Music Review: Avicii & Adam Lambert "Lay Me Down"

Aviici & Adam Lambert

Lay Me Down

Album: True

Year: 2014

          Adam Lambert wants his boyfriend to tell him what’s wrong in the glamorous       “Lay Me Down.”

              Glowing synths opens the single, setting a cosmpolitan tone. Lambert’s boyfriend has been sitting alone in the study for the last couple nights he’s come home from work. Something’s obviously going on but Lambert doesn’t know what it is. He knocks on the door to the study and his boyfriend answers a curt “yeah.” He asks him how he is. His boyfriend shakes his head and says he wouldn’t understand. Lambert explains that he has some days he wants to curl up in the corner and cry his eyes out. However, talking about it helps. His boyfriend shrugs and says he doesn’t really care anymore. (“I believe  things get tough/Sometimes my own knees barely hold me up, yeah/I'm no fool, but it's said/That you gotta walk a mile to get outta my head.

           In the pre-chorus, Lambert sighs and tells him something has to change. He doesn’t understand if they are still a couple or not. (“Come within, taste it up/Take a little bit and baby don't you give up/Get a life! Give a damn!/You gotta make a move to show where we can stand.”)

           In the chorus, he tells him not to be afraid. There is nothing that he can that will make him walk away. It’s important to Lambert to know that his boyfriend can talk to him. (“Lay me down in darkness/Tell me what you see/Love is where the heart is/Show me I'm the one, tell me I'm the one that you need (Come on)/Lay me down in darkness (yeah)/Tell me what you see/Love is where the heart is/Show me I'm the one, tell me I'm the one that you need (Come on)/Show me I'm the one, tell me I'm the one that you need/Show me I'm the one, tell me I'm the one that you need.”)

         The summery synths surf the beat, splashing onto the shore.

          In the first bridge, Lambert asserts that he can rearrange his schedule for his boyfriend anytime. (“I got the time, it'll be all right, yeah/I got the time that you need (yeah.”)

          He says people are human. No one’s life is perfect despite what they say. He encourages his boyfriend not to dwell on his problem. He points to the window and says there is so much to discover out there. Mistakes happen and it’s a part of life. (“We all weep, bleed the same/If you get the picture, leave it out of the frame, yeah/In the now, take a chance/Make a mess, and don't forget that life is a dance.”)

         The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

       An extended bridge is sung. (“Ooh, babe show me, baby tell me that's me, yeah/I got the time, it'll be all right, yeah/I got the time that you need. Come on!”

            The synths surf the beat again.

         Lambert repeats “lay me down” about five times.

         Clapping and cheering end the single, which is absolutely warranted.

           Lambert’s sultry vocals make it hard to focus on the words. Refined and daring, he might as well stepped out of a cologne ad set in Paris. J’adore indeed.

           Avicii’s cool neo-disco arrangement basks in the sun. tipsy from the afternoon induglence of wine. Nonetheless. it is with the aid of guitarist Niles Rodgers (who is responsible for many of Madonna’s early hits as well as the recent Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.”) that the single works. Whereas, Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” nearly hustled itself right into the ground, “Lay Me Down” eschews the stereotypes and delves into the decade further.

         The  fantastic “Lay Me Down” is one of the best EDM songs to come out in 2014.