Aloha, McKenna here and I’m humming along to “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffett. Those of you who have read Photo Finish know that I like Jimmy. His voice may not be the best in the world, but he’s a great storyteller. That’s right, that’s not a typo. The thing I love about Jimmy Buffett’s music is not his voice, but that he tells a story. Like many of the Hawaiian songwriters, he puts words and music together into a package that makes people care.
I’m not saying that there are no good songwriters left, there are plenty. But, does everything have to be dominated by “song bites?” Here’s an example of what sucks in today’s song-bite songs. It’s all mine and with the right combination of synthesized music, a wailing singer, and scantily clad girls dancing provocatively in the music video, it could be a hit. It’s called, “We Are.”
It’s got a limited melody that’s suitable for a mooing cow, which is perfect for the singer who can “emote” with his voice.
“On the beach, on the beach, on the beach,
We’re… (that note gets wailed with lots of emotion to show how much the singer cares)
“On the beach, on the beach, on the beach!”
Pretty snappy, huh? And it repeats for about three minutes, so it’s the perfect song length. Come on people! Can’t we have a little imagination? Maybe just tell a little bit of a story? Met a girl and we went to the beach and watched the sun sink below the horizon and then she dumped me because she wanted me to look at her face and I kept staring at another place. Does that little rhyme make me qualified to write a song? No, Joe.
Thankfully, many of the Hawaiian song writers still remember what it means to “talk story” and put that into their music. And that gives me an idea. Maybe someone should consider making Jimmy an honorable Hawaiian?
Let’s hear it for the parrot heads! And the days when Bali Hai seemed a paradise in spite of a war.
Now you’ve done it. For some reason this blog triggered a memory of Bloody Mary singing about talking hands in the movie South Pacific but I can’t remember all of the lyrics so I’m going to have to look them up.
Since I don’t live (and never have) in the Islands, I don’t know much about Hawaiian songs but this is why I am drawn to country/western music. And Margaritaville is a classic for a reason. I remember driving down the road in my CJ with my son in the passenger seat, the top off, and both of us singing that song at the top of our lungs. Great times, great memory.
I agree about some of the songs that are produced. And Taylor Swift gets a pass because all of her songs sound just like all of the other songs!
Hey Vicky, McKenna here. Thanks for the comment. Did you have to bring up South Pacific, though? Now I’ve got Bali Hai running through my head and images of Mitzi Gaynor washing men out of her hair. I think poor Taylor is just misunderstood…or maybe it’s understood too well. Not sure which. Well, gotta go! Mahalo again for the comment.