That’s right… I’m not playing around here.
You asked for it and you’re getting it. And don’t bother with the Joni Mitchell requests… no room for over-achievers. This week is one inch deep and a mile wide.
I remember being shocked when Wham! shed their pretty boy image and went all dark and leathery. The guys prancing around in this video were so feathery soft they were in danger of floating up to the ceiling. Watching this, it’s amazing there was a time people doubted George Michael was gay.
This song is almost a parody of happy songs. And again, it’s a song that has been all but disowned by its writers. Michael Stipe reportedly hates ‘Shiny Happy People’ and kept it off the band’s greatest hits collection despite it charting relatively high.
I find it harmless enough. I like the little waltz-y string intro, though the chorus gets annoying pretty fast. I do like how Stipe’s voice sounds accompanied by B-52’s singer Kate Pierson’s. She was used to even better effect on Out of Time‘s final track, ‘Me in Honey.’
Keeping things light around here, man.
Paul Simon has always said he hates playing this song and hopes he isn’t remembered for writing it. But I can think of far worse things to be remembered for.
Certainly his contribution to popular music, both lyrically and musically, is far deeper and more meaningful than this little ditty (or bauble, as my father would say). But is there really anything wrong with writing a song that puts an instant smile on people’s faces?
On earlier Songs of the Day, commenters Amy and Dana correctly pointed out that Fiona Apple’s music is often dark and brooding. While there are certainly exceptions on her three albums, it’s true that the overall mood is one of angst and melancholy.
So I’ve decided to finish off Fiona Apple week with something completely different… a performance of the classic Christmas song ‘Frosty the Snowman’ Apple recorded for a holiday album.
Of course, in her version Frosty goes on the lam after killing a traffic cop (or maybe I’m reading too much into it… I’d actually never heard the complete lyrics before).
