1001 Songs Challenge #904: Get Ur Freak On (2001)

On 11 February 2019 I set myself the challenge of reading 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery (ed.) and following the book’s advice to the letter. I’ve previously read 1001 Films… and started 1001 Albums… but felt 1001 Songs… would be a sensible place to start for what I have in mind here.

My challenge is to read about one song per day and listen to it (YouTube and Spotify, I need you tonight!) before sharing my own thoughts. Some songs I will love, others I’ll hate, and I’m sure there will be those that leave me perplexed but listen to them I shall.

I’ll also try, and most likely fail, to pinpoint the best song from the 1001 on offer but I’m nothing if not foolhardy. Instead of one song, I’m predicting I’ll have about 100 favourites by the end and may have to resort to a Top 10 so far to maintain any semblance of sanity.

So long as I post every day (including Christmas) then this challenge should come to an end on Wednesday 8 November 2021. Staying with the Barney Stinson theme I am hoping that the whole experience will prove to be… legendary!

 

Missy Elliott – Get Ur Freak On (2001)

 

We’re staying in the US today, dear reader, and making our way to Virginia. Melissa Arnette Elliott, known as Missy Elliott, began her career in 1991 and was first in the group, Sista, before going solo later in the decade. When we join Elliott in 2001 it is with the release of her third album, Miss E…So Addictive, and from there 1001 Songs have gone with the first single, Get Ur Freak On.

In Get Ur Freak On, Missy Elliott echoes many of the other hip hop artists we have come across on our list thus far. She is tough talking. We hear self-proclamations of how beautiful and sexy she is and we are left under no illusions that this lady is not one to be taken lightly. She sounds really tough in fact. The title is slang that has actually found its way into the Oxford English Dictionary and refers to engaging in sexual activity. You learn something everyday. This forms the chorus of the song but it’s not 100% clear to whom Missy Elliott is offering this instruction, perhaps to all of us. Yikes!

I had heard of Missy Elliott but was not familiar with her music or at least I did not think so prior to listening to this track. As soon as I heard the music at the outset I knew I had heard this track before. It’s a catchy rhythm and has been used in many a TV show and film since the song was first released twenty years ago. It would prove very popular upon release, being a Top 10 hit in both the US and the UK, which takes some doing. Elliott continues to this day though her last album was way back in 2005, while illness derailed her career for a time.

 

Favourite songs so far:

The Animals – House of the Rising Sun (1964)

Simon & Garfunkel – The Sounds of Silence (1965)

The Beatles – A Day in the Life (1967)

The Doors – The End (1967)

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)

Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (1977)

Tracy Chapman – Fast Car (1988)

U2 – One (1991)

Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah (1994)

Radiohead – Paranoid Android (1997)