Press "play" and let me tell you about the most brilliant pop song ever written, "The Mayor of Simpleton".
"Why?" you say.
Because has outstanding qualities in three important areas: lyrics, arrangement and musicality. All of these contribute to an overall double-meaning that offers the listener something new on each spin.
Lyrics:
Each verse has 2 lines of self-effacement:
Never been near a university
Never took a paper or a learning degree
Two lines of self-affirmation:
Some of your friends say that's stupid of me
But it's nothing that I care about
Two more lines of self-effacement (which have an end rhyme that goes with "Simpleton")
Well I don't know how to tell the weight of the sun
And of mathematics well I want none
And two lines of the main idea:
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton
But I know one thing and that's I love you.
The bridge is a straightforward, impassioned plea for love:
I'm not proud of the fact that I never learned much
Just feel I should say
What you get is all real, I can't put on an act
It takes brains to do that anyway
And the final thought of the song:
When all logic grows cold and all thinking is done
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton.
So lyrically, we have a complex, but structured, wordy plea for affection based on evidence that the singer is a "simpleton". Sounds manipulative if you ask me. Yet there is believability that the singer is sincere, at least in his final statement and his declaration of love.
Arrangement:
The brillance of this song is the arpeggiated bass line that rambles up and down througout the song, giving an "unsure" sense to the message, as if the singer has trouble believing the argument himself. It is in the "self-effacement" lines, like Never been near a university / Never took a paper or a learning degree that this unsurity really comes through, as if the singer is wondering whether this lame argument is going to work.
Suddenly, however, in the "self-affirmation" lines, the bass gives up its rambling, plays the root of the chord, and gives the song a firm footing: Some of your friends say that's stupid of me ... etc. Then it's back to the rambling for the next two "self-effacement" lines, and back to the solid root notes when he says Mayor of Simpleton, but reverting to the uncertain rambling when he says I know one thing and that's I love you. So arrangement-wise, the bass is alternating between this unsure, bumbling, kid-like shuffling and this strong, man-like affirmation, which really comes through on the bridge, especially on the line, It takes brains to do that anyway. So which one should we believe?
Musicality
By that I mean the way the song is performed and put together. You have a singable, upbeat melody with a stong back-beat snare drum at the same time that you have the arpeggiated bass line. The guitar is present but minimal throughout most of the song, mostly providing off-beat fill but also some very subtle licks at crucial times. Partridge's vocals and his inflections bring home the sure/unsure feelings througout the song, where he alternates between hopeful sincerity and desperation, with just the right hint of male bravado. The vocal harmonies add that extra element of showiness that borders on being too much but in reality make the song.
Message
The final message of the song hits home with the final chorus when Partridge finally declares, with the bass firmly in the root, You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton. Final statement. But then the song ends with that rambling feeling that makes us feel that, now that he's played his trump card, he's unsure of the response.
What we are presented with is a double message because, as we have mentioned, the lyrics indicate that he is someone simple, but in reality we have a complex, crafted message. And the line What you get is all real I can't put on an act / it takes brains to do that anyway is just a bluff. Everyone knows plenty of stupid people who don't tell the truth. But this is more than just an act, it is a well thought-out, intriguing presentation, even a proposal, if you will.. So does he really love her or is he just trying to bluff her? If he is bluffing he certainly goes to a lot of trouble, so she must be worth it.
The only thing we can really trust, in the end, is his sincerity. He shows us that though he may be a complex person, he really has one, simple message: I love you. So why all the complicated gyrations? Because for whatever reason he feels the need to show off in order to get her validation. The song ends up delivering a universal theme: the eternal dance of the sexes, and the jumping around is not unlike some strutting peacock seeking his ladybird's reaction.
And that is why I believe this is the most brilliant pop song ever written.
cds
p.s. Happy Valentine's Day.
No comments:
Post a Comment