Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Spartaz (talk | contribs) at 21:30, 14 December 2006 (Rm links to suspected copy-vio or otherwise inappropriate links per WP:EL & WP:C using AWB). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"Powerless (Say What You Want)" is a pop song written by Canadian singer-songwriters Nelly Furtado and Anne Dudley, Gerald Eaton, Trevor Horn, Malcolm McLaren and Brian West for Furtado's second studio album Folklore (2003).

Song Information/Chart Performance

The track was produced by Track & Field and received a positive reception from music critics. It addresses how Nelly herself was discriminated against in that her record company wanted to hide her ancestry: Paint my face in your magazines/Make it look whiter than it seems/Paint me over with your dreams/Shove away my ethnicity/.

Released in December 2003, the song was chosen as the album's lead single. The single was a big hit on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts, peaking at #5.

Banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck also appears on the track.

Nelly says about "Powerless": I get to see a lot of DJ-oriented performance stuff, and I’m into the heaviness of breakbeats, how raw and powerful they are. Everything lately has become so synthesized, but just the standard sound of breakbeats is inspiring. “Powerless” uses breakbeats like that; it’s a real groove, a real vibe. It just carries you away. There’s a banjo mixed with a breakbeat from Malcolm McLaren’s “Buffalo Gals.” So right away you’re bobbing your head. The lyrics are initially in-your-face, like, “Okay, I know I’m going to be stereotyped in my life because that is the world we live in; that’s society.” But the song tries to find some sense of order in this complicated world.

"Powerless" won the Canadian MuchMusic Award for 2004 Best Pop Video.

The video revolves around a classic psychological metaphor: Nelly trapped inside a box from which she seeks to escape. Inside, the box is plastered with posters that act as doors or windows for the artist's imagination. Her situation is a metaphor for being both defined and confined by the illusory commercial reality of her celebrity and beauty.

The 25 posters for the "Powerless" video convey much of the song's message through the free spirited visual sojourns. The posters are animated with emotion and imagination, capturing Nelly’s youthful enthusiasm and colorful personality as she sings a song that "affirms the diversity and individualism inside everyone" .

Charts

This 2000s single–related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

• 2003 singles
• Nelly Furtado songs
• 2000s single stubs