking "Jeremy, how could you possibly dislike New Rules? A song about a woman making rules for her ex? Are you a sexist or something?" No, I am not. And the lyrics are not why I dislike this song. The lyrics are actually not half bad, and the idea of a song about making rules for dealing with an ex is not in any way a bad one, and it's certainly a better dealing with a breakup song than Friends by Marshmello and Anne Marie. I also like the lyric "If you're under him, you ain't getting over him." That's a very clever double meaning. So why don't I like this song? The production. I am a firm believer of production over lyrics. What do I mean by this? Well...
If a song has bad lyrics and bad production, it sucks.
If a song has bad lyrics and good production, it still sucks, but I would listen to it.
If a song has good lyrics and good production, it's absolutely fantastic.
and if a song has good lyrics, but bad production, then it doesn't suck, but it's a pain to listen to.
New Rules is song type #5. The lyrics are certainly decent, but I loathe this production. It's like if Boyfriend and Gold had a love-child, and someone smashed that love child into a billion pieces with a hammer. It's some of the messiest, sloppiest, most broken production, I've ever heard in my life. Ok, but what about Dua's angelic voice? Nope. I know I'll get some flack for this, but in addition to the bad production, Dua sounds so pretentious in this song. You know how the original I Took A Pill In Ibiza, despite having good lyrics, made Posner seem disingenuous and hipsterish?
That is what New Rules does to these lyrics. New Rules represents the core of why I don't like Dua Lipa: she comes off as a prissy, snobby rich girl, who thinks she's better than you. I know that's probably not what she intended, but that's how I see it. And this music video is way too feminist. Like, I'm not against feminism, but in order to make a feminist message seem palatable, you need to be subtle. But this video just hits you with so much feminism, it makes you feel unpleasant. I just... ugh. Bottom line, New Rules is a song that wastes its decent lyrics, by drowning them in garbage production, a pretentious singer, and a stupid and dumb music video. I'd take Bill Maher's New Rules over Dua's any day. (And yes, that was a purposeful reference to Todd's jab at Bill Maher when he talked about New Rules in his best list)
What are your thoughts on New Rules? Do you agree? Disagree? Comment below!!!!
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