Now that we've explored the history of the Spice Girls and their impact on modern pop culture, I feel as if we've earned the right to now say with conviction what their best song is.
Naming my favourite Spice song has been something that has basically changed every year. As a young girl I loved the energy of Wannabe. As a teenager my favourite track soon became Spice Up Your Life before changing to Say You'll Be There when young adulthood called.
For years now the beat of that song just makes me dance wherever I am, and the harmonising between all five ladies reminds me of why bands are just so great. Baby Spice starts off the song with a smash and Scary has some of her best vocal moments during the first verse. Even Posh busts out a line that makes you sit up and say 'hulllooo'.
Say You'll Be There features the signature chanting/yelling of the Spice Girls that was strange at the beginning of their career but quickly morphed into something that was just such a quintessential marker of their personality and style. Some days I can pull their discography up on Spotify and listen to this song on repeat. All five girls have lines in the song and it's just so pop right down to its very core that it makes your heart smile.
While being a pop hit, it doesn't shy away from vocal messages that can speak to both romantic and platonic relationships. The idea that they were going to be there for each other sort of jumped out of just being a musical notion and made you feel like they were there for you as well.
However, breaking Spice news of a mere two weeks ago has shattered what I finally thought was my undisputed favourite. Mel B- in true Mel B fashion might I add- spilled details to Piers Morgan that have rocked the greater Spice community. Apparently - and I say apparently because Baby says to take everything Mel B says with a grain of salt, and I mean, who are you going to believe - Mel and Geri (yep THAT Geri!) had some sort of fling in the early days of the band. Now, Mel C, god bless her sporty soul, was in the audience supporting Mel B and seemed completely shocked by the revelation and to me that spoke volumes. For such a tight band, if two of them are getting down and dirty, surely you'd all know?
But once again my world was turned upside down when I read a very compelling piece of evidence on Twitter. Apparently, Geri was the main song writer of Viva Forever and the sound producers she worked with at the time confirmed that for Geri at least, the song was about a secret romance that unfolded on holiday. However, Geri never had a long term or even semi serious boyfriend during the height of the Spice Girls' fame.
Here's where it gets interesting- most of the holidays Geri went on were with Mel B (Fiji, Portugal, Spain etc etc) which can explain why the song never explicitly mentions the presence of a 'he'. To add more fuel to the already raging fire, Mel B cried onstage twice while performing Viva, the most notable occasion being the day after Geri's exit from the band. I mean, case closed right?
Immediately of course I had to excuse myself from all normal obligations and play Viva Forever very loudly and on a constant loop. What was a good Spice Girls song for me pre-revelation, has now become my undisputed favourite. Even if you're not going to buy into the Mel/Geri story, the lyrics on their own make this song a classic.
For me the marker of a great song is the ability to make you feel something emotionally. Whether it strikes an emotional chord or makes you want to dance, for me to love a song I have to be physically or emotionally provoked. Viva Forever has me feeling something in the very depths of my soul from the opening chords and when viewed in light of the Mel/Geri news it now seems almost haunting.
Lets explore some of the lyrics and if you're not reaching for the tissues or having an 'ah ha' moment then please exit my life.
Both of us were dreamers, young love in the sun. Felt like my saviour, my spirit I gave you, we'd only just begun.
... promises made, every memory saved as reflections in my mind.
Back where I belong now, was it just a dream? Feelings unfold, they will never be sold and the secret's safe with me.
How is everyone coping? It's almost as tumultuous as that moment in Spice World where we didn't know if the bus would make it over the bridge. They are some pretty powerful lyrics that have far reaching connotations. I mean, even the ballad quality of the song adds to the emotion of it. Known for their loud voices and energetic singing style, Viva really pulls back the curtains on all that. There's no showmanship to the song, the lyrics are quietly sung, almost like a confession and Mel B's "hasta mañana, always be mine" line is very haunting.
Might I also point out that despite writing it, Geri has not one solo line in the song. Posh busts out a few, Baby opens the song beautifully with that voice of hers, Scary's at times jarring voice even steps up to the mark and Sporty absolutely slays this song with her vocal additions, so much so that when she is singing on her own you're almost egging her on to sing higher and higher. Yet there is no Ginger, not once. Interesting.
Putting it all aside, you judge a song on the basis of its lyrics and the ones that Geri crafted describe a love that is found and lost all in secret beautifully. The song was recorded somewhere between 1997 and 1998 and every time I hear it I want to reach out and hug them all individually- the beauty of the pain is so intense that it has you forgetting that this is just a song recorded years ago and not your real life.
Viva Forever... Live forever, for the moment, ever searching for the one... excuse me while I go and have a little cry.
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