cyndi-lauper-funnel-of-love-singles-going-steady

Cyndi Lauper – “Funnel of Love” (Singles Going Steady)

Cyndi Lauper made a good choice in covering rockabilly filly Wanda Jackson’s "Funnel of Love" from 1961.

Steve Horowitz: Cyndi Lauper made a good choice in covering rockabilly filly Wanda Jackson’s “Funnel of Love” from 1961. While no one can beat Queen Jackson original hiccup-y style, Lauper does a fine job of adding the right amount of twang and dry humor to give the song spunk. Singing it straight allows the listener to know that love makes us all silly, but that doesn’t stop it from hurtin’. Lauper convinces us of the craziness of it all without ever losing control. [7/10]

Evan Sawdey: So, maybe after the success of 2005’s The Body Acoustic, Lauper making a move towards country isn’t too unexpected, as between her techno/indie-dance flirtations on 2008’s Bring Ya to the Brink and singing the theme to Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, she’s never been one who has let such a pesky thing like “genre” keep her down. So “Funnel of Love” surprises in the fact that… it feels so slight? It’s a moseying little song, but it’s not too gritty, too fluffy, or not too much of anything. There is virtually no low-end to the instrumentation, and as such it doesn’t feel as weighty as a country song should, whether she be going the traditionalist route or something more Nash Vegas. Instead, this whisp of a song was picked out as a single, making us all hope and pray that this isn’t what the rest of Detour, her full-length country set, will end up sounding like. [4/10]

Chad Miller: Lauper sounds pretty good here with the help of the cool organ sounds/guitar accompaniment. There’s not a ton of depth to this song, but the tune is pretty enjoyable, and she sounds like she’s having a good amount of fun with it too. [7/10]

Pryor Stroud: A melodically buoyant pop-trifle as bright and undemanding as Lauper’s best work, “Funnel of Love” inflects its otherwise straight-as-an-arrow approach with country rock flourishes, a decision that edges the “Time After Time” singer’s voice with a threadbare, grainy, even weathered quality. And, for the most part, its a decision that compliments the track. There are moments when the backing guitar twang pointedly cuts out, and Lauper’s voice is caught in the spotlight alone: “Yeah, you just can’t run from the funnel of love / It’s bound to get you someday,” she yelps, and her words, isolated in a caesura between bursts of sound, seem bound in the same way that her singer-figure is bound by love. In sum, though, the track wouldn’t register as a blip on the pop culture radar were it not for Lauper’s name attached to it. [5/10]

Chris Ingalls: Lauper’s career has been reinvented a few times: pop songstress, torch song interpreter, Broadway composer. But this particular iteration seems odd in its simplicity. It’s a refreshing change. “Funnel of Love” chugs along in the mode of a long-forgotten girl group classic from the 60’s. Surf guitar and retro keys drive the music while Lauper keeps a relatively low profile but still possesses a hell of a singing voice. Nothing fancy, but a fun tune. [7/10]

Emmanuel Elone: It looks like Cyndi Lauper is turning towards country and rock music for new inspiration with this new song of hers. The country guitar riff nice, Cyndi’s vocals are pretty good, and the rhythm is ok, even if it is a bit basic. I can’t say, though, that I enjoy “Funnel of Love”, although Lauper should be admired for her new stylistic direction in her music. She doesn’t have to prove anything to anybody at this point in her career, and this new song of hers shows that. So, while it’s nothing more than a basic country rock tune, at least we aren’t being hammered with rehashes of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”; for that, I thank her. [5/10]

Cyndi Lauper’s new album, Detour, releases May 6th.

SCORE: 5.83