Precious

About Precious

"Precious" is a song written by Chrissie Hynde that was first released on the Pretenders' 1980 debut album Pretenders. It was the opening track of the album. It was also released as a single in some countries. A medley of "Precious" with "Brass in Pocket" and "Mystery Achievement" reached #28 on the Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart. Allmusic critic Stewart Mason described "Precious" as Hynde's "true calling card." Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised James Honeyman-Scott's "phased, treated guitar" playing for how it supplements the "pounding rhythm. " Music critic Simon Reynolds described the lyrics as a "strafing stream of syllables" mixing "speed rap, jive talk, baby babble," and the song as "punk scat, all hiccoughs, vocal tics, gasps and feral growls, weirdly poised between love and hate, oral sensuality and staccato, stabbing aggression."Mason notes that the music of "Precious" maintains some restraint, but still sounds more threatening than other songs which sound angrier. The climax of "Precious" comes when Hynde sings the line "But not me, baby, I'm too precious/Fuck off!" Spin critic Charles Aaron noted that Hynde's singing this line "over whipsaw guitars" made it clear that Hynde "was more than a bewitching pout." Rolling Stone critic Ken Tucker noted that he gets "startled and shivery when Hynde rejects a would-be lothario" with this line. According to Mason, the restraint until that point makes this climax "more explosive." According to Rolling Stone critic Bud Scoppa, the line was actually supposed to be "But not me, baby, I'm too precious/I had to fuck off" but Hynde swallowed the words "I had to." Scoppa also notes the "fearlessness" with which Hynde sings this line. Ariel Swartley wrote in Mother Jones about the cathartic effect of this line for women in dance clubs:  more »