Top 10 Songs of 2006- #8

#8- JoJo “Too Little Too Late”

I know that this song is nothing more than your average crappy pop song sung by an average teenage singer, but just go with me on this one. After the shitfests that were JoJo’s first two singles- the always terrible duo of “Leave (Get Out)” and “Baby It’s You”- there’s something about “Too Little Too Late” that gets to you and sticks with you long after it’s done.

I’ll admit that I was resistant to this song at first. There was no way in hell I was going to enjoy a song by someone as terrible as JoJo. I remember hearing a radio DJ saying that she loved this song, and I chuckled on the inside. Who would confess that on the air for everyone to hear? I would consider that a personal humiliation to ever utter those words out loud.

But then I started hearing the song over and over again and couldn’t get it out of my head. I wanted to believe that it was so-bad-it’s-good, but there’s no way I can stick by that philosophy for this song because there is a lot to admire in “Too Little Too Late”. First of all, JoJo has finally matured past the junior high-ness of “Leave (Get Out)” with its 12-year-old ideas about love and relationships. “Too Little Too Late” sounds in place with the high school/young adult crowd she is singing about/to. Secondly, JoJo’s voice also sounds older, if not quite great yet, and more complex then the voice from the bubblegum songs of her past.

“Too Little Too Late” is a brilliant step in JoJo’s career and offers a small glimmer of hope that JoJo will transcend her past and become a singer to contend with.