Like a Surgeon (Ciara song)

"Like a Surgeon" is a song recorded by American recording artist Ciara. Written by The-Dream and produced by Tricky Stewart, the song is included on her third studio album, Fantasy Ride. It was planned to be released as the third single from the album in North America. Its single confirmation was confirmed by Billboard magazine. However, it failed to gain a release , and was thus cancelled. It still manage to chart on the lower half of US R&B charts.

The songs' promotion began with MTV. During a commercial for the album, Ciara sang part of the song in acapella.

Single release and chart performance

It was first confirmed on Ciara's official Twitter page that she would be filming videos for two singles simultaneously although at that time it was not clear which singles would be released. Now it is confirmed that "Work" will be released to International markets while "Like a Surgeon" will receive the video and single treatment in North America. It was due to be released in June 2009, but its release was cancelled, due to the poor sales of Fantasy Ride in the US.^[1] The song debuted at 92 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the June 13, 2009 issue of Billboard magazine, based solely on its single confirmation and radio airplay.^[2]

Critical reception

"Like a Surgeon" received generally mixed reviews. Slant Magazine said that "The only major disaster is "Like a Surgeon," which is filled with creepy, ill-conceived metaphors for sex".^[3] New York Times said that "The welcome dash of female sexual aggression on “Like a Surgeon” is an unexpected twist".^[4] All music said "On the hypnotically winding "Like a Surgeon", the-Dream provides some of his best, gimmicky, post-R. Kelly similes and metaphors, delivered by Ciara with all the necessary arrogance: "I appreciate your recovery time, but you need a physical one more time".^[5] The Boston Globe said that "The droning, hook-free "Like a Surgeon" [is] not an A-game effort for songwriting team Tricky and The-Dream".^[6] Pitchfork Media said that "The-Dream and Tricky Stewart tend to fill their tracks with empty spaces, and Ciara's voice needs hall-of-mirrors production to really register, so slight, minimal tracks like "Ciara to the Stage" and "Like a Surgeon" leave her sounding stranded".^[7] Dotmusic said " 'Like A Surgeon' and 'Pucker Up' make a lot of noise, piling on synths, stutters and bleeps, but are neither killer club tunes nor decent pop".^[8] BBC Music said that "Only Like A Surgeon with its somewhat bizarre sex/hospital metaphors may leave you at a loss for words".^[9]

But Billboard, gave the song a very positive review, by saying that 'Surgeon' finds the young siren operating under the guise of a sexual braggart on a song that sounds like it may have been modeled after the late Aaliyah's more ambitious album tracks. Tricky Stewart creates a tense production template for the singer to explore a darker, sexier side than listeners may be used to hearing from her. Plodding synth lines, an unusual bassline and a stop-and-go rhythm add up to one of Ciara's most interesting singles to date".^[10]

Charts

References