1001 Songs Challenge #961: Ain’t No Other Man (2006)

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!

 

Christina Aguilera – Ain’t No Other Man (2006)

 

 

We’re leaving the UK today, dear reader, and returning to the US and to New York. Christina Aguilera began her career with Disney and The Mickey Mouse Club before moving into music and beginning her solo career with a debut album in 1999 which propelled her to global success. When we join Aguilera in 2006 she has released her fifth album, Back to Basics, and from there 1001 Songs have gone with the track, Ain’t No Other Man. 

Having married in 2005, Aguilera was inspired by this union into writing Ain’t No Other Man. The song is a fun, sort of tongue in cheek look at love with Aguilera describing the wonder and amazement she felt upon meeting her lover and how he soon became the one and only guy for her. Meeting this man has completed the narrator, whereas before she was somewhat lost and incomplete. She addresses his family and lets them know in no uncertain terms that this is her man and no one else will be with him but her. 

Back to Basics marked a change of direction for Christina Aguilera. Beginning her career with pop friendly hits, Ain’t No Other Man and other songs on the album saw her incorporate elements of 1930s/1940s music into her repertoire. While the narrator in this song may sound obsessed and domineering, the song comes across as more fun than serious, flooded with hyperbole. It’s a celebration of being in love. Aguilera is now 40 but shows no signs of stopping any time soon.

 

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)

Radiohead – Paranoid Android (1997)

Snow Patrol – Run