Friday Morning Music: Old Folk, New Folk
A couple of weeks ago, in a chat with Mrs. Polly about the terrible UK tabloid the Daily Mail, I mentioned Dan and Dan’s “Daily Mail Song.” Here it is again for those who don’t always scour our comments for such things.
That vid’s understandably long gone viral (do also check out Dan and Dan’s blog for some more low-key British humor, BTW). Which got me to musing about memes and the similarities between today’s Web and days gone but not forgotten, when song—and, loosely, “folk” song—served a similar purpose in spreading news, opinions, and reactions.
Dan and Dan’s song is obviously an hommage to a number of influences. I suspect the most obvious is Tom Paxton’s “I read it in the Daily News,” which isn’t available as a Youtube with Paxton himself performing it, so here’s a Brit folky’s rendition, thoughtfully provided with subtitles for those who can’t hack the accent:
I think there are also traces of another Paxton song, “What did you learn in school today?”, here covered by the amazing Pete Seeger. Seeger’s still going strong, by the way—as witnessed by this recent interview with him—and so is Paxton.
The other obvious influence is Dob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” with the flashcards:
This gimmick has been widely copied and parodied over the years. Here’s Weird Al Yankovic’s palindromic tour de force:
But back in the pre-Web days, an ad which nowadays would no doubt have gone viral worldwide overnight caused an enjoyable, if apolitical, stir in the UK, with its playful jabs at mondegreens along with the card schtick:
Posted by YAFB on 08/27/10 at 08:30 AM • Permalink
Categories: I Don't Know Much About Art, But I Know What I Like • Music • Music Videos • Politics • Our Stupid Media • YouTubidity •
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