That Zach Braff can really make a girl sing...

I have a confession. Even though I was in the prime audience for it, I was never that into the pop princess/boy band craze. I admit I owned the Shania Twain albulm with Man I Feel Like a Woman on it and the Titanic soundtrack, but there was narry a Britney Spears or N'Sync CD to be found in my library.

A few months ago, though, I was changing CD's in my car and for a very rare moment heard a song on the radio that made me stop and listen to it. I wrote the lyrics down and Googled them when I got home....Mandy Moore.

No Shit! Mandy Moore, she of the saccharine bubble gum pop, sounded gorgeous now. I went out and bought the CD, and I was not at all disappointed. Since I've been listening to my Ipod in my car for the last month and a half, I completely forgot the CD was in there until this morning, and maybe because of my current doleful (there's a vocab word for you, kiddies) mood about my own relationship, or maybe cause it's just good writing, I'd like to compare the Mandy Moore of yesteryear to the one blasting out in my car. So, from each album, here we go...

So Real (1999)
Candy:
So baby come to me
Show me who you are
Sweet to me
Like sugar to my heart
I'm cravin' for you
I'm missin' you like candy


Not her best effort. This one was a radio smash and kind of made people want to smash things around them. I was 14 when this came out, but if I had been older and had friends that drove any sort of neon convertible, I might have been rocking out.

I Wanna Be With You (2000)
The Way To My Heart:
You're the one
You set me free
When you're close to me
All that I do
Is think about a way
To make you stay with me
Baby I'm falling apart cause you know the way to my heart


Slightly overdramatic....slightly stalkerish. Not a fan.

Mandy Moore (2001)
Crush:
Ooh, I got a crush on you
I hope you feel the way that I do
I get a rush
When I'm with you
Ooh, I've got a crush on you
A crush on you


Three albums in three years and it kind of seems like the lyrics just get worse and worse...but stick with me people.


She took some time off. She made Saved (NICE move). She got together and I'd assume got her heart broken by Zach Braff. And then she came out with Wild Hope, my current obsession and the point of this blog. Here's two songs plus my personal favorite off the album, just so you can see how much people really can grow up in a short time.

Wild Hope (2007)
Nothing You Are:
Somebody told me, they saw you somewhere
Somebody hold me, cause suddenly I'm a little, cold
Well I must be mistaken you for somebody else
I know you all to well, or do I?
I heard you say
We were one and the same
Well wrong again
I could never do those things you did to me
I will be ok
In time you'll fade
Into the nothing that you are
The nothing you are


Is it edgy? Not by a long shot. Is is leaps and bounds more honest and impressive (especially since she wrote the enitre album?) than "I'm missing you like candy?" You betcha.

Ladies Choice:
You did everything
I asked you not to
Look where it got you
I’m sure you heard it before, but
How could you?
Baby, why would you?
Goodbye, sweetheart
Countdown started
Words are heavy
But I’m far from broken hearted
Goodbye stranger I’ll take the fall
Lies were tempting
You know you never really threw me off at all
Go ahead, waste your time
Count me out
Take your place at the end of the line
Raise a glass, no surprise
Here’s to us at the end of the line

Again, not a huge "whoa that's an angry lady like Ani Defranco" kind of lyric. However, it's umpteen times more powerful and self assured than the "All I do is think of a way to make you stay."

And finally, although this doesn't really make a point, I just think this song is gorgeous.

Gardenia:
Well, I put so much thought into getting ready
Now I know that was the best part
It’s so easy to get caught up in what I’m regretting
Forget what I got from a wounded heart
I’m the one who likes Gardenia
I’m the one who likes to make love on the floor
I don’t want to hang up the phone yet
It’s been good
Getting to know me more


So taking a few years off from making immediately forgettable pop music has catapulted her into the folksy chick rock genre with the likes of Rilo Kiley and Ingrid Michelson. I hope she's there to stay. If this is what he does to former pop stars, maybe Britney should start dating Zach Braff. The girl could use the help.