Welcome to the last working week of 2011, where we realize at least a few stars were working for the holiday. Frank Ocean, Lady Gaga and Cat Power were all on the move.
First, as the Odd Future singer explained: “I don’t cry at all… but when the sun sets just right, I might shed a tear.” Ocean, who is readying his Def Jam album for 2012, posted a little track to his tumblr called “4 Tears.” In it, he eplains how he spends his quota, doing a little algebra (a la Beyonce).
“[I] just listened to this a few times for myself. [F]igured maybe some else needed to hear it,” he posted.
It’s not lyrical calculus, but quick and pretty.
Meanwhile, Chan Marshall is a little more confrontational on “King Rides By,” her charity single. The song — originally much shorter on her 1996 album “What Would the Community Think” — is fully fleshed out courtesy Manny Pacquiao, past the 7-minute mark.
“I dare you / I do not want to scare you,” Cat Power sings with the help of a military snare.
Lady Gaga, on the other hand, has the help of her seatmates on articulately titled “Stuck On F*ckin” You.”
“We recorded it in one shot. Fernando [Garibay] on guitar, Paul [Blair] on Drum Machine. I wrote, sang it, and freestyled the last minute + a half of the song,” Mother Monster said on her Twitter.
And yes, it sounds like it was recorded in one take, and yes it sounds like what you’d imagine Lady Gaga’s “freestyle” to be, and it definitely sounds like a song that was written on the Monster Ball tour bus.
Frank Ocean “4 Tears”