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Hey-- that's different. The first two songs were both pretty maudlin, down-tempo affairs, so it's nice to hear something move a little quicker. The house beat that drives it might be about 20 years late to it's date with a rave, but the song's got some energy to it, and that's a step up from both the Nelly and Chris Brown songs this week.
I think the most effective thing
about this song is "Wooooooo! Party!" I'm not so cynical as to ignore the fact that the Party Anthem is never going to go out of style-- off the top of my head, the oldest versions of these things I can think of are out of Tin Pan Alley, but I'll bet someone more knowledgeable than myself can find older party songs than that. Somewhere out there, Dr. Andrew W.K, Esq has published several papers on the origins and evolution of party anthems... but Doctor W.K. is published in the kinds of specialized journals a layman like myself can't readily access.
The least effective thing about the song is a "if you're wrong in all the right ways" message of craziness and non-conformity presented in the most bland way possible. It reminds me of a third hand dig at the radio I picked up somewhere (“of course I don't listen to the radio. I'm not a fifteen-year-old girl.”) I can imagine 15-year-olds finding this song as freaky as it claims to be... and maybe not even real 15-year-olds, maybe the twentysomethings playing kids in a PG-13 movie, this is song at the party they throw when their parents are out of town.
I think the most effective thing
about this song is "Wooooooo! Party!" I'm not so cynical as to ignore the fact that the Party Anthem is never going to go out of style-- off the top of my head, the oldest versions of these things I can think of are out of Tin Pan Alley, but I'll bet someone more knowledgeable than myself can find older party songs than that. Somewhere out there, Dr. Andrew W.K, Esq has published several papers on the origins and evolution of party anthems... but Doctor W.K. is published in the kinds of specialized journals a layman like myself can't readily access.The least effective thing about the song is a "if you're wrong in all the right ways" message of craziness and non-conformity presented in the most bland way possible. It reminds me of a third hand dig at the radio I picked up somewhere (“of course I don't listen to the radio. I'm not a fifteen-year-old girl.”) I can imagine 15-year-olds finding this song as freaky as it claims to be... and maybe not even real 15-year-olds, maybe the twentysomethings playing kids in a PG-13 movie, this is song at the party they throw when their parents are out of town.
There are others who this song works on... it sort of reminds me of my (thankfully brief) time in an accounts receivable office-- it was an oppressive place, everyone was dead eyed, lethargic, and out of shape (I can't really evoke this place for you: the best analog I know is Bruce McCulloch's bank teller). This is the kind of thing that would have been a big hit at the office party that ended by 10:00PM, but for a song that proclaims “5AM, turn the radio up! Where's the rock & roll?” I can't imagine it being listened to by rock fans. I can imagine it being listened to by someone who would call the cops if you were to crank up some rock at 5:00AM.
Regardless, it is nice to hear something with a pulse after two pretty maudlin, down-tempo songs. It's slick sounding and well produced, but it's not something I need to listen to any more than I just have.
Stay with the song, walk away, or run like hell:
I wasn't dead-eyed was I?
ReplyDeleteNo, sir, you made it out of that place with a sense of humor and personality in tact.
ReplyDelete