"Handle Me" is a song by Swedish recording artist Robyn, taken from her self-titled fourth studio album. It was written and produced by Klas Åhlund. The song was initially released as a promotional single in Sweden in 2005. It received a proper single release on 22 October 2007, as the album's third international single and fifth overall. It was later released as the second single in the United States on 1 April 2008. The song was described as a feminist anthem about a man who believes he is cool, but Robyn thinks he is not and she wants to tell him that. The song utilizes thudding beats and string instruments, including violas, violins and guitars.
The song received generally positive reviews from critics, who noted its potential of becoming a hit. Commercially, the song reached the top twenty in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. It also peaked at number five on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart. It charted moderately elsewhere, peaking at number thirty-six in the Flanders region in Belgium, and reaching the lower half on the charts in Ireland, the Netherlands, and Germany. A low budget music video was made for the song for the album's release in Sweden and features Robyn and her friends outside at night. In 2007, Robyn made a new video with director Johan Renck. The clip sees Robyn standing in colored boxes of different shapes and sizes.
Background
"Handle Me" and "Crash and Burn Girl" were released as promotional singles in Sweden, in 2005. "Handle Me" was released via digital download as the album's third single in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 22 October 2007. A CD single was later released in the UK on 29 October 2007, and on 7 March 2008 in Germany. The song was released as the second single from the album in the United States on 1 April 2008. The song was written and produced by Klas Åhlund. In an interview with British newspaper Metro, Robyn spoke about "Handle Me", saying, "It’s a fun song about any guy who thinks he’s really cool but really isn’t and I’ve got to tell him."
Composition
Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly considered the song "a less nasty but even hookier version of Pink's lounge-lizard-repelling 'U + Ur Hand'." The song begins with thudding beats, accompanied by "serious-sounding" violas and violins. David Hyland of WMUR-TV wrote that it utilizes "cheesy guitar flourishes" in the chorus. Hyland referred it to as a feminist anthem due to the "brutality and directness to the lyrics". He wrote, "Robyn sounds undeniably sweet as she defies and then details the seedy exploits of a controlling bar owner who seeks to be her paramour. She trounces him in a manner we're not accustomed to in normally breezy confines of pop music." Danny Corvini of Australian website Samesame.com.au wrote that the song is about "boyfriends who can’t keep up". In the chorus, Robyn tells the man, "You’re a selfish, narcissistic, psycho-freaking, bootlicking Nazi creep/And you can’t handle me." The North American version of Robyn censors the word "Nazi".
Reception
Critical reception
Nick Levine of Digital Spy awarded "Handle Me" four out of five stars, and wrote, "[Robyn]'s on rum old form on 'Handle Me', her follow-up tune [to "With Every Heartbeat"], taking it upon herself to put a very arrogant young man in his place." He concluded his review, saying that due to the song's backdrop, beats and blips, "Robyn sounds as if she's been beamed in from Mars. In the best possible way, of course." Talia Kraines of BBC Music wrote that "Jamelia would kill for a ballad as elegant as 'Handle Me'." Dan Cairns of The Sunday Times wrote that it includes the "unforgettable put-down: “You’re a selfish narcissistic psycho freaking bootlicking Nazi creep.” The line comes, it should be noted, at the end of a killer chorus. A killer pop chorus." David Hyland of WMUR-TV wrote, "The record's most striking track is "Handle Me," not only because of it has the potential to be a monster hit, but also because it's an interesting combination of contradictory impulses."