Buy Me A Condo

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JohnnyLurg
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Re: Buy Me A Condo

Post by JohnnyLurg »

minnick27 wrote:From Wikipedia: Lynwood went through five phases of demographic change in the 20th century. First, a colonial settlement. Second, a farming small town. Third, a mostly working-class white suburb from 1940 to 1970. Fourth, a majority African-American city between 1970 and 1990, and today, a predominantly Latino community subsequent to a wave of illegal immigration across the southern border following the amnesties granted by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.
Interesting. So Al witnessed the change from the third phase to the fourth during his childhood.
not to mention the toilets at Madonna Inn
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avesjohn
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Re: Buy Me A Condo

Post by avesjohn »

I'm not a reggae fan by any means (the only such songs on my iTunes are some token Bob Marley tracks and a few crossover hits here and there by various bands), yet for some reason this song has always been one of my favorites from the album - which is really saying something, since In 3-D is a very strong album.

My appreciation for this song even inspired me to write my own reggae-flavored funny song, called "Plastic Flamingo", which I wrote during that period in middle school and freshman year of high school (approximately 2002-2004) when I was writing numerous funny songs, both originals and parodies, after having finally experienced Al's catalog in its entirety up to that point. The "Plastic Flamingo" song is about exactly that, and like all my songs from back then, it sucks. (Though I remember a classmate of mine in my freshman English class, with whom I shared these songs as "poetry", shared his praise for the song, which he called "the Jamaican accent one", when signing my yearbook that spring.) I still have all these songs safely stored away in the same binder I used to present them to the class, so if anyone's in a masochistic state of mind I could share them, but trust me, you don't want that any more than I do.

Anyway, I guess the whole point I'm trying to make here is DON'T WRITE SONGS IN GENRES YOU ONLY KNOW ONE EXAMPLE OF! That's all I'm really trying to say.
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Muldernscully
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Re: Buy Me A Condo

Post by Muldernscully »

avesjohn wrote:I'm not a reggae fan by any means (the only such songs on my iTunes are some token Bob Marley tracks and a few crossover hits here and there by various bands), yet for some reason this song has always been one of my favorites from the album - which is really saying something, since In 3-D is a very strong album.

My appreciation for this song even inspired me to write my own reggae-flavored funny song, called "Plastic Flamingo", which I wrote during that period in middle school and freshman year of high school (approximately 2002-2004) when I was writing numerous funny songs, both originals and parodies, after having finally experienced Al's catalog in its entirety up to that point. The "Plastic Flamingo" song is about exactly that, and like all my songs from back then, it sucks. (Though I remember a classmate of mine in my freshman English class, with whom I shared these songs as "poetry", shared his praise for the song, which he called "the Jamaican accent one", when signing my yearbook that spring.) I still have all these songs safely stored away in the same binder I used to present them to the class, so if anyone's in a masochistic state of mind I could share them, but trust me, you don't want that any more than I do.

Anyway, I guess the whole point I'm trying to make here is DON'T WRITE SONGS IN GENRES YOU ONLY KNOW ONE EXAMPLE OF! That's all I'm really trying to say.
Do you perchance like sauerkraut?

Great song in the reggae style. Thoroughly enjoyable. 4 out of 5 stars.
FreedomHaul
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Re: Buy Me A Condo

Post by FreedomHaul »

One of the things I love about this song is that the meanings change based on how much you know about reggae. If you just have a general idea what the style sounds like, it could be a "real" reggae song. If you know more about the style, like that songs often have socially-aware lyrics or lyrics about political things, there's a huge incongruity between your expectations for reggae and Yankovic's lyrics, which focus on commercialism and possession of expensive things. His song not only parodies the style of reggae, the lyrics undermine people who use it as party or background music and who miss the lyrical content of the original.
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Yankomaniac
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Re: Buy Me A Condo

Post by Yankomaniac »

They totally should have done this following the acoustic medley while they're still sitting on stage, would have been a killer bonus in the set!
What a racket they're makin', Jack, they keep me up at night playin' their electric guitars!!
minnick27
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Re: Buy Me A Condo

Post by minnick27 »

I honestly thought they would. Al, Jim and Jon have all done it acoustically before so it would work

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Yankomaniac
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Re: Buy Me A Condo

Post by Yankomaniac »

Yeah, it sounded great at that tiny desk thing they did.
What a racket they're makin', Jack, they keep me up at night playin' their electric guitars!!
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Yankomaniac
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Re: Buy Me A Condo

Post by Yankomaniac »

Get the hell outta here!! :gun:
What a racket they're makin', Jack, they keep me up at night playin' their electric guitars!!
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poorboy
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Re: Buy Me A Condo

Post by poorboy »

Never clicked how this song was a "Buffalo Soldier" style song until recently.
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Yankomaniac
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Re: Buy Me A Condo

Post by Yankomaniac »

I like the Al-Marley sound. Jim and Steve love that style! I find it sounds like a mix of many BM songs, making it quite original in it's own right. Heavily inspired of course, they should have done a couple more like this on other albums.
What a racket they're makin', Jack, they keep me up at night playin' their electric guitars!!
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