REVEAL: SHE JUST WANTS TO BE

   There are some lovely parts to this song, I'll always love pomegranate afternoons and the angels lines in particular, and the intention of the song is wonderful. However, this is one I've never fully been on board for primarily for the presumptuousness of the narrator. Michael has certainly used female characters in his songs before, but its difficult to know who the narrator is here with the strong female pronoun usage--which is a rarity for Michael. The usage seems to take some power away from what should be a triumphant moment in the character's journey as, let's face it, these are three dudes writing a song about how a woman feels. Another weakness is the plodding bridge from the verse to the chorus. That said, it's not a bad song and they played it well live. In addition, the lyrics below reflect what is sung on the album and in the first live shows. It's a small thing (as always) but he's definitely singing 'she's off on the ride' in the first verse, but the lyric changed sometime after recording to 'she's off on her own.' How can I be so sure? There's a live version of the band  playing the song in 2001 in Cologne on YouTube where there's a close up of him singing 'the ride,' but on another feed of that same show the camera lingers on his lyrics monitor which says, you guessed it, 'her own.' Is it weird that he disregards his own prompter? Yes! In later live performances, Michael truly makes it 'her own' and while those are the official lyrics it's not what is recorded in the studio. He also over time changes the first line's 'places' to 'faces.' These are small things, but if not for these interesting diversions and inconsistencies do I really care enough to write this blog? Well, probably.




She Just Wants To Be is at 16:45


SHE JUST WANTS TO BE

It's not that she walked away
Her world got smaller
All the usual places
The same destinations
Only something's changed

It's not that she wasn't rewarded
With pomegranate afternoons
And Mingus, Chet Baker, and chess
It's not the stampeding fortune of prim affectations

She's off on the ride but she knows now

Is greater than the whole of the past
Is greater and now she knows

She just wants to be somewhere
She just wants to be
She just wants to be somewhere
She just wants to be

It's not that the transparency
Of her earlier incarnations
Now looked back on weren't rich
And loaded with beautiful vulnerability
And now she knows

Now is greater and she knows that

She just wants to be somewhere
She just wants to be
She just wants to be somewhere
She just wants to be

Now is greater

Now is greater and she knows that

She just wants to be somewhere
She just wants to be
She just wants to be somewhere
She just wants to be

She just wants to be somewhere
She just wants to be
She just wants to be somewhere
She just wants to be

It's not like if angels could truly look down
Or stir up the trappings and light on the ground
Remind us of what, when, why, or who
That how's up to us, me and you
And now is greater than the whole of the past
Is greater and now she knows that
And now she knows

   Fun song to learn and play. Peter adds some interesting fills and then changes up the chorus a couple of times near the end. I added the keyboard line in the bridge to chorus and then separated where the 2nd chorus goes into a repeated pattern. I mentioned my dislike for the bridge to chorus above and honestly, I don't think it needs to be solved as it is what it is, but it feels like an instrumental was handed to Michael and he didn't fill the space. Instead of take it out completely, they left it in. It definitely lends a feeling of 'otherness' to the song which I think was what they were trying to do for the entire album, if that's the case--success!


SHE JUST WANTS TO BE

Intro/Outro

e|-3-0-3-0----0--|

B|----1---1-3-0--|

G|------------0--|

D|------------2--|

A|------------2--|

E|------------0--|

Verse

e|----0-------0----|-------0---|

B|----1-------1----|---1----0--|

G|--2-2----2--2----|----0------|

D|-2--2-0-3-3-3-0--|--2---2----|

A|-----------------|-3---2-----|

E|--------------x7-|-----------|

Bridge to Chorus

e|-1---0---|

B|-1---3---|

G|-2---2---|

D|-3---0---|

A|-3-------|

E|-1-------|

Bridge to Chorus Riff A

e|----------------|

B|----------------|

G|----2------2----|

D|--3--3-3-0--0-0-|

A|-3-3--3-0-0--0--|

E|----------------|

Bridge to Chorus Riff B (Keyboard)

e|-3-5-3--0--|

B|-------3-3-|

G|------2----|

D|-----------|

A|-----------|

E|-----------|

Chorus (Am-C-Em/Am-C-G)

e|------12-----12--15-----12---------15--|

B|-13-15--13-12--12--13-15--13-12--12----|

G|-------------------------------12------|

D|---------------------------------------|

A|---------------------------------------|

E|---------------------------------------|

Lead

e|--------------7-8-7------------------7-8-10-12-15<---|

B|-8-10h-8-10-10-----10-8-8-10h-10-8-10----------------|

G|-----------9-----------------------------------------|

D|-----------------------------------------------------|

A|-----------------------------------------------------|

E|-----------------------------------------------------|

e|--------------7-8-7---------------------------------------|

B|-8-10h-8-10-10-----10-8-8-10h-10-8-10-12-13>12>10>8>10-6--|

G|-----------9----------------------------------------------|

D|----------------------------------------------------------|

A|----------------------------------------------------------|

E|----------------------------------------------------------|

Chorus 2

e|-----12-------------15----12-------|

B|-12----12-13--12--12--13----13-12--|

G|---12-------14--12------14---------|

D|-----------------------------------|

A|-----------------------------------|

E|-----------------------------------|

Chorus 2 (Pattern)

e|-----12---------15----12------|

B|-13----13-12--12--13----13-12-|

G|---14-------12------14--------|

D|------------------------------|

A|------------------------------|

E|------------------------------|

Last Verse Fill

e|-17--12----|

B|---15--13--|

G|-----------|

D|-----------|

A|-----------|

E|-----------|

Chorus 3 (Outro Riff)

e|-0-0--------------12-----------12--15--12--15--12--12-|

B|--0-0-12-13h-13-12--13-12-12-13--13--13--13--13--13---|

G|------------------------------------------------------|

D|------------------------------------------------------|

A|------------------------------------------------------|

E|------------------------------------------------------|

Chorus 3 (Loosely last time through)

e|---------12------12-----12---|

B|-13-13-12--12-13h-12-13h-----|

G|-----------------------------|

D|-----------------------------|

A|-----------------------------|

E|-----------------------------|

Final Am after outro

e|----------------|

B|--------1-0-----|

G|-------2---2-2--|

D|------2-----2---|

A|-----0--------0-|

E|-0--------------|