David Archuleta, "Crush"

[Photo courtesy of Z100.com]
So David Archuleta was just in-studio at New York City's Z100, where he premiered his first single, "Crush". Apparently the studio technicians were mixing it till late last night and David had never heard the new version himself.

The non-final mix is up at Elvis Duran's site at Z100.com.

Initial reaction: it's definitely not what I expected, given its bubblegummy name. Despite being a huge fan of DArchuleta, I was fully expecting a really upbeat, poppy song, but this has R&B inflections and the lyrics aren't nearly as immature as I thought they could've been. I like it a lot, especially the first verse, as the lyrics get a little redundant later on in the song. My only real quip with the song is its pop song formula of ABCBD(or in this case A+)BB which, though I knew it would be a pop song, doesn't quite resonate with my impressions of him. Meaning: I'm not sure ending the song with the chorus twice in concert would be very engaging, but since DArchuleta is known to switch things up, I'm not too worried.

Here are the lyrics, which had misspellings on the Z100 website that I corrected:

Crush

I hung up the phone tonight, something happened for the first time
Deep inside it was a rush, what a rush
Cause the possibility that you would ever feel the same way
About me, it's just too much, just too much
Why do I keep running from the truth, all I ever think about is you
You got me hypnotized, so mesmerized, and I just got to know

Chorus
Do you ever think, when you're all alone
All that we can be, where this thing can go
Am I crazy or falling in love, is it real or just another crush
Do you catch your breath when I look at you
Are you holding back like the way I do
Cause I'm tryin', tryin' to walk away
But I know this crush ain't goin' away, goin' away

Has it ever crossed your mind when we're hangin'
Spending time girl, are we just friends
Is there more, is there more
See it's a chance we've gotta take cause I believe that we can make this into
Something that will last, last forever, forever

Bridge
Why do I keep running from the truth (why do I keep running), all I ever think about is you (all I ever think about)
You got me hypnotized, so mesmerized, and I just got to know

Chorus 2Xs

Lastly, I've been listening to Z100 since I was twelve and that was probably the least circumspect and calculated interview I've ever heard on the station. He called his Spanish "broken" and said that he'd been "jittery" since after last night's concert in Newark over the premiere. He was surrounded, apparently, by a gospel choir at the San Diego American Idol auditions last summer. His favorite song to play on Guitar Hero was "YYZ", and he played, of course, on Expert level. Of note, when asked "How long did you stand on line" when auditioning for American Idol, he asked, "How long did I stand in line?" Ah, the regional nuances at play.

He will join the rest of the Idols at the Nasdaq MarketSite's closing bell today at 4pm, which you can watch online.