I’m letting someone else do the hard work again in this
feature. Here’s JC, The Vinyl Villain…
Once again, you've posted something that gets me thinking!
Maybe there is something real about 'grumpy old gits' in
that the older we get, there seems to be fewer things we find to laugh about.
Or is it just that what constitutes a sense of humour changes and evolves
through life? I certainly 'don't get' a lot of what makes the younger
generation(s) LOL these days, but then again, my parents 'didn't get' the
political humour of the 80s that had me roaring with laughter.
I think one of the things about humour in songs is that all too often the music itself is not all that enjoyable... (the song you've posted [in my first post] being an example!!). It takes a real talent to be equally funny and musical.
JC hits the nail on the head here… because musical taste is
such a subjective thing, once you try to add humour into the mix, it’s like
trying to throw a dart and hit two separate bullseyes at the same time. First you have to please the musical taste
part of our brains, secondly you have to tickle our even more subjective funny
bones. All in the same song. The intersection of that particular Venn diagram
will often be very small, and it’ll be a different intersection for every
listener. No wonder so few artists consciously go down the “funny songs” route…
the whole thing’s a minefield.
I know that the way I appreciate music is very different to
a lot of people. That’s down to my writer / English teacher brain. Well written
lyrics will always win me over to a tune, regardless of genre. It’s no secret
that I’m not the biggest fan of post-1987 dance music, for example. And maybe
the biggest reason for that is that words aren’t really seen as important on
the dancefloor. Yet when the words are given some consideration, dance music
becomes a lot more interesting to my brain…
Death
In Vegas featuring Iggy Pop – Aisha
LCD
Soundsystem - Losing My Edge
Underworld
- Born Slippy (Nuxx)
All of which brings me back to JC’s nominated band, Flight
of the Conchords, with their amazing ability – as JC puts it – “to be equally
funny and musical”. What’s incredible about the work of Bret McKenzie and
Jemaine Clement is that they’re not just very funny guys… they’re also
extremely talented musicians and songwriters, capable of mastering any genre
they turn their hand to… and making it look easy.
They do funky r ‘n’ b…
Flight
of the Conchords - The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room)
…80s electronica…
Flight
of the Conchords – Fashion Is Danger
…hip hop…
Flight
of the Conchords - Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros
…straight up rap…
Flight
of the Conchords – Hurt Feelings
…and fuzzy 70s rock…
Flight
of the Conchords – Demon Woman
They can be the Pet Shop Boys…
Flight
of the Conchords – Inner City Pressure
…Air Supply…
Flight
of the Conchords – I’m Not Crying
…The Police…
Flight
of the Conchords – You Don’t Have To Be A Prostitute
…or even Peter Sarstedt.
Flight
of the Conchords - Rambling Through The Avenues Of Time
I have a question though - for those of you who approach
music via sounds first, rather than words – for those of you whose specific
musical tastes are tied to genres and won’t be interested if it’s a musical
style you just don’t dig… do you prefer the FoC songs which focus on one of
your favoured genres? The fact that JC chose the Bowie song as his example made
me wonder this. Everyone in our little group loves Bowie – and if there’s
anyone reading this blog who’s not a Bowie fan, don’t be afraid to speak up - so
that’s the perfect synergy of sound and satire, music and merriment. Do the
songs above which venture into ungainly genres still work for you? Or does the humour
win you over… in the same way that the lyrics in my “dance music” choices make
those tracks work for me?
Here's my favourite Flight of the Conchords tune… and I’m not even sure what genre it is.
