There are no drums. No keyboards. No big chorus. Two acoustic guitars wrap themselves around a light reggae rhythm and a sunny but vague vocal line about looking into your heart to find love, love, love. The song recalls sun-soaked holidays in the Caribbean and sounds like a demo expertly recorded on the DIY computer program Garageband. The singer himself has admitted: "The first two and a half minutes have so little production you could almost classify it as spoken word."
It is one of the most successful songs of all time.
I'm Yours by the Virginia-born singer-songwriter Jason Mraz has been described by the snippy US website The Daily Beast as "the modern-day Rasputin of the Billboard charts - invincible". At time of writing it has spent 72 weeks on the charts, making it the longest-running song on Billboard's Hot 100 in 51 years.
But here's the twist: music critics loathe it.
The National contacted writers and editors at Rolling Stone magazine in the US, Q magazine, The Observer Music Monthly, Uncut magazine, The Word magazine and Mojo magazine in the UK and everyone refused to go on the record about the song, so deep was their loathing, so complete their bafflement at its enduring success.
"We played it in the office," said one critic, who refused to be named, "and we thought, What is all the fuss about?"
"I don't really know why the US goes for this kind of Jack Johnson, hacky-sack music," said another, again insisting on anonymity so as not to put out of joint the nose of Mraz's record company Atlantic or appear out of step with the listening public. "It's as mystifying to me as Paul Weller probably is to an American."
Cultural relativism aside, what is it about I'm Yours that has seen it hang around the Billboard charts since May 2008, taking the record for most enduring hit from LeAnn Rimes' late-1990s smash, How Do I Live, which lasted 69 weeks?
Mraz's tune was nominated for Song of the Year at this year's Grammy Awards and, according to Reuters, has now become the only track to reach No 1 on each of the four radio-based charts: Mainstream Top 40/Pop Songs, Adult Contemporary, Adult Top 40, and Triple A. Why has it also found its way on to charts for Latin Pop and Smooth Jazz? What makes it such a hit?
The San Diego based Mraz, who has spent the last two years touring in support of his album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things, is as baffled as everyone else. "I don't feel like I crossed a finish line. I don't feel like I've sweated for 70 weeks. I feel like the song is just doing its thing and it was a real gift," he has said.
The song's beachy good vibes are similar to Jack Johnson, the ex-surfer turned recording star who peddled what Mojo called "gap-year spirituality" over acoustic soft rock and reggae, effectively creating along the way the genre for lightweight pop-reggae positivity.
While many found Johnson's tunes too anodyne for non-beach listening, he nevertheless enjoyed two No 1 albums in the US, the most recent one last year. In a parallel development, one of the most consistent selling records in the US is Legend - The Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers - a staple among college students - which regularly shifts around 13,000 copies a year every year. These two facts help explain why America finds Mraz's jaunty reggae strummer so appealing.
"There is a place in the American heart for sunny, up tempo beach music," agrees Q magazine's Mark Blake. "It's probably no coincidence that Jack Johnson does well in New Zealand too. In the UK and elsewhere, beaches aren't quite the same."
But, according to the journalist and songwriter Adrian Deevoy, the real reason I'm Yours is so successful is a matter of melodic combination. Or put another way, it's the chords he uses.
"I'm Yours features the chord sequence," says Deevoy. "Dominant, fifth, relative minor, fourth. The same chords have formed the backbone of some massive pop songs. No Woman No Cry (Bob Marley). Don't Think Twice It's Alright (Bob Dylan), So Lonely (The Police), Another Girl, Another Planet (The Only Ones). The chord sequence virtually guarantees a hit. It's amazing more songwriters don't use it."
If Mraz's mega-selling hit is anything to go by, it certainly is.
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Suggested picnic spots
Abu Dhabi
Umm Al Emarat Park
Yas Gateway Park
Delma Park
Al Bateen beach
Saadiyaat beach
The Corniche
Zayed Sports City
Dubai
Kite Beach
Zabeel Park
Al Nahda Pond Park
Mushrif Park
Safa Park
Al Mamzar Beach Park
Al Qudrah Lakes
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
