I Should Be So Lucky (Kylie Minogue)

Kylie's debut hit in many territories (The Loco-motion came first and was Australia's biggest hit of the 80s before Stock Aitken Waterman became involved) and still one of her most remembered hits (despite zero airplay even from 80s radio stations). General opinion is that the song encapsulates the prototype S/A/W song: banal lyrics and repetitive chorus. It is, no matter how many times she tries to make it somehow credible. Kylie had a bit of an epiphany when she read part of the lyrics at the 1996 poetry Olympics: after a period of denial of her pop persona and her PWL catalogue, she reclaimed the song and her past. She did not embrace it, though, wanting to give her past and edge it simply doesn't have. During the following years and sometimes to this day she tends to perform it as a torch song ballad, but thankfully she performs it in its original form too.

Her reading at the poetry Olympics was self-deprecating and full of irony. I think the lyrics CAN be the basis of an honest performance of longing and the realisation that one's hopes for love sometimes are only dreams. Here's my attempt.

P.S.: I'm going to give the Minogueologues a rest for a bit. It's been one every other one so far! I'll keep posting Minogue-unrelated PopMonologues, though. As always, comments welcome.

Can't Get You Out of My Head (Kylie Minogue)

Another Minogueologue! Kylie's career-reviving biggest international hit. The dreamy vocals, multi-layered production, futuristic video, relentless promotion and THAT dress helped it to become a huge robotic-dance-inducing floorfiller. Written by pop royalty, the legends that are Cathy Dennis and Rob Davis, the lyrics convey an almost-painful sense of longing. Whilst Kylie's delivery is sensual, I've gone for a regret and sadness-filled reading, verging on the obsessive.

Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi (Kylie Minogue)

Kylie. The ultimate pop princess. She's one of very few acts who've managed to transition from pop puppet to pop legend. Despite some misguided attempts at credibility, acting sometimes like a teenager who needed to show the world how mature she was, she appears to have come to terms with what her audience wants from her and balance it with enough creativity and style to still be herself.

The key to Kylie's early success was of course the behemoth that was The Hit Factory. Stock, Aitken and Waterman are among Britain's top producers, and Mike Stock one of the best British songwriters ever. Their legacy should be similar to that of Michael Gordy's Motown. Yet the latter get critical acclaim and radio play and the former gets derided, endlessly referred to as cheesy, naff, throwaway, and forgettable, with radio all but banning them. Even 80s radio stations stay away from them - trying to erase a legacy of literally hundreds of hits - with very few exceptions which don't stretch much further than Better the Devil You Know, This Time I Know It's for Real, Never Gonna Give You Up and, rarely, Say I'm Your Number One.

I always loved the bit at the beginning of the video for Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi where Kylie is waiting (stood up by some moron who clearly hasn't realised he's keeping KYLIE MINOGUE waiting) and - after doing that thing that French people do of replying in English when you're actually doing your best to speak their language - a wise "old" French woman offers the timeless advice: "if a man is involved, do not be so sure". I also absolutely love the bit in the out-takes of "Kylie - the videos" where we see Kylie getting her umbrella jammed in the door, but I digress.

Although my reading of this particular song is very literal, I think it's a lyric that lends itself to a little PopMonologue. I guess you could call this one a Minologue, or a Minogueologue! I recorded just one take and decided that it was good enough. I have played with the meaning of some of SAW's other hits. All will be revealed...

All feedback welcome.