Monday, April 16, 2018

"The Most Sanctimonious Song Ever Written"

A few months ago I was watching "Weeds" on Netflix; and I picked up an earworm in the process: a tired little ditty entitled "Little Boxes," by Malvina Reynolds. To my disappointment, each episode of "Weeds" started with that same irritating song while the opening title was shown. Something about it moved me -- close to nausea. It prompted me to turn the sound off for the opening of each episode of "Weeds." For the record, Pete Seeger did the more widely known cover of that unfortunate song.

Overreaction? Maybe. But there was just something about the sheer attitude that was being expressed in the song. To put it mildly, Angelique got extremely pissed off by it.

It turned out that Malvina Reynold's inspiration was the large tract housing being built on hillsides in Daly City, CA. Just out of curiosity, the unassuming Daly City did not make the list of the ten worst cities in California, according to certain YouTube websites. (Tip: YouTube has generic topics such as Worst Cities in (State), Most Dangerous Cities in (State), and others of that ilk. Choose any state you wish, and some unfortunate communities will be shown (?) to merit those dubious distinctions. Please watch these, if you must, with a lot of healthy skepticism.)

Anyway, the song satirized the bourgeois conformity supposedly taking place in shoddily-built communities like Daly City allegedly was.

I looked up the song title and musical satirist Tom Lehrer described it as "the most sanctimonious song ever written." Right on target, dude! I think those Daly City dwellers should have gotten some slack and not be judged by some arbitrarily-selected criteria. After all, all of us are not blessed with unlimited resources to choose locations or provide housing like we might wish. Most of us have to make do!

However, this allegedly stultifying bourgeois conformity attributed to those 1950's Daly City residents may simply be their individual wishes for the style of life that they aspired to. Mainstream culture and its alleged attributes seem to be an easy target for the hip aspirants, much like on Mad Men.*




With respect to this song, a few other sanctimonious songs floated on the airwaves of that A.M. sound track era: "Well-Respected Man" by The Kinks also comes to mind. Also should be mentioned is "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by the Monkees. 

But then, maybe sanctimoniousness was not the only issue from popular music. After all, a number one record from back in that era honored a woman-killer ("Tom Dooley").

This sort of makes "Baby one More Time" or "I Kissed a Girl" seem inoffensive, doesn't it?

Have you any thoughts on songs that rile you? Are are you moved in only one way? After all "Musick has Charms to soothe a savage Breast." 


10 comments:

Grand Crapaud said...

I could never get any sympathy for Tom Dooley. And I agree with your assessment of "Little Boxes."

John A Hill said...

Nice rant, Angel!

Stuck in Fortran Era said...

It's not very tuneful, either.

Cloudia said...

Thanks for sharing this well executed look at a cultural time and place, Angel 👼

Mike said...

I'm drawing a blank right now but yes I do turn off the sound at the beginning of some shows.

John Holton said...

Just being sung by Pete Seeger makes it sanctimonious.

I heard that in grammar school when I was in one of the early grades. I think the 6th grade girls did it. Damn tune stuck in my head for a week...

eViL pOp TaRt said...

Thanks for your comments, guys!

Stephen T. McCarthy said...

I'm sure I could come up with several prime, A-list and E-Ticket examples of sanctimonious songs if I were inclined to give it much thought.

But the one that always springs to mind first for me is [Link> GIVE A DAMN.

Unfortunately, the song was performed by Spanky & Our Gang, one of my very favorite Rock music groups from the 1960s. I have a CD of their music that I play often, but I've gotten in the habit of hitting the "Skip" button when GIVE A DAMN begins.

I am not a fan of being preached to by Liberals -- especially wealthy Limousine Liberals who probably don't come close to having donated as much money to charities as I have.

Perhaps my favorite quote (outside of The Bible and that thing that Tiny Tim said to Harold Ramis in the June, 1970 issue of Playboy magazine) is:

The false religion of Liberalism embodies the profound confusion of the insane, combined with a feral arrogance.

That sanctimonious, feral arrogance is on full display in GIVE A DAMN. (I wonder if they donated 10% of their recording royalties to soup kitchens and other do-gooder ventures. ...Uh, no. I don't really wonder.)

~ D-FensDogG
STMcC Presents 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS'

Arlee Bird said...

I used to have a Malvina Reynolds album. I remember when "Little Boxes" was getting a lot of attention. I liked the song back then and I still don't mind it. I wouldn't sit around and listen to that stuff all the time, but it makes for a novel music break now and then.

AS far as the messaging, when the song came out I lived in one of those vast housing tracts and I could relate to the observations made in the lyrics. I thought they were funny when I was twelve and I still see them as clever. It's a matter of perspective I think.

I never did understand the appeal of "Tom Dooley" the song. My friends and I used to make up naughty lyrics to the song.

Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out

ANNA said...

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