Rock Me (One Direction song)

"Rock Me" is a song by One Direction. It is a track on their album, Take Me Home. The song was written by Peter Svensson, Sam Hollander, Lukasz Gottwald, Henry Walter and Allan Grigg, and was produced by Dr. Luke, Circut and Kool Kojak. The song includes a mid-tempo beat, with it's clapping riff to be the same as the song "We Will Rock You" by Queen. The song has gotten good reviews from critics. They liked how good the production was and its rock elements. "Rock Me" also made it on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Background 
"Rock Me" was made in one day by guitar player Peter Svensson of the Swedish band the Cardigans, Sam Hollander, and Allan 'Kool Kojak' Grigg. It was made for One Direction's second album, Take Me Home. The album was released in November 2012. Grigg started out with making a mid-tempo beat. Svensson has said that Hollander "had an idea for a title that's like 'rock me' instead of ‘rock you,’ and the melody just came." Lukasz 'Dr. Luke' Gottwald and Henry 'Circut' Walter co-produced the song, and they were also credited as on the finished recording too.

Music and words
"Rock Me" is a mid-tempo pop rock song. Both Billboard and BBC Music said that the song went away from One Direction's signature bubblegum pop sound. One Direction's voice ranges from F4 to C6. Instruments like guitar strings, and piano lines also play in the song. The song is in the key of Ab major. The time signature is common time and the tempo is a moderate 84 beats per minute. 

Critics have also said that the song has beat and clapping riff, the same as Queen's "We Will Rock You". The song's chorus also references Queen: "I want you to rock me, yeah, I want you to hit the pedal, heavy metal, show me you care." The lyrics has a nostalgic message about a former significant other and a blatant double entendre for sexual intercourse. In the regard to its double entendre, Grigg noted, "but at the same time, there's a vulnerability in it that's, like, so sweet for girls. It's a little self-deprecating. There's not a lot of overt machismo in the song". "I approached it like high school," said Hollander, who wrote lyrics for "Rock Me": "On the first record, they were freshmen, innocent and wide-eyed. Now it's sophomore year, there are parties and driver’s licenses, and the world is theirs for the taking. That's what I wanted to capture."

Critical reception
Alexis Petridis, a writer of The Guardian, gave criticism for the song as "excruciating". He said that the lyrics are tedious and uninspiring. The New Zealand Herald writer Lydia Jenkin deemed "Rock Me" one of "the most banal songs ever written", but noted that the group "know what teenage girls want to hear." Idolator critic Sam Lansky praised the track as "irresistible" and commended its sonic palette as "explosively punchy". Writing for HitFix, Melinda Newman favoured its "nearly hypnotic anthemic" beat, and noted that "Rock Me" seems perfectly tailored to become a live staple. Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star thought the song's Queen-references are "clever", assessing: "to show that One Direction’s puppeteers aren't totally operating on autopilot." Robert Copsey from Digital Spy opined that the song's "simple-yet-genius catchiness" is its strongest attribute. Billboard reviewer Chris Payne applauded its rock elements, regarding it as "welcome" deviation from Take Me Home's bubblegum pop sound.

Chart performance
In the week of 18 November 2012, "Rock Me" started at number one on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart due to very high digital download sales. As a result of an "end-of-year download rush" in the week ending 30 December 2012, the track made it on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 98. 98 was the song's peak position on the chart.

References

Other websites
"Rock Me" at Musicnotes.com (EMI Music Publishing)

2012 songs