Music Favourites

Sorry by Justin Bieber

This song has made Justin Bieber more popular than he’s ever been. Like, Beatles-level popular.  For some of you who are wondering, here’s why.

This particular pop star is deeply repentant for the grievous offense he has committed. He acknowledges that he has behaved badly. If you were offended, he wants to offer you——a heartfelt apology. Here, in this song,  he’s even captured his plea in melodic form, for posterity, expressing sincere remorse and a pledge to do better next time. Here’s proof for you, his latest hit— “Sorry”.

“Sorry” is now in its second week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, and America’s first new chart-topper of 2016. On the surface, “Sorry” is basically an all-purpose entreaty for a wronged lover’s return. In a way, it’s a mirror image of the song it replaced at No. 1, Adele’s similarly apologetic, single-word-titled “Hello.” (Remember, she too was “sorry, for everything that [she’s] done”)

Perhaps it would help if you watched the music video. A big plus, for those of you for whom the sight of Justin’s face provokes a Pavlovian reaction: There’s no Bieber in it! What it features instead is a troupe of energetic, agile, and charismatic female dancers from New Zealand. Their vigorous moves underscore the infectious, kinetic energy at the heart of the song, which is made for dancing. Besides, there are 805,473,516 views! That’s quite a record isn’t it?

Overall, I think that “Sorry” is the number 1 song because it deserves to be.  So, if you ever want an apology song, here’s the perfect song with the apology right in the title!

Jenevieve Tan

1L