The Other Side by Bruno Mars

Album: It's Better If You Don't Understand (2010)

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Songfacts®:

This is a track from Hawaii-born singer/songwriter/producer Bruno Mars' debut EP, It's Better If You Don't Understand. Mars is well known for his vocal contributions to the songs "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B, and "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy and for co-writing Flo Rida's international hit "Right Round." The multi-talented Hawaiian is also a member of the production trio The Smeezingtons (Cobra Starship, Matisyahu). This song sees Mars joined by both B.o.B and Cee Lo Green of Gnarls Barkley.
All four tracks on It's Better If You Don't Understand were produced and written by Mars in collaboration with his Smeezingtons partners, Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine. Mars said of the EP's contents: "It's hard to put myself in a box. I just write songs that I strongly believe in and that are coming from inside. There's no tricks. It's honesty with big melodies. And I'm singing the s--t out of them."
Mars told MTV News: "Once 'Nothin' on You' blew up, I had these songs in my back pocket and the label thought it'd be a good time to give people a little taste of what they're gonna get with the album."
The name of the EP comes from both a line and the outro of this song. Mars explained to About.com why he chose this particular title for the disc: "A lot of people... there's always been so much question about what kind of music I do. Everything. You know, what's his nationality? Is it R&B? Is it pop? Is he a rapper? Is he really that short? A lot of things. It's hard for me to explain. Not because I'm trying to be out of the box, it's just like, man, I just write songs. Hopefully, I try to write songs that touch a lot of people.

So that phrase, 'It's better if you don't understand,' resonated so well with me because that's been my whole life, a campaign. Just listen, basically. It's a way to say just listen to this music and you be the judge of what it is and how it makes you feel. Opposed to me telling you I am a pop singer or an R&B singer or a soul singer. I want the audience to have their own personal feelings toward my music."

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