Song of the Week

Taking a more upbeat stride away from the emotional and slightly depressing choices I've made so far, this week's Song of the Week is a true party starter. It's WORK BITCH by Britney Spears.

So, summer is over, the sun hides away for another 6-10 months (as is always the case in good old Britain!) and so it's time to get back to work. Luckily, Miss Spears has provided us with the perfect motivational anthem: if you want success, you've got to work damn hard for it.

The song begins eerily with vacant beats, before it picks up into what can only be described as sheer, brilliant madness. It's produced by Will.i.am, and it's no exaggeration to say that this is by far his best work. It does his usual trick of meshing and mixing and letting the end result speak for itself, but despite the craziness the song flows with a hypnotic consistency.

Arguably, the beat and production are the most prominent aspects of the song. However, it is Spears's voice which rings through loud and clear. She masters the line between robotic and alive as only she can, flicking between tones, moods and even accents so smoothly that you only realize ten seconds later. She somehow amalgamates everything that has built her up as an icon: sex appeal, manufacture, fun, and the flicker of a mysterious human being behind a veil of a cocky, confident and (surprisingly) English character, and lets it blend magically into four minutes.

This is not a song to be taken seriously. It's all tongue and cheek. Britney acknowledges her huge status in the business, stating that despite the criticism she HAS worked to get where she is, and will continue to have fun with it. And that's the main thing to take away from the song: Britney has fun, and encourages the listener to do the same. After all, what's work without the play?

Best lyric: 'Tell somebody in your town/ Spread the word, spread the word/ Go call the po-lice/ Go call the governer'