(The following Facebook conversation was likely not intended by its instigators to turn into a discussion of the nature of art, but I think it came out interesting, despite starting with music albums I don’t have opinions about. All participants like each other. No universal truth was proven, though you can tell what side I'm currently on, so you have my invitation to join.)
John: Really pleased to see Run Devil Run (easily the most underrated McCartney solo and maybe solo Beatles album) and Back to the Egg get some love - but come on, Venus and Mars over Band on the Run is pure trolling.
Miles: I enjoy Venus & Mars more than Band on the Run.
Aaron: You're not the only one, but do you really think it's a better record? I mean..I enjoy Wild Life more than I enjoy Imagine. I don't think it's better.
Jeff: The whole "best" vs. "enjoyable" thing is puzzling.
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Showing posts with label meta-criticism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meta-criticism. Show all posts
Monday, June 19, 2017
Saturday, June 17, 2017
#398: Topher Florence, "Some of My Best Friends are Black" (2010)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUc0vbSlanM
I warned y'all up front that I, unlike a real rock critic, will periodically declare -- not just declare, defend -- the greatness I perceive in some goofy novelty song or other. I haven't done that to you until now, but we might as well dive in at the deep end. "Some of My Best Friends are Black" is a hip-hop song by nobody I've ever heard of; or as portrayed, a hip-hop song by an argumentative computer refuting the nobody-I've-ever-heard-of's offhand dismissal of a TV show. The computer briefly describes, in rhyme, each of the two dozen black characters to have a speaking part in the 10-season run of the sitcom Friends. For extra topicality, the song came out six years after Friends was canceled.
I will talk about the lyrics -- and, it turns out, about the entire culture of gender- and race-based criticism, the nature of human memory, and two of my favorite non-sitcom TV shows, whee! -- but the beginning of my case is simple. I think "Some of My Best Friends are Black" is ridiculously catchy.
I warned y'all up front that I, unlike a real rock critic, will periodically declare -- not just declare, defend -- the greatness I perceive in some goofy novelty song or other. I haven't done that to you until now, but we might as well dive in at the deep end. "Some of My Best Friends are Black" is a hip-hop song by nobody I've ever heard of; or as portrayed, a hip-hop song by an argumentative computer refuting the nobody-I've-ever-heard-of's offhand dismissal of a TV show. The computer briefly describes, in rhyme, each of the two dozen black characters to have a speaking part in the 10-season run of the sitcom Friends. For extra topicality, the song came out six years after Friends was canceled.
I will talk about the lyrics -- and, it turns out, about the entire culture of gender- and race-based criticism, the nature of human memory, and two of my favorite non-sitcom TV shows, whee! -- but the beginning of my case is simple. I think "Some of My Best Friends are Black" is ridiculously catchy.
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