Thursday, October 2, 2008

Pop Cannibalism 3


I was not watching football yesterday when I looked up at the screen and was appalled to hear the chorus of sensitive, celibate, bi/gay icon Morrissey's sorrowful anthem, "Every Day is Like Sunday" used to promote Sunday Night Football. It wasn't sung by Moz, which may or may not have made things better.


I've seen several Beatles's songs get butchered this last year, namely the dozen variations of Hello Goodbye, but they were so far off from the original that it fortunately remains untarnished. Hearing "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys, on the other hand, will always remind me of Sunkist Oranges. The ad wizards won...jerks.

I understand that as artists, once we write something and release it, it no longer belongs fully to us, it takes on its own life and is open to new interpretation and meaning by whoever receives it, but seriously...Every Day is Like Sunday? This is worse than the Flaming Lip's anti political oppression song, "Yeah Yeah Yeah" being used for Kraft Salad dressing this past summer. Bravo football and salad, you've got that indie rocker demographic right in your cross hairs.

I would like to see the rest of Moz's song used over footage of football players trudging down the field:

"Trudging slowly over wet sand back to the bench where your clothes were stolen."


In Cultural Anthropology 100 I read an ethnography that stated that football was popular in America because of its homo-erotic overtones; men patting each other on the butt, grabbing the ball between their legs, piling upon each other in tight uniforms that accentuate the male figure.

If you think about it, the terminology of the game is also sexual, make a pass, score, go deep, end zone, go long, tight end, bump and run, chuck and duck, split end, man-on-man coverage, muff, slobber knocker, and penis.

ok, I'm kidding about penis, but slobber knocker is furreeallz, at least that is what wikipedia sez.


4 comments:

Hoi Polloi said...

Yes! ah-haha. Great to meet other SoCal etsiers. Howdy, pardner.

Hoi Polloi said...

You shouldn't be that jealous, as I do not know French and had to get my friend to translate. So, perhaps you would have a better time than I. Let's switch- ok... GO!

Hey Harriet said...

I cringe every time I hear a fave song being used to advertise some stupid tacky item.

I loved reading your thoughts on football..hehe

amy said...

I want to send this editorial to Marty because he loves football and I want him to see how gay he truly is.

Oh and it's weird that you said that Vampire Weekend is really pretentious. I was thinking that too. Theres a song call Bryn I think, and it makes me think of Artsy Fartsy Shorewood High School graduates that go to UWM and act like their poor college students and wear thrift store clothes.
Nothing wrong with wearing thrift store clothes, but that's what I picture in my head.