TKO

Oddly to say enough I caught Justin Timberlake's 5th single "TKO" from the 20/20 Experience on MTV Hits in the middle of the official video and boy did it have my head spinning. I couldn't even pay attention to the song itself, that's why it's important to listen to a song without viewing any visuals, then watch the accompanying video if there is one. But I'll start with what I've heard first because I have a full appreciation for this track. Every time you have Timbaland in the back doing his production there's going to be an urban, catchy flair you can't get enough of. I mean it is his specialty after all! JT and Timbaland work magic together possibly understanding each other's styles and meshing it together to create something special they both can be proud of. I would love to be in the studio with both of them working together especially when they're on it. I bet you do too Kool World ;-) Here's a clip from his live performance on Ellen.

After reading the lyrics I noticed the first line "Kill me with that coo-coochie-coochie-coo" and I was already saying OMG in my head because it's a reference to a woman's goods, you know what I mean. The comparison to a boxer in a match makes this an interesting song lyrically. I love it when Artists use metaphors and analogies to describe life we can all relate to. All the time we hear about relationships and in this one the guy notices his girl friend has changed and he receives the rejection from her. It's pretty much foretelling of the push and pull between two people in a relationship with the girl playing the guy like a fiddle, taking him on a spin with his emotions, and putting him through hell. "TKO" is an acronym in boxing to mean a fighter cannot continue a fight in the ring, more than likely because he is not in good shape and can't withstand any more physical blows. The girl friend is Elvis Presley's granddaughter Riley Keough and she portrays the unhappy "black widow" who drags Justin by the feet to his demise.

"TKO" (feat. Timbaland)

[Spoken: Timbaland] [4x]
Kill me with the coo-coochie-coochie-coo
She kill me with the coo-coochie-coochie-coo
Lights out, TKO
[Verse 1:]
Baby, everyday you're training to get the gold
That's why your body's crazy
But you can't run from yourself,
That's where it's difficult
Girl I can see in your eyes
That there's something inside
That made you evil
Where did you go,
'cause it just ain't fair
Over here thinking 'bout the shit you say
Don't know why it gets to me
[Bridge:]
It cuts right on my eye, yeah it hurt, won't lie
Still can't see, think I saw you with another guy
Fair fight, knocked down, then I got over you
Can't fight no more, you knock me out
What am I supposed to do?
[Chorus:]
I don't understand it
Tell me how could you be so low
Been swinging after the bell and after all of the whistle blows
Tried to go below the belt, through my chest, perfect hit to the dome, dammit babe
This ain't the girl I used to know
No, not anymore, TKO
[Post-Chorus:]
I'm out for the count
Yeah, girl, you knock me out
It's just a TKO
I'm out for the count
Yeah, girl, you knock me out
With a TKO
T-TKO
Out for the count
Girl, you knock me out
With a TKO
Now, I'm out for the count
Yeah, girl, you knock me out
With a TKO
[Verse 2:]
Baby, now I don't really know what we're fighting for
This rematch sex is amazing
But nobody wins if somebody's heart is swole
'Cause when I see you move like you got something inside that made you lethal
Where did you go, it just ain't fair
Over here thinking 'bout the shit you do
Don't know what I got to lose
[Bridge:]
It cuts right on my eye, yeah it hurt, won't lie
Still can't see, think I saw you with another guy
Fair fight, knocked down, then I got over you
Can't fight no more, you knock me out
What am I supposed to do?
[Chorus:]
I don't understand it
Tell me how could you be so low
Been swinging after the bell and after all of the whistle blows
Tried to go below the belt, through my chest, perfect hit to the dome, dammit babe
This ain't the girl I used to know
No, not anymore, TKO
[Post-Chorus:]
I'm out for the count
Yeah, girl, you knock me out
It's just a TKO
I'm out for the count
Yeah, girl, you knock me out
With a TKO
T-TKO
Out for the count
Yeah, girl, you knock me out
With a TKO
Now, I'm out for the count
Yeah, girl, you knock me out
With a TKO
[Spoken: Timbaland]
Girl, see what you do
See what you do, girl?
You, you, you knock me right out
Girl, see what you do
See what you do, girl, girl, girl, girl...
You knock me right out
Hey girl
Girl, see what you do
See what you do, girl, girl, girl, girl...
You knock me right out
Hey girl
Girl, see what you do
See what you do, girl, girl, girl, girl...
You knock me right out
[Bridge:]
It cuts right on my eye, yeah it hurt, won't lie
Still can't see, think I saw you with another guy
Fair fight, knocked down, then I got over you
Can't fight no more, you knock me out
What am I supposed to do?
[Chorus:]
I don't understand it
Tell me how could you be so low
You've been swinging after the bell and after all of the whistle blows
Tried to go below the belt, through my chest, perfect hit to the dome, dammit babe
This ain't the girl I used to know
No, not anymore, TKO, TKO, TKO
TKO, TKO
I don't understand it
Tell me how could you be so low
You've been swinging after the bell
And after all of the whistle blows
Tried to go below my belt, through my chest
Perfect hit to the dome, dammit babe
Dammit babe, dammit babe
Dammit babe, dammit babe
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dammit, babe
Kill me with that coo-coochie-coochie-coo
She kill me with that coo, so dammit babe
Dammit babe, dammit babe
Dammit babe, dammit babe
Dammit, babe
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dammit, babe
She kill me with that coo-coochie-coochie-coo
She kill me with that coo, so dammit babe
Dammit babe, dammit babe
Dammit babe, dammit babe
Dammit, babe
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dammit, babe
So, I'm out for the count
Yeah, girl, you knock me out
It's just a TKO
I'm out for the count
Yeah, girl, you knock me out
With a TKO, T-TKO

In the song Justin is the protagonist and from the girl friend's perspective in the video he's the antagonist, the emotionally disconnected boy friend who takes her for granted and advantage of her. She gets fed up with how he neglects and mistreats her and decides to do something extremely drastic about it. If you're not familiar with the lyrics as you're watching the video you'll think it's another scorned girl friend, just like in Kanye's West "Flashing Lights" even the opposite with the guy committing an evil crime in J Cole's "Power Trip". That's what came to my mind and it made me ponder why this theme is so prominent. It's disturbing in the most deep way but what is it really telling us? Is it the rise of the independent Millennial woman who takes her power back from the dominant male who has throughout history ruled the household and could take what he wanted, when he wanted, if he chose to? To me it's portraying today's woman as a mentally destructive being who goes to the extremes if she doesn't get what she needs (in this case out of a relationship), much like an abused woman goes haywire if she's pushed to the limit. Ya'll recall channel WE "Snapped"? That's where I make my point. Justin just grapples with his confusion and anger with how he was being treated by a woman he cared about. He describes the way she treated him with how she boxed the hell out of him like two opponents in the ring. Mashable explains that the boxing metaphor represents the death of a relationship which I agree completely. Further describing the actual video as being "...[actually, really] dark." It left me stunned and actually quite upset because I wouldn't be surprised if there are people out here who haven't contemplated the same. If we're starting to think this way we have a much bigger issue on our hands as a civilization.

On a deeper level it takes me to the idea that we live in a hyper-sensitive, dramatic, and very extreme society. Like the saying, Work hard Play Hard, the same applies to how we go about many aspects of life. We talk about obesity and that's due to our food consumption. Our slow pull away from each other, lack of communication and closeness with each other and family, with technology being a part of the reason. Technology is a major part of our lives but whether we're aware of it or not we're drawing a part when we're overly absorbed in social media. It can take focus away from those presently in front of us. Overindulging -Partying, drinking, wanting stuff (buying all kinds of things because we can) loving someone -we dive in head first and just go all in without giving ourselves a chance to gulp for air, then when we're so far in and things change for the worst where do we go with our feelings? It can be dangerous, the reaction can be overwhelmingly intense and lead to destructive responses. Think about the last time you put your all into something without stopping to think about your safety net in case it didn't work out because you were gun ho on it working... Now multiply it by ten and think about how you would be. When you're pushed to the limit anything is possible.