The Monster and Modern Cinema

"The sea monster"
Monster shark as communism, infringing on the Eastern shores of America much like Orson Welles's UFOs in "War of the Worlds". The only way to fight this communist threat is through rampant spending. I.E., "We're going to need a bigger boat" is an example of the out-of-whack consummerism that America employs today in an effort to fight its enemies. Presidents encourage citizens to spend to support our troops. Regular people are bombarded with adds to buy the latest model to replace whatever it is that they own that is still functional. Planned obsolescence. When faced with the prospect of defeating this communist shark, the hunters only observation is that they should purchase a bigger, better, more modern boat.
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Uncertainty and TV Science Fiction

"TV Shows."

The hit TV show, starring agents Fox and Mulder, was a thorough investigation of the paranormal. On of the most paranormal things not explored currently, though future serialized movie updates are promised, is Agent Mulder's suspicious growth in height from season 1 to season 4. Did she merely start to use lifts, or was there another force at work. Trick photography, first practiced in films like "Man with a movie camera" are used to abuse items of continuity in episodic narratives. Characters can grow or shrink within the course of a multiseason narrative without regards to the expectations of the viewer for characters to remain the same height, per se, though weight may be expected to vary.

If you see something say something

"Safety and Modern Dance."
Saftey and dancing. Two goals that have long been at odds with each other. For the better part of the 20th Century dancing has been, in practice, a very dangerous activity. 24 hour dance marathons caused widespread panic and death in the early part of this century. In later years, "Breakdancing" has done just that, broken bones on the bodies of the practioners and viewers. The group, Men Without Hats (another unwise proposition if you ask me) has invoked this tradition of danger with this song, which incorrectly implies saftey in numbers.

Magic and Love

"Love."

The post-war period saw a rebirth in the idea of magic and love-making. It was commonly believed that there existed potions to ease the art of seduction. This song profiles the ups and downs of such titillation.

Christiantiy versus the World

"Religion." [2:35]
REM saw a loss of religion in the world. Or atleast the principles fundamental to many religions, i.e. Love of fellow man, good deeds, sustainable living. They wrote this song to highlight that loss.

Criminality in the late 20th Century

"Criminal Minded."
A lot of music was criminalized in the late 20th Century. Specifically 'hip-hop' and 'metal'. Tipper Gore saw to this with her effective Parent's Against Evil Music campaign that saw Dee Snider testify before congress. It was later decided that music could be criminal as long as it was smooth.

I forgive you Ugly Kid Joe

It can get a little bit ugly sometimes [2:35]
For a long time no one forgave Ugly Kid Joe for ripping of "Cat's in the Craddle" and turning it into their first MTV hit. They followed up with "I hate everything about you" and everything was forgiven.

I forgive you Metallica

"New World"
For a long time no one forgave Metallica for kicking out that dude you started Megadeath. This song is about that feeling.

Benny Hill and the advent of comedy

"The Chase"
Nothing was funny until Benny Hill started chasing people and being chased. Whether by bad guys, gorillas, or old ladies Benny Hill simply wouldn't be caught. Or sometimes he was and that was funny. Mostly though, the chases themselves were what was funny. Not for the first time, trick photography, first used in "Man With a Movie Camera" was employed. In this case the practice was speeding up of the frame rate from 16 or 24 frames a second to double that.

A Great Composer Rocks

"It is not Bach me Amadeus"
Rock me amadeus, Rock me Amadeus. This is the moment when classical music, classical composers first meet rock music and rock composers. The result is an epic sonata that practically defined a decade.

Funkytowns and Invisible Cities

"A town with no name"
Italo Calvino once wrote that cities are invisible. I read this book and I cannot remember what it said. I think it was a fractured narrative about a thoroughly modern man.

Fire!

"Shouting Fire in a Crowded Theater" [2:35]
Burning Down the House. A violation of the societal instinct. Habitats are to built collectively and inhabited. This basic gesture on the part of the Talking Heads signaled their political break with society as a whole. Rather than partake in the social construct, they sought to destroy it.

You cannot Burn this House Down

"The answer to the Talking Heads." [2:35]
This house is made of bricks. The end of "brick and mortar" stores, banks, institutions. Fire is no longer an issue. It is electricity.

Gonna Make You Sweater

"The Factory and the Taylorization of Dance."
Factory produced dance music for a generation thoroughly post-industrialized. Dance has been made safe, previously by the men without hats. Now it can be produced in a commercial manner using the latest in technological innovations. All rough edges are ground away and one is left with a shiny, smooth object.

The Book of Genesis

"The First Book of the Old Testament in the late 20th Century."
The Bible reimagined as a kind of post-spectacle. Once again, primarly concerned with dance. In this case, it is a fear of the unknown. A fear that if one can't dance, possiblly one will be hurt. This duality of dance/safety rears its head again. In this case a compromise is reached with a moderated form of "dance-walking".

Blue Mondays

Manic Mondays and the Five Day work week [2:35]
Although praised in its day as a social revolution, the five day work week, a concept only initiated towards the beginning of the 20th Century, largely shaped the culture of recreation in America. The national highway system, national monuments and parks, and concept of vacation all emerged because of this. For this we have to thank/blame labor unions.

Austrailia as the Other

"The land down under displaces China as the bottom of the endless hole the United States has dug"

We can't get no satisfaction

"Satisfaction Guaranteed."

"The customer is always right." This is a false promise. The customer is right to the extent that the service provider can ameliorate him/her. If your hamburger is overdone, the cook cannot unmake that burger. But, as the customer, I want that burger to be the one that is corrected. Not another meat patty. In this regard, the customer is not always right, but is merely fooled into believing him/herself right.

This for Katrina

"Battle of New Orleans"

Hurricane Katrina and the failure of democracy. In response to disaster and distribution of its reasources a republic displays its true feelings towards the equality of its citizens. In this way, natural disasters can be insightful evidence of where a nation's priorities lie. Whether the reasorces are equally distributed, or, in fact, predeterministically partitioned to select constituent groups regardless of need.

Dueling Bangos

"The South."
The concept of the South or Southerness has involved the popular imagination since the dawn of cinema. "Birth of a Nation" to "Gone with the Wind" to "Delieverance". These movies trace a modern fascination with the idea of the South, not as it actually is.

Project for a Midi Glossary of the Twentieth Century

We asked for it and we got it.