When Jewish American songwriter Shalom Giskan changed his name to Kenny Young, he snagged a job working in the Brill Building in the early 60s. He wrote and co-wrote a bunch of hits, most notably Under The Boardwalk and The Captain Of Your Ship...
A little later in the 70s, he returned to the charts as part of Yellow Dog, a band who were true One Hit Wonders with the song below.
Now I've been listening to this song quite a lot lately. Don't ask me why. OK, then, go on, you can ask me.
Because it makes me smile. And smiles are a pretty rare commodity round these parts.
Now I'm fully prepared to admit that One More Night might be considered a very annoying song. Having worked in radio, I know there will have been some DJs who will have faded it out before the comedy ending. But actually, I quite like a good comedy ending on a pop song. You certainly don't get those any more. I've been trying to think of some other examples, but I'm coming up blank. Can anyone suggest any?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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…
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.
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.
In the spirit of getting other people to write my posts for
me, here’s C to help us ponder why we don’t / can’t laugh the way we did when
we were young…
I'm not much of a laugh-out-loud type of person! - but oh I
miss those helpless giggles that make your eyes water and your stomach ache and
definitely seem to have disappeared with age - though very occasionally they do
appear and when they do it feels so SO good. It's always the odd things that do
that, abstract things somehow that tickle me, so humour in songs can fall a bit
short and I do think it's a bit of an acquired taste. Having said that, your
post straight away reminded me of one humour song that I've liked since first
hearing it - sure you know it... From 1993 but (of course) still very much
relevant today…
Ah yes, I had that one on CD single, C. I was a big fan of
Dennis Leary back when he used to do those short, angry MTV videos. It was a
more mainstream version of what Bill Hicks was doing, and it appealed to my
Angry Young Man phase back in the early 90s.
I decided to do a bit of research into why I can’t laugh at
things like I used to, and I found an article in The
New York Post that says we start to lose our sense of humour at age 23! So
I reckon it’s long gone for most of us now.
Childhood is often carefree. Adulthood often isn’t. The
average 4-year-old, the authors write, laughs as many as 300 times a day. The
average 40-year-old will take two and a half months to log that many
chuckles.
Apparently having a job is one of the main reasons we stop
laughing so much. That, and all the added responsibilities of adulthood –
mortgage, bills, children et al.
The good news is, if we live long enough (and live far
enough into our retirement years to overcome the trauma of adulthood), this
chart suggests our ability to laugh will return…
I dunno… I look at my Mum. She doesn’t have a lot to laugh
about these days. Confined to the house, eyesight almost gone, scared to leave
her chair in case she has another fall, carers coming in to get her up in the
morning and put her to bed at night… as she approaches 100, I’m not sure she’s
laughing the way she did when she was 25. That said, my Mum’s always had a good
sense of humour, and the fact that she still has it at 97, despite all she has
to cope with… I think that’s amazing. I doubt I’ll be in such good spirits if
I’m lucky enough to live that long.
As the title of this series reminds us, laughter is great
for our mental health. Can we get it back into our lives? The investigation
continues…
Maybe there's also some mileage in wondering why we find offensive words so amusing. And pondering the difference between asshole and arsehole... is one funnier than the other? Or does it entirely depend on context?
I can do the regulars – Snapshots, Namesakes, Songs For Dead
People – but while I have a bunch of other post ideas… I really can’t be
bothered to write them up. New Year blues, I guess.
Here’s a new series which might get forgotten after its
first post, or might just turn into a list of HMHB tunes. Songs that have made
me Laugh. Out. Loud.
If I do write further posts, maybe I’ll discuss the thorny
issue of why certain members of the musical cognoscenti believe there’s no
place for humour in a serious pop song.
Or maybe I’ll examine why I find it so hard to laugh these
days. I remember in my youth, laughing till the tears rolled down my face…
nowadays the most I manage is a “tut of amusement”.
Maybe I’ll even find something to ponder about the
incredibly subjective nature of humour – how it divides our tastes even more
than music.
In the meantime, here’s a song that did make me laugh out loud the
first time I heard it, earlier this week. The general theme of the lyrics
provoked a recurring “tut of amusement”, though my liberal / snowflake /
prudish tendencies weren’t sure about the repeated references to the dog biting
his Mum’s bits. However, what raised this song to a genuine guffaw level was
the twist in the middle, when he takes the dog to the vets.
Subjectively, this may not work for you at all. However, if
it makes one other person laugh the way I did, if I can share out the
endorphins, dopamine, serotonin etc… if only for a moment… then this will have
been a good post.
