Title: Drop The Needle And Pray!
Released: February 19, 2012
Format: CD Single, Digital Download
Recorded: Avatar Studios, New York City, New York
Genre: Soul, Blues, RnB, Pop
Length: 4:17
Label: Tric-Jam Records
Writer: Alicia Lena
Producer: Alicia Lena, Nevaeh Martinez-Smith
“Drop The Needle And Pray!” is a song recorded, written, produced and performed by American RnB/Soul musician, Alicia Lena for her third studio album set for release in 2012. It marks the eleventh single of the RnB singer’s career and is the first single from her untitled upcoming third studio album. Written in October 2011, the song was first debuted at the 4th Chaos Awards in late 2011 as Alicia closed out the show and has been performed at two charity events in December 2012. The song is a traditional soul song that focuses on hope, faith and belief during difficulties, like the majority of songs written and recorded by Alicia Lena its main instrumentation is a piano and vocal combination. Reviews for the single have been generally well received with Rolling Stone, Billboard and Allmusic praising the growth of Alicia’s songwriting and the uplifting nature of the lyrics as well as her vocals on the song. It is set for release on February 12, 2012.
Song Description“Drop The Needle And Pray!” was not originally written with the intention of appearing on Alicia’s third studio album but after finishing the writing process for the song it was quickly decided that the song would fit in with the theme’s that Alicia was looking to approach on her third record but still unsure about the songs emotional connection the instrumentation and key of the song was changed by Alicia. Finally confident with the song, Alicia decided to debut the song at the 4th Chaos Awards in late 2011 to a positive reaction, one critic even said “Performed in a set alongside a cover version of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ only served to prove Alicia’s songwriting ability as she makes the move from pop’s sweetheart to a singer-songwriter that could someday rival the best the industry has seen”. She spent the following months of 2011 rather quietly with the exception of one or two blog updates, but in early January she announced that she would be entering a studio in the following weeks and months to work on her third studio album. In an interview with Rolling Stone in February 2012 she confirmed that the lead single was almost ready for release and a demo version of the song was handed to a reviewer for the magazine and the first official review of the single was written in the February 2012 issue of the music magazine.
The songs only instrument is the piano playing throughout which sets the emotional and tender backdrop to the song which is enhanced even further by Alicia’s bluesy vocals, midway through the song the key changes as Alicia unleashes a powerful vocal that ignites the song fully. It flows well throughout maintaining a good pace and at 4:17 in length it never feels rushed as Alicia takes her time to get to the highest point of the song with the lyrics, “But if you take a walk and find yourself looking down/Remember you’ve got something to give in this life/Everything will turn around someday/Just drop the needle and pray.” But then quickly switches back to a more slower-paced melodic run to see out the end of the song with the bluesy piano ending.
Rolling Stone Review & Live Performance
Alicia Lena has made a semi-bold move in her music career with her upcoming new single, the lead-off single from her as yet untitled and still uncompleted third album, written a number of months ago the song was performed during her headlining set at the 4th Chaos Awards and is one of the first times that the singer-songwriter has ever put forward her own religious beliefs and her own faith in her music, of course this isn’t a hugely religious song per say but it’s primary overtones are wrapped in a religious theme, the title itself gives an obvious indication of the songs faith elements but it’s the first time that Ms. Lena has ever seemed to write about her religious beliefs, perhaps there was a worry that it could alienate some of her fans with different belief but regardless of that it is the quintessential Alicia Lena track, the core elements of what she is as a musician is still there, that feeling of insecurity and doubt about yourself that she drew upon on previous singles ‘Another Face In The Crowd’ and ‘Who I Am, Who I’m Not, Who I Wanna Be’ are all evident on this new single so it’s not so much of a major change, once more It’s pretty much just a piano and her powerful voice and why change a winning formula, it’s worked wonders for the star this far and on this basis we’re expecting it to become relatively popular at the very least.
The song tracks a person’s life that is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with, “And it’s all piling up in front of you/everything is getting so tough to maintain/what will become of you my dear, what will you do today/will you give into the thought of sweet relief tonight/in the hope that this feeling will go away.” Sets the scene and the frame of mind that the individual that Alicia is singing about is in, she sings that she can’t force her beliefs on anyone in the songs build up, “I can’t force you to do anything/I can try to pick you up but all that I can say/is that, you will find your way someday/if you just drop the needle and pray.” It’s not a million miles away from Alicia’s previous work and still carries that hopeful element in the song that Alicia seems to prefer to include as seen in previous singles.
To follow on from the kind of commercial success that her last album achieved with four number #1 singles seems like a rather large and difficult thing to do and it’s quite unlikely that she will quite hit those heights this time around, the industry has changed a whole lot of the past year since her sophomore album, the throwback to classic Motown music ‘Waking Up’ was released with a more upbeat dance-pop feel around the music industry right now, it could perhaps see a little less success in terms of singles but as with all of the great singer-songwriters of music after an initial impact of commercial success it becomes less about creating hit singles and more about pushing on with your music in order to leave a legacy and a rather diverse back catalog of music behind you, that is the true mark of an artist and is something that all of the greats of music have in common from the likes of, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Cash, Michael Jackson, Janis Joplin and Sam Cooke.
So with this new song marks the beginning of Alicia’s third album, the difference and growth between her debut ‘This Is Who I Am’ and the follow-up ‘Waking Up’ was staggering as she showed a much more meaningful and artistic approach to her music, the big question is how much has she grown since her last record but on this evidence it seems like it could be Alicia’s time to confirm herself as a true artist and push herself even further with her music while ‘Drop The Needle And Pray!” goes someway to show that she’s continually maturing as a songwriter and is a solid if not unspectacular start to what promises to be an interesting third album at the very least. [/color]
Live Performance Drop The Needle And Pray!
The crowd cheer at the end of the previous song and as the cheer’s die down a little, Alicia takes a moment before introducing the next song, “I’ve been listening to a lot of old music recently and released that no matter how long we try, it’s gonna be pretty darn tough to compete with some of that stuff. But I’ve been writing a lot for the next record and I said to myself that I want to create a very gospel-like song, something to make people believe that good times come around if you just open your eyes a little more. So I guess this is the outcome.” She stops talking for a moment while she begins the piano introduction to the song before continuing, “This is called, Drop The Needle And Pray!”
”When All Of This Over What Will Be Left Of You
And The Things That Made You Who You Once Were
Can You Rebuild From The Wreckage One Last Time
Or Will Your Dream Become A Never Ending Blur
---
And It’s All Piling Up In Front Of You
Everything Is Getting So Tough To Maintain
What Will Become Of You My Dear, What Will You Do Today
Will You Give In To The Thought Of Sweet Relief Tonight
In The Hope That This Feeling Will Go Away
---
I Can’t Force You To Do Anything
I Can Try To Pick You Up But All That I Can Say
Is That You Will Find Your Way Someday
If You Just Drop The Needle And Pray
---
I Don’t Know When The Pain Will Disappear
I Don’t How To Remove This Fear
I Know It Sometimes Helps To Scream And Shout
We All Live In Fear And Doubt
---
But If You Take A Walk And Find Yourself Looking Down
Remember You’ve Got Something To Give
Everything Will Turn Around Someday
Just Drop The Needle And Pray”
I like to write songs with an uplifting feel to them or songs with undertones of hope within them, that’s generally my preference as a songwriter and as a person I feel like I tend to always look towards the positive aspects of whatever it is that is going on in my life and this is a song that definitely has those elements in them. The songs that I write aren’t always biographical but there is always some part of each song that I write that can relate to my own life in some way and I find my own life creeping into my work more and more as I grow. I’ve always been fascinated by songwriters and how they grow throughout the years and I’m always looking to grow more and more with each new song that I write and I think this song is a good indication of where I’m at right now as a songwriter.”
- Alicia LenaSong LyricsWhen all of this is over what will be left of you
And the things that made you who you once were
Can your rebuild from the wreckage once last time
Or will your dream become a never ending blur
---
And it’s all piling up in front of you
Everything is getting so tough to maintain
What will become of you my dear
What will you do today
Will you give in to the thought of sweet relief tonight
In the hope that this feeling will go away
---
I can’t force you to do anything
I can try to pick you up but all that I can say
Is that you will find your way someday
If you just drop the needle and pray
---
I don’t know when the pain will disappear
I don’t know how to remove this fear
I know it sometimes helps to scream and shout
We all live in fear and doubt
---
But if you take a walk and find yourself looking down
Remember you’ve got something to give in this life
Everything will turn around someday
Just drop the needle and pray
---
When the darkness descends and all hope is gone
Just remember that everyone has a place in this world
There’s a place where we all belong
If it’s the voice of a hero in the lines of a song
I hope that you can stay strong
But all that I can say
Is that you’ll find your way someday
---
I don’t know when this pain will disappear
I don’t know how to remove this fear
I know it sometimes helps to scream and shout
We all live in fear and doubt
---
I can’t force you to do anything
I can try to pick you up but all that I can say
Is that you will find your way someday
If you just drop the needle and pray
PersonnelAlicia Lena – Vocals, Piano, Lyrics, Production
Nevaeh Martinez-Smith - Production
