Song: Small Talk
Album: Joyride
Year: 1991
Track: #12

Now you’ll have to forgive the overwhelming bias in this review – it’s impossible to write objectively when it comes to this song because this is an all-time top 5 favorite! If you don’t like this song, probably best you stop reading now.

Ignore that slightly clunky seven second intro at the start of the song with that weird countdown and after that you have nothing but pure Rox-perfection!

“it’s not the chapters he reads when you’re feeling low down…” sings Maries as she takes you on a 3 minute 54 second stunning pop journey. If there was EVER a song that has everything, then this has EVERYTHING. Let’s break down this gem!

There’s a catchy chorus that SOARS so damn high that it makes “you wanna fly, yes it does!” The chorus is so strong, you can’t get it out of your head. So catchy in fact that it’s backed up again with a bunch of “na na na na nas” towards the end that proves just how damn catchy the melody is.

How about the adorable acoustic guitar that comes in at the end of “…when you wanna buy a daydream?”. How about the second time we get to the chorus we are introduced to a new catchy factor “just like that” – and THEN, we get the real kicker, “information heart and soul a whisper a word…” with Per stepping in to share some of the vocal duties, it’s a brand new element that keeps the song building! Building to what? “…Come on now! Come on now…” Marie’s yelling at the listener by now, telling us how she “rocks so heavenly“! Then of course, the one and only Jonas takes us through a classic Rickenbacker/mandolin-esque solo that just keeps this delightful pop bomb pumping through to the very end, where you don’t need words anymore, just Marie screaming “na na na na na” and it eventually fades out.

Roxette toured the globe with “Join The Joyride” and this song never made the playlist. Outrageous! If it were to ever get a live treatment today, I imagine something along the lines of the live version of “Real Sugar” where the crunching guitars replace the more synth sound during the verses.

An up-tempo Marie track, a dash of Per, a strong hook and yes, a very produced sound but what you get is a bright, shiny, gleaming, catchy lesson in how to master pop music!

Sadly it didn’t even feature in The Per Gessle Archives. Truly one of their best! Answers! I DEMAND answers, why has this song been so neglected for so long?

Agree? Disagree? Thoughts?

“confessions that have to heard…”