Deconstructing Kermit
So I was listening to "Rainbow Connection" today. Yes, the original Muppet Movie anthem, as sung by Kermit the Frog. I dig this song. Lots of people still do, even as adults. Why? How does a disenchanted curmudgeon like me gravitate towards schmaltzy little numbers like this one?
It's sappy, melodramatic, and trite...clearly aimed at kids. So why do people twice my age tear up when they hear it? A girl I used to know would cry - as if on cue - as soon as the first banjo chord was struck. Somehow, this song really impacts people. It avoids the self-seriousness that would generally cause a tune of its ilk to sink under the weight of its own indulgence. I mean, you can't FAKE that kind of naive wistfulness. How the fuck can I be cynical about rainbows?
Untainted by the fatalistic notions of reality that drag us down as we age, Kermit tells of beautiful daydreams, of hope and possibility. It's not deep, clever, sarcastic or cynical...just cute and childish. Follow your dreams to the end of the rainbow, and all that hoo-ha. Certainly no emotional depth there. There are emotions, sure...as they might be felt by a six year-old.
But someone thought of that...and someone believed it.
I was listening to a similarly melodramatic Dance Hall Crashers song today and it was really hitting me hard. It wasn't particularly clever or insightful, but the singers clearly meant what they were singing.
OK...so you're thinking "shit, Britney Spears probably MEANS what she's singing...that doesn't make her songs any good."
Fair enough. But there's something beyond the motivation and intention; the melody had that...feel...that rainbow connection sound...like a song you should have outgrown, but you can't. I mean, the level on which we got songs as kids is the most basic, elemental level on which one can get a song. It's Rainbow Connection...it's all there. Not just a nostalgic longing for times past and for childhood, but a connection on a simple, universal level. We hear a song, and it hits us, and we don't even know why. There's something accessible about this song, an earnest yearning to the melody, utterly devoid of pretension, that can't be feigned or manufactured. It's a kind of innocence, a charming naivete, and we simply don't have it...but songs, to whatever extent they are living, breathing entities, sometimes do.
Anyway, I feel I should go throw on some Andrew WK...lest you all start to doubt my ability to rock and/or roll.
It's rare that I can shed my self-conscious cynicism and just revel in utter sappiness. "You're the One for Me" was a one-shot deal, so dig it while you can.
Sleep with a smile...pfft...how fucking lame is that?
It's sappy, melodramatic, and trite...clearly aimed at kids. So why do people twice my age tear up when they hear it? A girl I used to know would cry - as if on cue - as soon as the first banjo chord was struck. Somehow, this song really impacts people. It avoids the self-seriousness that would generally cause a tune of its ilk to sink under the weight of its own indulgence. I mean, you can't FAKE that kind of naive wistfulness. How the fuck can I be cynical about rainbows?
Untainted by the fatalistic notions of reality that drag us down as we age, Kermit tells of beautiful daydreams, of hope and possibility. It's not deep, clever, sarcastic or cynical...just cute and childish. Follow your dreams to the end of the rainbow, and all that hoo-ha. Certainly no emotional depth there. There are emotions, sure...as they might be felt by a six year-old.
But someone thought of that...and someone believed it.
I was listening to a similarly melodramatic Dance Hall Crashers song today and it was really hitting me hard. It wasn't particularly clever or insightful, but the singers clearly meant what they were singing.
OK...so you're thinking "shit, Britney Spears probably MEANS what she's singing...that doesn't make her songs any good."
Fair enough. But there's something beyond the motivation and intention; the melody had that...feel...that rainbow connection sound...like a song you should have outgrown, but you can't. I mean, the level on which we got songs as kids is the most basic, elemental level on which one can get a song. It's Rainbow Connection...it's all there. Not just a nostalgic longing for times past and for childhood, but a connection on a simple, universal level. We hear a song, and it hits us, and we don't even know why. There's something accessible about this song, an earnest yearning to the melody, utterly devoid of pretension, that can't be feigned or manufactured. It's a kind of innocence, a charming naivete, and we simply don't have it...but songs, to whatever extent they are living, breathing entities, sometimes do.
Anyway, I feel I should go throw on some Andrew WK...lest you all start to doubt my ability to rock and/or roll.
It's rare that I can shed my self-conscious cynicism and just revel in utter sappiness. "You're the One for Me" was a one-shot deal, so dig it while you can.
Sleep with a smile...pfft...how fucking lame is that?
posted by Pj at 2:06 AM
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