It's been three days, and I can't get that banjo song he did on SNL out of my head. Normally, when I can't get a song out of my head, it means I like it. Not this time. It gets even worse every time my mind forces me to relive that terrible, terrible experience. I think its post-traumatic.
The music itself isn't bad, but those words are horrible! I understand and can even appreciate that he went for a strong visual narrative, but the execution was childish. He's got images of riding a kite to school, a neighbor yelling "tally ho!," fishing with dad and terrible rhymes like "Teacher says, that's not cool." for They have been eating away at me since Saturday night. He even uses the phrase "Monday morn," can you believe it?! It's Steve Martin's "Oh, grandpa!" moment.
One reference has him hitting his grandmother hit in the face with a pie before 8:00 am on a Saturday morning. How does this make any sense? What the hell was a pie doing lying around? It's just a cheap comical device from a guy who thought he could do no wrong. I might also add that the character is neither repentant nor reprimanded for striking his grandmother. What kind of message does that send, Steve Martin?
The worst part is that the character genuinely wants to get to school on time. Who can relate to that? That's not a fun song for a kid, but a transparent gimmick to trick kids into liking school. Hey, Steve Martin, leave them kids alone!
A NYTimes article described the dress rehearsal of the song like this:
"On the main stage of NBC's Studio 8H in Manhattan, wielding a Gibson Florentine from the 1920s and accompanied by a quintet of bluegrass musicians, Mr. Martin was plucking, strumming and, yes, singing his way through an original song called “Late for School,” about a young delinquent racing to beat the tardy bell. The hoedown brought the room to a halt, and when it was over even the surliest stagehands couldn’t help but stand and applaud."
What?!?! Were they hearing the same song the rest of the country was forced to endure?? How much did Steve Martin have to pay to get this written? Or is he simply so "revered" that he can't get a bad review. It's not like he was a Beatle, or something. Shenanigans!
The only good part is that I've been listening to a lot of bluegrass on last.fm. That shit is good.
1 comment:
That song blew. The end.
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