Music Review // Celina Silva "Natural Blonde"

 

My father has very dark hair (Well, he did before it turned grey) and my mother is a brunette.  Both my younger sister and I have darker brown hair, but our older sister has a dirty blonde color we could never figure out how she got.   I understand the idea of Celina Silva singing about being a natural blonde because it is less about that person (in this case, her sister) and more about those of us who are not naturally blonde.  There is just so much that seems to come in with the fun-loving, light-hearted, popular idea of being naturally blonde and this song stresses on that point.

Through slow and often dark feeling acoustics, Celina Silva takes us to the realization that "Sunlight and lemonade can't change a girl's fate", which we should acknowledge as being true, but then you just think about all the old cliches about blondes having more fun and such.  The words come out in a way which reminds me of Lisa Loeb, Jewel (before she went country) and even The Murmurs, but it's just freshing to feel like we're hearing something in such a personal way.  I feel like through pop music and even what we hear of rock on the radio now, there isn't enough of that intimate sound which just feels like vocals + guitar.

One of my favorite lines in this song says "I'm not angry / I'm too tired" and I think this can sum up these past few years faily well for a lot of us.  In relation with this song though, there is also the lyric "Can't decide who I'm supposed to be",   This not only makes it feel like you can be tired from trying to find your way, but also that suggestion that being born naturally blonde just makes it so you already know who you are and don't have to grow tired from finding your way.

What I like most about "Natural Blonde" is that it has this rather serious, rather solemn tone to it that will let you know it's not to be taken lightly (obviously, since Celina Silva isn't a blonde) but that you should think about these lyrics.  In some ways, you have to realize that this song isn't just about being born "Naturally Blonde" but just the perceived advantages we feel other people might have.  But not only is being a "Natural Blonde" not an immediate life path, nothing in life really is (for the most part) and we're all out there just trying to find out who we are meant to be.