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Tuesday, April 3, 2007

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I saw it, so you're going to have to suffer as well

I'm going to have a stomach ache the rest of the day after watching this:

I understand what Alanis was going for here, but the fact is, as Hua Hsu wrote in Slate two years ago about the original Black Eyed Peas song, "My Humps":

It is... proof that a song can be so bad as to veer toward evil....

It's not Awesomely Bad; it's Horrifically Bad. The Peas receive no bonus points for a noble missing-of-the-mark or misguided ambition (some of the offended have responded with parody videos and snickering anecdotes about how the group uses Hitler-approved microphones). "My Humps" is a moment that reminds us that categories such as "good" and "bad" still matter. Relativism be damned! There are bad songs that offend our sensibilities but can still be enjoyed, and then there are the songs that are just really bad—transcendentally bad, objectively bad.

Which makes an "ironic" cover of the song... well.... pretty damn bad.

posted by Dan on 04.03.07 at 03:17 PM

Comments:

I actually thought this was rather funny. I agree that "My Humps" is truly an evil song, and sometimes the best way to fight evil is with humor and ridicule - think of the ant-Hitler Bugs Bunny cartoons during WWII. Alanis has created a sort of "Spring Time for Hitler". Not bad. And it looks like she has finally learned what the word "ironic" means, and it's not rain on your wedding day.

posted by: wph on 04.03.07 at 03:17 PM [permalink]

Check out the parody link--it is the "My Robot Hump"

posted by: Michael on 04.03.07 at 03:17 PM [permalink]

Agreed in full with the first post. This is a very clever, brutal response to a ridiculous song.

posted by: mth on 04.03.07 at 03:17 PM [permalink]

Well, I did laugh out loud at the parody. On the other hand, I found both the parody and the original so painful to watch that I couldn't finish either one. Gack!