• Log In

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

A Philosophy Podcast and Philosophy Blog

Subscribe on Android Spotify Google Podcasts audible patreon
  • Home
  • Podcast
    • PEL Network Episodes
    • Publicly Available PEL Episodes
    • Paywalled and Ad-Free Episodes
    • PEL Episodes by Topic
    • Nightcap
    • Philosophy vs. Improv
    • Pretty Much Pop
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • (sub)Text
    • Phi Fic Podcast
    • Combat & Classics
    • Constellary Tales
  • Blog
  • About
    • PEL FAQ
    • Meet PEL
    • About Pretty Much Pop
    • Philosophy vs. Improv
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • Meet Phi Fic
    • Listener Feedback
    • Links
  • Join
    • Become a Citizen
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Log In
  • Donate
  • Store
    • Episodes
    • Swag
    • Everything Else
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My Account
  • Contact
  • Mailing List

Irony in Music II: Jonathan Coulton

November 12, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Following up on my post on Weezer and the follow-up discussion of irony, I submit for your consideration Jonathan Coulton:

Despite this being a cover (well, lyrically), it's pretty typical of what I've heard of him: he sings pretty folk songs much like the many many individuals regularly highlighted by Performing Songwriter magazine, but with goofy lyrics much like They Might Be Giants. Also like some TMBG songs, there's angst packed into a lot of the tunes, so that, for instance, a love song aimed at a laptop or from the point of view of a super-villain is still a love song, and in fact the lyrics can make this kind of song more palatable to emotionally skewed people like myself who might find a straight version too sappy or just plain ordinary to stomach. So he sings entirely with a straight face, with generally more subtlety than, say, Weird Al, but he still definitely produces novelty songs with more-or-less straightforward jokes, unlike the weirdness of Pavement or Robyn Hitchcock that in most cases still counts as rock (or in the case of Hitchcock, surrealist ranting) rather than comedy.

To bring in Goodman here, of course "Baby Got Back's" success as art and humor (if it's not obvious, I think these are related at the very least) depends on cultural associations, specifically the disconnect between the styles of the music and lyrics involved. Since it's a nice-sounding tune, one could enjoy it without knowing the source material specifically, though someone who didn't know anything about rap lyrics at all would likely just be mystified. Likewise, you don't need to know Coulton's style or his other work to get the song at all in (I think) nearly its entirety, though I may be overstating this: does knowing that he's an established, currently trendy musician with many such dishes on order make you enjoy this more than if you thought it was a one-off tune by some hack (like my "Billie Jean")?

Coulton, for me (having only been recently been introduced to him; maybe with additional listening I'll have a thorough and honest affection for him), is balanced on the edge between those bands that use humor as part of expression, which I think is good, and novelty bands, which I find generally dreadful (though, admittedly, I did go through a "Weird Al" phase a couple years ago; he's got some transcendent moments, though again, that's in part because the source material is actually pretty great, and his removal of the original lyrics takes out a barrier to my enjoyment).

It's a matter of whether it's sheerly parody, which is of typically very temporary enjoyment, being stale as the joke becomes old, or an actual, usable expression (to try to use Goodman's approach, here) that employs humor just because we, his audience, employ humor as an important element in our approach to life. If a joke doesn't get old, then it wasn't merely a joke in the first place, but some art activity that references the act of joking and/or some particular mode of mockery. This is again why I feel like "Mystery Science Theater" transcends humor-as-individual-jokes to become humor-as-life-approach, where free association and creativity rule (which has its dark side too, of course, for it can't be shut off even when inappropriate).

If you ever say (or think) "That's what she said" any more, it can't possibly be because you think it's actually funny, but it's become a trope for twisting whatever it is you don't want to respond to directly in the sense the speaker intends, and this in fact even works better, in my opinion, if it's a complete non-sequitur.

OK, since this is line is either going to devolve into an essay on "the tragic psychology of Michael Scott" or some sort of revelation of my individual pathologies in this respect, I need to stop now.

-Mark Linsenmayer

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Filed Under: Misc. Philosophical Musings, Reviewage Tagged With: irony, Jonathan Coulton, philosophy blog

Trackbacks

  1. Are You Experienced? Are You Ready to Rock? | The Partially Examined Life | A Philosophy Podcast and Blog says:
    November 13, 2010 at 11:37 am

    […] Forums/Links « Irony in Music II: Jonathan Coulton […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

PEL Live Show 2023

Brothers K Live Show

Citizenship has its Benefits

Become a PEL Citizen
Become a PEL Citizen, and get access to all paywalled episodes, early and ad-free, including exclusive Part 2's for episodes starting September 2020; our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat more causally; a community of fellow learners, and more.

Rate and Review

Nightcap

Listen to Nightcap
On Nightcap, listen to the guys respond to listener email and chat more casually about their lives, the making of the show, current events and politics, and anything else that happens to come up.

Subscribe to Email Updates

Select list(s):

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Support PEL

Buy stuff through Amazon and send a few shekels our way at no extra cost to you.

Tweets by PartiallyExLife

Recent Comments

  • Mark Linsenmayer on Ep. 302: Erasmus Praises Foolishness (Part Two)
  • Mark Linsenmayer on Ep. 308: Moore’s Proof of Mind-Independent Reality (Part Two for Supporters)
  • Mark Linsenmayer on Ep. 201: Marcus Aurelius’s Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Citizen Edition)
  • MartinK on Ep. 201: Marcus Aurelius’s Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Citizen Edition)
  • Wayne Barr on Ep. 308: Moore’s Proof of Mind-Independent Reality (Part Two for Supporters)

About The Partially Examined Life

The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don’t have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we’re talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion

Become a PEL Citizen!

As a PEL Citizen, you’ll have access to a private social community of philosophers, thinkers, and other partial examiners where you can join or initiate discussion groups dedicated to particular readings, participate in lively forums, arrange online meet-ups for impromptu seminars, and more. PEL Citizens also have free access to podcast transcripts, guided readings, episode guides, PEL music, and other citizen-exclusive material. Click here to join.

Blog Post Categories

  • (sub)Text
  • Aftershow
  • Announcements
  • Audiobook
  • Book Excerpts
  • Citizen Content
  • Citizen Document
  • Citizen News
  • Close Reading
  • Combat and Classics
  • Constellary Tales
  • Exclude from Newsletter
  • Featured Ad-Free
  • Featured Article
  • General Announcements
  • Interview
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Misc. Philosophical Musings
  • Nakedly Examined Music Podcast
  • Nakedly Self-Examined Music
  • NEM Bonus
  • Not School Recording
  • Not School Report
  • Other (i.e. Lesser) Podcasts
  • PEL Music
  • PEL Nightcap
  • PEL's Notes
  • Personal Philosophies
  • Phi Fic Podcast
  • Philosophy vs. Improv
  • Podcast Episode (Citizen)
  • Podcast Episodes
  • Pretty Much Pop
  • Reviewage
  • Song Self-Exam
  • Supporter Exclusive
  • Things to Watch
  • Vintage Episode (Citizen)
  • Web Detritus

Follow:

Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Apple Podcasts

Copyright © 2009 - 2023 · The Partially Examined Life, LLC. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Copyright Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in