Thanks to BoingBoing for pointing me to this Lawrence Welk show performance of ”One Toke over the Line” (if you’re out of the loop, ”toke” is slang for smoking Marijuana…I’m guessing Gail and Dale didn’t figure that out). The cultural disconnect recalls the recent Washington Post article on the songs used in presidential campaigns, and the odd symbolism they reveal when you really listen to their lyrics.
Some might consider this evidence of shallow thinking on the part of television producers and campaign consultants. But I revel in the evidence that expressive acts can carry invasive meaning wherever they’re invoked. What a hoot.
“I revel in the evidence that expressive acts can carry invasive meaning wherever they’re invoked.” That sounds interesting. For the benefit of the clueless middlebrow(s) in the audience, can you explain what it means? Thanks.
Hi Zero,
Yeah, that last sentence was a bit over the top. I can’t help myself from being opaque sometimes.
What I revel in, to dial it back a bit, is the power of expressive acts (songs, theater, poems, visual art works, and so on) to carry meaning beneath their surface. So that squeaky-clean Lawrence Welk singers can be referencing drug culture, and Hillary Clinton boosters can be dancing and cheering about broken dreams.
In an age where so many messages and symbols are crafted and manufactured and tested in focus groups before seeing the light of day, it’s a joy to see artists throwing a wrench in the works.
Make more sense?
There was a great JC Penney ad a few years back that used a lick from the Supreme Beings of Leisure to inform the viewing audience that the sexy young woman stepping out of the store with her bags full of Penney swag was “not the same girl [she] was last night.” The part that kills me is that the next line of the song is “I’m the not the same girl you f***** last night” – which was sadly omitted from the commercial.
Oh Andrew — that just made my day. And — what you said about “unintended messages.” Thanks.