Sticks and Stones (Nicola Roberts song)

"Sticks + Stones" is a song by British singer Nicola Roberts. The track was released on 23 September 2011 as part of her debut album Cinderella's Eyes. It was written by Roberts, Dimitri Tikovoi and Maya von Doll with inspiration deriving from her negative experiences as one-fifth of the girl band Girls Aloud, which saw internet sites, the media and celebrities such as Lily Allen and Chris Moyles label her "the ugly one". The "faceless" bullying inspired the track, and years later she found a way to cope with the negative remarks after developing her debut album and finding confidence with fashion.

Lyrically the track details these personal troubles, including that of her underage alcohol consumption and musically it is a pop-ballad track. Critically the song garnered positive reviews with most complementing the honesty of the lyrics and also found success with anti-bullying organizations which applauded its message. A lyrical video was posted on Roberts' official Twitter account.^[1] She performed an acoustic version of the track which was then uploaded to her official YouTube channel.^[2] Roberts appeared on British morning show BBC Breakfast to discuss her activism and the lyricism of the track which led her to do the same on BBC News and discuss the same issues with Rolling Stone. Continuing her activism she talked to the education secretary Michael Gove to help eradicate bullying.

Writing and inspiration

Nicola Roberts performing at G-A-Y in support of Cinderella's Eyes.

After winning the reality television series Popstars: The Rivals to become one fifth of the girlband Girls Aloud, Roberts found herself subject to bullying.^[3] She endured years of taunting and being branded "the ugly one" of the group and she would often "cry herself to sleep" finding herself to be a victim of "faceless" bullying advocated by celebrities such as Chris Moyles and Lily Allen.^[3] The abuse soon began to have an effect on Roberts mental stability, suffering from an "identity crisis" the taunts brought her close to a breakdown with Roberts stating she was "miserable and confused" and soon after she found comfort in drinking alcohol.^[3] Originally her red hair was something she "absolutely loved" as it was "just [her] thing" but after joining the band her appearance became an issue and Roberts recalled feeling "the general perception of me is really not great at all."^[3] "People feel they can say nasty things and have anonymity behind the net – as they did with all the nasty comments about me – without fear of recrimination", Roberts said, and five years after the bullying she found herself in a "better place", with critics complementing her image such as Clemmie Moodie from the Daily Mirror who said "the 25-year-old radiates confidence and, with a string of fashion successes has blossomed."^[3] "Sticks + Stones" was then written in response to these negative feelings and Roberts found throughout the writing process she was cautioned by the serious subject matter wishing to create a track featuring a "universal chorus" and to avoid self-indulgence.^[3]

Development and music

I wanted a song that could highlight the subject so it was like, actually I’m so not on my own here. And it wasn’t until I put it on YouTube and people left comments underneath that I realised what it meant to people, and it’s just unbelievable. It’s amazing that people who maybe wouldn’t say anything to a friend would post a paragraph on YouTube about the way they feel. I think it’s just so powerful.

—Roberts discussing the concept and reaction of the track.^[4][5]

After the writing process Roberts described the production of "Sticks + Stones" a "nightmare".^[1] Ownership over the song was something she wanted "every single last little bit" of so she could maintain her writing credits for the track in addition to making something she is "proud of".^[1] Roberts' "diva-like" behaviors left her late for several recording sessions putting her fashion first saying "I'd rather be late than feel shit".^[1] Whilst talking to The Sun Roberts described herself as a "perfectionist" and a decisive person and found she was becoming increasingly frustrated with the production of "Sticks + Stones" when producers would change parts of the track without notifying her, she said "when the producer's like, 'It's not changed, I haven't done that,' I'm like, 'I know you have because I don't feel the same as I did when I first heard it so we either sit here and argue this one out all day or you just admit that you've changed it and you can change it back."^[6]

The song describes a time when Roberts was in severe depression and discusses a time when she would "beg" her driver to buy her alcohol underage with lyrics saying "How funny that I was too young for so many things, yet you thought I'd cope with being told I'm ugly, Over and over".^[7] Whilst writing for website Holy Moly Roberts discussed the concept of "Sticks + Stones" "What it is with Sticks + Stones is I wanted all the people out there who hurt like that to know that they’re not the only ones in that position. Sometimes there’s so many people in the world suffering from the same thing or hurting from the same thing, but they feel like they’re on their own. I wanted a song that could highlight the subject so it was like, actually I’m so not on my own here."^[4] Lyricism on the track, of which some was based around rap, hears Roberts performing about personal events, she said:

The lyrics are quite personal. I like rap music, and rappers use real-life language and don’t hold back in what they talk about. My lyrics aren’t generic pop lyrics just there because they rhyme. I’ve tried to write things as I’d say them, so it sounds more like me. There’s a song called Sticks And Stones, which is about when I was 17 and I thought I’d won the jackpot when I got in the band [Girls Aloud], and then things not turning out as I might have expected. The middle eight on that song is very honest and truthful.^[8]

Advocacy

Roberts in the lyric video for "Sticks + Stones", around one minute of the video was presented during an interview on BBC Breakfast which was troubling for Roberts who found it difficult to listen to the track in the company of others.

After the release of Cinderella's Eyes, the interest surrounding track "Sticks + Stones" saw Roberts appear on the British television show BBC Breakfast to discuss lyricism of the track in relation to bullying and during the interview they played around one minute of the song live which made Roberts "nervous".^[4] Roberts wrote about the experience as a guest blogger on the website Holy Moly stating "I don’t like listening to that song when other people are around, because I know it makes them feel uncomfortable", she found that the presenters of BBC Breakfast were more interested that she had initially expected which made the situation increasingly difficult.^[4] In addition to advocating bullying as a top issue on the BBC morning show she gave an interview to BBC News where presenters once again discussed the track and lyrical themes within, and during the interview Roberts named social networking site Twitter a tool which highlights the severity of bullying calling it "out of control".^[9]

Roberts then gave an interview to Rolling Stone in which she discussed "Sticks + Stones" and her advocacy against bullying to that point where Roberts stated she was "sick" of an image driven society.^[10] In the past Roberts had pushed for a ban on under 18's using tanning beds which followed through after backing from the health secretary Andy Burnham and even saw her talk to British parliament.^[10] Then with bullying she took a similar stance saying bullying "doesn't need to happen" stating that the British laws are failing to combat the issue with Roberts noting "People are still scared to go to school, kids are threatening to kill themselves; it's disgusting that it persists. So, again, I'm giving a voice to a cause, to hopefully affect change."^[10] Roberts then started communications with the education secretary Michael Gove to help raise awareness of the issue.^[9] On her official website Roberts explained her progression to help eradicate bullying, she said:

"The internet has really highlighted this issue. It shows us how easy it is for people to pass judgement on others and it also shows us that people now have a place for expression. Whether it be twitter or blog posts it gives people a place to offload. Whenever I have bought somebody's record I always flick through and search for the ones that I really relate to at that time, they become my favourites, I play that song to death and then the rest of the album gets its chance. Music is there to milk an emotion I think. Whether it be a party track when you want to feel sky high or an emotional song when you need something to draw out how you feel inside. That's my sticks+stones and it's so comforting to know that it's yours too. I'm going to try my best to speak to Micheal Gove the educational secretary about how we can work out a better support system in schools for people finding themselves in unbearable situations every time they walk through the school gate… I'll keep you posted on that. Wish me luck!"^[11]

Response

Lyricism of the track has been "applauded" by anti-bullying organizations whom have claimed it has "won her a legion of new fans".^[3] Emily Mackay of NME gave a positive review saying "it’s hard to imagine what it must be like for a teenager to submit to that kind of sniping scrutiny" calling the track "beautiful" and concluding her review saying the "ballad goes some way of explaining it without over-egging the point."^[12] Krystina Nellis of Drowned in Sound called the track "cuttingly personal".^[13] In a review for Cinderella's Eyes James Lachno of The Daily Telegraph discussed "Sticks + Stones" lyricism noting "but it’s Roberts’s autobiographical lyrics - notably tackling body image - that consistently startle, recalling the aching sincerity of diminutive Swede Robyn."^[14] Matthew Horton of Virgin Media positively commented on the lyricism of both tracks; "Take a Bite" and "Sticks + Stones" from Cinderella's Eyes, Horton described "Sticks + Stones" as a "gorgeous ballad" and concluded his response saying "This quiet one has found a platform and she’s not going to step down without a fight."^[15] Roberts stated she struggles to listen to the track in the company of others, and upon first listen her father became so emotional he cried with her mother also becoming deeply affected.^[3] The effect of "Sticks + Stones" on family and friends was discussed by Roberts who said;

It’s been a bit of an eye-opener to my family and friends. We all just pretended it wasn’t happening, the whole situation made me feel embarrassed – the horrible comments. We never talked about it. But the song really struck her because I never spoke about it so how would they know? She sort of saw what I went through, the brave face I put on. In terms of the rest of the band, none of us spoke about the bullying; we pretended it wasn’t happening. They could see I was embarrassed by it and didn’t want to bring it up and make it worse, or make one of the girls uncomfortable and embarrassed.^[3]

References