Kelly Clarkson's Never Again: An Analysis

How does Kelly Clarkson top "Since U Been Gone"? First, she gets royally pissed at a dude, then she swallows a jagged little pill and lets this poor dude have it with "Never Again". I wrote briefly about this new single from Kelly Clarkson when I wrote about the recent American Idol finale. She performed "Never Again" and I thought it rocked. Several viewings of the video since then have confirmed that she does in fact rock on this new single.

In case you can't tell, I'm an out of the closet Clarkson fan. Even though she won a reality show to gain her fame, I find her far more real than the other plastic pop stars on the market. Clarkson has a real body, a real face and a real cool voice. There's a serious lack of angry rocker chicks on the radio these days now that Avril is all grown up and Alanis has visited India. "Never Again" is just as catchy as "Since U Been Gone", only angrier. You've gotta love that.

Speaking of Alanis, Clarkson's lyrics on "Never Again" sound like they were borrowed from Alanis Morrisette's "You Oughta Know" notebook. Listen to that first verse and recall Alanis' words to her ex-lover. Clarkson skips the oral aspects, but it's the same vibe on an AA level.

And finally, an entry about Kelly Clarkson's "Never Again" wouldn't be complete without acknowledging it may borrow more than a title from Nickelback's "Never Again". In Clarkson's defence, there's probably only a few different ways to yell "Never Again".

This is already my not-so-guilty pleasure of 2007. The video is pretty cool, too. Check it out.