BSBB Round 3: Beyonce feat. Jay Z, “Drunk In Love” vs. Pharrell Williams, “Happy”
Best Song Bracket Battle: View the Matchups | Critics and Rules
Drunk In Love
Beyonce feat. Jay Z
Happy
Pharrell Williams
DENISE WARNER: Yes, Pharrell’s “Happy” got Meryl Streep up out of her seat at the Oscars. But had Beyonce’s oh-so-dirty duet with her husband been eligible for an Academy Award, it surely would have won. Besides, who else could make the word “surfboard” sexual?
My Vote: “Drunk In Love”
MAURA JOHNSTON: These two tracks are fairly evenly matched: they both had lives as memes (“SURFBOARDT” vs. the endlessly copied “24 Hours Of Happy” video); they both focus on the positive side of life (married sex can be great; rooms without roofs might not actually be a thing, but they sure make for a nice internal rhyme scheme); they both they will both likely live on in the most American of canons, the wedding-band songbook. But Pharrell’s unkillable ode to finding the good in life wins out, if only because it’s so far the closest thing the 2010s have to an “I Gotta Feeling.”
My Vote: “Happy”
JOE LYNCH: Very tough call. “Happy” is the all-ages hit of 2014, but after endless plays, its charms start to wear thin. “Drunk In Love,” on the other hand, retains its woozy punch no matter how many times you imbibe it. Also, it’s got surfboardt.
My Vote: “Drunk In Love”
MYLES TANZER: To understand just how good “Drunk In Love” is, you have to watch the video of the crowd singalong before Drake’s show in Paris in February. 17,000 French Drake fans are packed into an arena waiting to see Drake and they all lose their minds when the house DJ puts on a record by a completely different artist. It’s just Beyonce’s most fun song ever and it’s irresistible. Not even Pharrell can touch that.
My Vote: “Drunk In Love”
ERIN STRECKER: Both are super catchy, but I have to give the edge to the one that gave us #Surfbort.
My Vote: “Drunk In Love”
CHRIS PAYNE: How can you hate on “Happy”? The mere sight of its fan-made YouTube videos brought Pharrell to tears on Oprah Prime. But against another ubiquitous 2014 single, it’s all about Beyoncé’s — the centerpiece of the edgiest mainstream pop album in years is just too much to overcome.
My Vote: “Drunk In Love”
ALEX GALE: I love Beyonce, but this song is an overachiever, succeeding off pure Bey-power, and the fact that it gives a seemingly off-the-cuff look at pop music’s most powerful — and most guarded — power couple. The beat is a mushy snooze, even if it was interesting to see Beyonce take up the alt-soul/trap banner. “Happy,” meanwhile, became an instant staple, one that people will likely still be dancing along to at barbecues and weddings 20 and 30 years from now. It’s scientifically impossible to dislike.
My Vote: “Happy”
OVERALL WINNER: “Drunk In Love”
Best Song Bracket Battle: View the Matchups | Critics and Rules
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