Hello, and welcome to 1989! Whitney Houston has a new inspirational ballad, "I Didn't Know My Own Strength," in which first-verse downers such as "lost touch with my soul," "lost sight of my dream," and "I had no hope to hold onto" get quickly cured with Diane Warren's lyrical Paxil.
Yes, folks, our troubled diva survived her darkest hour, held her head up high, and even found the light to light her way out of the dark(!). All to the accompaniment of gooey strings, a gentle piano line, and a melody that's about as easy to latch onto as a soapy, wriggling baby in a bathtub.
And yet…there's something undeniably appealing about hearing Houston's voice paired with new material, especially because unlike some of her more bombastic ballads of yore, this performance somehow feels more restrained, more intimate, and more heartfelt.
Is there still a touch of Being Bobby Brown's wild-eyed protagonist when she sing-speaks the chorus? Sure. But at this point in her career, it's no use for Houston to pretend she's the same wide-eyed chanteuse who burst onto the scene back in 1985 with "You Give Good Love." By dialing back on the vocal acrobatics, and allowing the gravely little imperfections in her voice to come to the forefront, Houston allows us to get past the lyrical hokum and find something to get, well, inspired by — especially on repeated listens.
Would this leaked track have the potential to be a massive pop/R&B hit if it was selected as the first single from Houston's fall CD release? (Thus far, Houston's label has yet to announce which track will lead off the project.) I'd say "My Own Strength" would face an uphill battle at radio, seeing how it's more "Greatest Love of All" than "Birthday Sex" — yes, that is the title of this week's No. 8 track on Billboard's top 100; and yes, I am turning into an ancient and uptight beast — but then again, maybe I'm not the only one who thought pop radio was better 20 years ago than it is today.
What do you think of "I Didn't Know My Own Strength"? Are you digging it, or is it just too old-fashioned? And what do you make of its chart prospects in a "Boom Boom Pow" world?
UPDATE: Nearly as fast as song is posted by various fans on YouTube, it is being removed by Houston's label; you may have to search online for updated streams.
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From the lyrics quoted, it makes American Idol victory songs sound like Kiss. sadly, like Michael Jackson, Houston’s peak is long in the past and I don’t expect to hear anything musically interesting from her again. An early death for her too, while tragic, would also not be particularly surprising.
I ONCE THOUGHT THAT THIS WOMAN WAS SUCH A LADY AND A TALENT….AFTER THE REALITY SHOW WITH HER AND BOBBY BROWN CAME OUT, WELL MY OPINION OF HER CHANGED…SHE IS ONE OF THE TRASHEST PEOPLE THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN…SHE IS TRASH…SAD BUT TRUE..
It seems as though she’s really damaged her voice.
It’s an okay song. I am sorry to say that the song doesn’t leave me optimistic about her new album and comeback..
And I agree with you, Slezak, pop music today isn’t as good as it once was. If a song’s title or lyrics are overtly sexual—”I want to take a ride on your disco stick,” “If you seek amy,” “you spin my head right round when you go down,” etc–it seems to be pushed to the head radio’s playlist. Songs with good hooks and a message of empowerment–”I Do Not Hook Up,” for example–have an uphill battle. With that in mind, Houston has to climb a mountain with her new music
A little too lyrically on-the-nose for my taste (Diane Warren never met a cliché she didn’t like), but if followed immediately by a blistering club mix (something else Whitney Houston does better than the rest), it could well be a chart-topper.
This is such a blatant comeback song with Clive Davis’ hand all over it. I wonder if he debated to give it to Jennifer Hudson before saddling Whitney with it. Speaking of AI… it may be missing rainbows and huricances but it could easily be a victory song.
Well, since your question was about the music, I’ll say that I love the song, but would be concerened about how it will perform on the charts. In terms of the first two posters calling her trash, Mariah and Britney both had big comebacks and they haven’t exactly been demure. People like a comeback diva, and Whitney is the biggest talent of her generation, one of the best ever. I think she will be fine in spite of her naysayers. Hopefully, we’ll appreciate HER while she’s still alive so that she doesn’t just get her flowers when she dies, as has happened with Michael.
Treacle. Hopefully for Whit (I’m always rooting for the underdog), this is just meant to be a teaser single and the second will come with the heat.
What happened to her voice? She sounds tired, and nothing like the Whitney of yesteryear. And the song is BORING.
I only listened to this to find out if it was a remake of Lorrie Morgan’s “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength”… seriously, no one in Whitney’s camp knew there was a power female ballad of the same title?
Anyway, here’s hoping the rest of the album has some fun stuff on it. I want her to succeed, but she better bring it a little better than this.
It’s such a shame how hoarse she is. In a competition against herself (pre-drugs), she loses. But, I guess looking at her as a new person, her voice has a bit of a jazzy, R&B sound to it.
That song was more manic than Bobby Brown. Yikes.
Whitney’s new voice takes repeated listens to get used to but she’s still superior singer to 90% of todays vocalists.
I think this song is OK as a re-introduction AC single, but Whitney will have to follow it with a really strong Pop/uptempto single if she wants to recapture her past Chart heights. I personally like her new song by R. Kelly (“I look to you”) 100 times better than the Diane Warren single but oh well.
The Bobby Brown Show, Osama Bin Laden publicity and all that other stuff has kept her name on people’s minds and tongues for the last few years so she’s not entirely dormant. I f-loved the Bin Laden mistress book and that made me appreciate Whitney’s importance in a whole new way. But with such “ghetto” publicity, I think this new song brings her back to us in a better more serious way though. She’s really asking for understanding and compassion by giving it back to us in a very emotional heartfelt song.
It may not be a BIG hit, but I’m board for Whitney.
I’m not feeling it.