There hasn't been much to laugh about at Top Ten Towers over the past couple of weeks, thanks to various automobile-related shenanigans, but hopefully the end is in sight for all that and I'll be rolling in the aisles again soon.
Anyway, last time we did one of these, I pondered a question about whether we can still laugh at a song even if the music doesn't naturally fall under our area of acceptability. Mainly because I'm drawn to things lyrics-first, although I know lots of you aren't. Ernie, for example...
While I enjoy a good lyric as much as the next person, they aren't the most important bit for me. For example, I listen to a lot of African music and I can appreciate the quality of the singing and music without understanding a single word.
Many's the time I lament the fact that my lyrical focus stops me properly appreciating other musical stylings. When I read Ernie's African series, for example. Or when I listen to some of the tracks Swiss Adam shares. Or when Ben pesters me to listen to more Mogwai.
Notice that they remembered to sing something on that one!
C also responded to my question, in a post which featured lots of songs by Flight of the Conchords...
Interesting question you pose there and I think that yes, I need to enjoy the overall music first in most cases - but not always. If the lyrics or the humour really pull me in then they can override in some instances, so it's interesting how much weight we give to each aspect really quite unintentionally.
Unfortunately I have something of an aversion to the FoC, and it's got nothing to do with their music or their humour, it's simply down to the fact that I had a friend some years ago who was obsessed with them and he overwhelmed me with their material: "listen to this", "listen to this again!", "you must hear this one", "this is SO funny", "listen to this again!" on and on and on and on and as a result I have a strange gut reaction that has turned me right off ever wanting to hear them again; there is something about being force-fed humour which has the opposite effect. Which is a shame, because I do know they are clever, musical and funny.
This is very true.
James & The Shame - I Think I'm Supposed to Like This
It reminds me of something we looked at in the old Self-Help For Cynics series (which will return one day!)...
There’s nothing more guaranteed to make me instantly predisposed to dislike someone than being told that I’ll love them.
Why does this also apply to humour? How many times has Louise made me watch something on the interweb that she found really funny, only to notice that I'm not reacting in the same way she is... and then come out with the internet equivalent of, "well, I guess you had to be there". And I'm sure the same thing happens when I show her something that has tickled me. Bear in mind that Louise and I have pretty compatible senses of humour - it's one of the main things that stops us killing each other.
The Beautiful South - You Keep It All In
I guess it's also the same thing I write about a lot when I do my Year End reviews - too great an expectation can stop me enjoying something in a natural, organic way. If the critics all love a movie, I go in there expecting to be blown away... and often come away disappointed. Whereas if I'd seen that same movie without any of the hype... I'd probably have appreciated it a lot more.
The Bee Gees - I Don't Think It's Funny
Turns out scientists have a name for this phenomenon (of course they do!) - REACTANCE.
According to iffypedia...
In psychology, reactance is an unpleasant motivational reaction to offers, persons, rules, regulations, advice, recommendations, information, and messages that are perceived to threaten or eliminate specific behavioural freedoms. Reactance occurs when an individual feels that an agent is attempting to limit their choice of response or range of alternatives.
So when C's friend keeps telling her to love the Conchords, C's brain goes into reactance overload.
Reactance can occur when someone is heavily pressured into accepting a certain view or attitude. Reactance can encourage an individual to adopt or strengthen a view or attitude which is indeed contrary to that which was intended — which is to say, to a response of noncompliance — and can also increase resistance to persuasion.
And the more he tries to persuade her, the more C's brains digs its heels in, creating and strengthening those neural pathways we talked a lot about in the Self Help series.
The Smiths - That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
When I think about the funniest film I ever saw - the film which still makes me laugh every time I see it (and I've seen it a lot) - it's interesting to note that the first time I saw it was at a late night critic's preview when I knew very little about it and had no pre-conceived notions. I'd read no reviews. Nobody had told me "you've got to see it, it's hilarious!" or anything like that. I went in there and made up my mind with complete freedom.
I'm not going to tell you what that movie was (some of you probably know) because I don't want to trigger your reactance. Of course, that also means that every time I recommend a tune on this blog, I run the risk of reactancing you... so maybe it's time to stop talking about stuff I like in case you think I'm stealing away your freedom to make up your own mind.
Blimey, for a series about humour, this post's been a laugh a minute, hasn't it?
Here's a song I thought was very funny when I was a kid. It probably isn't that funny almost fifty years later. I'd not advise you listening to it, for the risk of reactance. In fact... Don't look, Ethel!
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