Christina Perri is absolutely fascinated by the dolor of her romantic life — and thinks you should be, too. The Philly singer-songwriter — who scored a smash with her single "Jar of Hearts" — has recorded 11 songs full of plodding tempos and tolling piano chords and stuffed her lyric sheet with "poetry" (that heady compound word, "lovestrong") and other florid turns of phrase. Lovestrong is sometimes insipid ("Like a soul mate/He's your penguin"), sometimes bombastic (the power ballad "The Lonely") and often both ("Jar of Hearts"). Perri has a serviceable way with melodies, but she is stiflingly self-involved — a depressive Colbie Caillat. As Perri herself might put it: She has "sometalent," but writes "crapsongs."

Listen to Christina Perri's "The Lonely":

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“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.