Music Review: Hilary Duff "All About You"

Hilary Duff

All About You

Album: N/A

Year: 2014

                Hilary Duff tries to turn a flirtation into a real romance in the imitative    “All About You.”

             A jaunty guitar opens the single, setting a folksy tone.  She places her hand on his. He jumps a little, his face flustered. She tells him no one would know. People can speculate and look but that’s all it will be. She whispers to him to that she’ll be in her car and to join her. If tonight then, she could always go on his business trips and they could have sex on the plane. (“You could be my dirty secret (I could be yours)/We could only be a rumor (Never be sure)/You could meet me in the backseat (Late night)/A ticket up to first class (Mile high.”)

                     Ho!

                In the pre-chorus, she is turned just on sight when she sees him. She has to have him. (“’Cause hey baby, baby you got me so, so good/Hey baby, baby, I got it so, so bad.’)

                  Hey!

           In the chorus, she says she’s the one in control. He may flirt with her all the time but she’s the one who determines how far things will go. She invites him back to her house and promises to make his fantasies about her come true. (“Think you're all about me? But I'm all about you/Turn the lights down, let me show you it’s true/Get a little taste of what I'm into/Think you're all about me? But I'm all about you, you.”)

               Ho!

           
              She explains to him that she wants to be an actual couple. She wants to go out to dinner with him and talk about his day. As she steps out of the car, she says he’ll see her in a bikini sitting by the ocean. It’ll be their first public date. (“I don't want to keep a secret (Never no more)/This is more than just a little thing (Baby fo' sho')/I can't wait until the next time (We meet)/Gotta kiss you in the daylight (Out on the beach.”)

                 Hey!

            The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again. 

                Ho! Ho!

                 Hey! Hey!

              In the bridge, she says she didn’t expect to fall in love with him. She came into her life when she was ready for something long-term. (“ Midnight eyes, oh you came as a surprise/You were right on time/Think you're all about me? But I'm all about you (hey, oooh)/Think you're all about me? But I'm all about you (hey, oooh)/Think you're all about me? But I'm all about you.”)

                 Ho!

              The chorus is sung again to end the single.

               Last time, hey!

             Duff’s warmhearted vocals really do like him. However, her natural girlishness works against her. She is desperate for his attention, using sex as the easiest way. If the first and second lyrics were reversed, it wouldn’t come across as such. Unfortunately, she still sounds the same as she did as she was sixteen which makes the more adult lyrics tough for her to pull off.

            She attempts to be folk-pop, reimagining The Lumineers’ “Ho Hey” as cutesy cooing in order as a way to get “it’s complicated” off her relationship status on Facebook.

            The  consipicous  “All About You” is two years too late on the already forgotten folk trend.