I need to open this with the fact that I have had this video sitting in my drafts for five years.
Five. Years.
It is one of my favorite songs of all time - a simple love song. Alison Shaw's voice makes this very simple song all the more appealing. It's even sweeter when hearing her light voice that brings comparison to a small child singing lullabies at the bottom of the well with a background of grinding guitars. This is actually something a reviewer said.
Anyway, I like the combination of her ethereal voice and the driving guitar, and I think you will, too.
The song isn't called "Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog", despite how you know the song.
It is a drinking song, and a happy one at that. Is it a serious song? No, of course not. It's just a lot of fun. It's a song specifically written to elicit a smile, and it succeeds tremendously.
As I write this, I have learned that it is featured in a current JCPenney holiday commercial. It's fitting, but I am rarely this accidentally timely.
There were few people more excited than me over the release of the Cosmic Thing album in 1989. You see, 1) I had been a fan of the band for years prior to this and 2) their first single, "Channel Z", was one of my favorite songs at the time. Also 3) it was their first album in four years, and the first since the death of Ricky Wilson
I purchased the album on cassette at a record store in Cheektowaga, NY, while on vacation soon after its release, and I was not at all disappointed. Top to bottom, every song was great. Even this one.
And then this song was released as the second single, and it was EVERYWHERE. Now, everyone was a fan of this quirky little band from Georgia that I had been a fan of for a very long time. This song was largely responsible for that, and I resented that for a very long time.
I grew out of that eventually. This song is one of the best illustrations of the three-part harmonies that make the B-52's great and unique. Plus, it's a song that you can't help but sing along with.
I will admit that I was not a huge fan of the single edit. Even though cutting out a few "bang bang"s might have seemed like a good idea, I do think it took something away from the song - the build-up to Cindy Wilson's famous line.
You know it. You just said it in your head. I don't need to.
I could not resist sharing this version that the band performed with Sugarland, making it a FIVE part harmony in spots. This is faithful to the album version and you can hear what I mean when I say that buildup is important. It makes the whole song better.
This solo debut by Edie Brickell - because, let's not forget, she was in a BAND called New Bohemians - was included with each copy of Windows 95 when it was released.
That's right. If you have a Windows 95 CD, you have a copy of this video.
The song itself is a pleasant song about someone who doesn't want the good times with her lover to end - in that moment. In Ms. Brickell's case, that would be Paul Simon. This song is about Paul Simon. And it's a very happy song as a result.
I think it's pretty obvious why we're posting this song this month. It's one of the happiest songs ever written. A moderate hit in the late 1970's, it's fondly remembered as a classic today.
It's also got a single note that Withers sustains for eighteen seconds. This is one of the longest ever sustained in a pop song.
The song has experienced something of a resurgence in 2020, largely due to its placement in this Allstate commercial. Admit it, you're smiling now, aren't you?
