Prior to this week's entry, our little blog has had fifteen total posts. That's a pretty decent number! And in many different ways, it's been an interesting mix of songs. Of course, there are all sorts of charts and graphs and metrics about this three-quarter score of chart toppers that could be downloaded from the NOPR to illustrate this. There are a million ways to crunch the data. However, for today's entry, I'm curious about one certain aspect. Let's get some output:
Gender diversity of A Single Breakdown hit-makers:
- Male-led duo or band / Quantity - 9
- Male solo performer / Quantity - 4
- Female-led duo or band / Quantity - 1
- Female solo performer / Quantity - 1
It's hard to say why things have shaken out this way. Songs are randomly pulled and then chosen based on a personal connection. Perhaps the history of pop music is dominated by men, thus our selections represent this ratio? I don't know, but we've certainly been very short on lady tunes around here. Even more so, of the two applicable songs, really only Ke$ha's crunky epic "Tik Tok" qualifies as fully female. Hole, though fronted by a woman, was composed of a mixed-gender backing band behind its mixed-nut of a lead singer Courtney Love.
This all seems terribly unbalanced. So how do we try and fix it?
We go to Egypt!
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| Eh, that's not quite right |
Sorry, we go to the 80's!
This week we have a zero-fella mega-popular pop group reaching number one. With "Walk Like an Egyptian", The Bangles hit the big time. They did this despite the song existing somewhere on the musical axis between silly and nonsensical. It wasn't quite "Down Under" level madness, but it still hit a pretty unique stride.
And, like those Men at Work, these Women at, uh, Bangling, used the hot music video scene to help push their song to the top. Filled with live footage, weird montages of random people walking "Egyptian", and an occasional moment of come-hither smoky-eye glancing, the band got a ton of airplay.
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| She's looking at me, guys. ME!!!!!!! |
It was impressive, especially considering how very weird the song is. I mean, the title on its own feels as if it could have been a Weird Al number. Like, he turned "Running with the Devil" into this thing about imitating hieroglyph poses as some sort of wacky dance. It's just missing a little accordion to be perfect.
Well, really, that can be said about 90% of music.
The thing is, it's not just the title that's odd. The words themselves fulfill the bizarre concept of this catchy tune extraordinarily well. How well? Let's find out!
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| Sorry they beat you to it Al! |
Walk Like an Egyptian
Section 1
"All the old paintings on the tombs / They do the sand dance don't ya know"
"If they move too quick (oh whey oh) / They're falling down like a domino"
"All the bazaar men by the Nile / They got the money on a bet"
"Gold crocodiles (oh whey oh) / They snap their teeth on your cigarette"
"Foreign types with the hookah pipes say / Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh"
"Walk like an Egyptian"
I have to assume that every songwriter, in the back of their mind, desperately hopes that something, anything they create will hit number one. They must feel this way, regardless of what it is they're composing.
But, I can't imagine that this tune's writer, Liam Sternberg, considered for even a second that writing about sand dancing and hookah pipes would get him to the top of the mountain. How would that even be any sort of a realistic dream? Think of that scene for a moment:
"Hey honey, I've finished a new song, and this time, THIS TIME, I've got a hit."
"Liam, you've written dozens of songs, and nothing has gotten you even a paycheck."
"I know, but this is the one!"
"Sigh. What's it about?"
"People dancing and moving like the figures in cave paintings! And, I reference bazaar men AND foreign types in the very first stanza. It's gold!"
A woman walks away, the front door slamming loudly behind her.
The rest of the lyrics are equally, uh, inventive. They paint a picture of other folks going about their daily business. And, you know, walking. People like blond waitresses, kids in the marketplace, party boys, and cops in the donut shop all succumb to this terrible curse. Why? We don't know. Should we be afraid? Perhaps.
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| "All the space cadets with bird-like heads sing ay oh whey oh" |
FINAL THOUGHTS
Still, when it comes right down to it, this is a fun song. Energetic and ridiculous, it's a harmless respite from the real world. The Bangles did the 80's proud with such a goofy and hooky release. Hopefully, we can hear some Go-Go's or Blondie or other lady-tinged top songs again soon to compliment this one. I suppose that's for the aliens to decide. And Weird Al, of course. They're connected.
I think I've said too much.
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