IRONY
For some reasons, things that were really cheesy from the
1970s and 1980s have assumed an amazing cultural cache of
recent. Think of the most horrible disco (Gloria Gaynor,
Rod Stewart, etc.) or the most unbearably insufferable
1980s new wave pop (Flock of Seagulls, Duran Duran).
Consumers flock to record stores, obstructed by police in
riot gear as they demand their share of "Hungry Like the
Wolf." But lost amid the shuffle is stuff that was
moderately bad (or moderately good)...stuff that you really
didn't know what to make of it at the time it came out. I
mean think of Tears for Fears. It was kind of there in the
background in 1985. Shout, shout, let it all out indeed. It
was kind of lame, but it didn't reek, like, say Kim Carnes'
"Bette Davis Eyes." Or think Wings in 1977. They wanted to
fill the world with silly love songs. It was insufferable
Yet, you stumbled, you hesitated, because after all, this
was Paul McCartney, ostensibly the dude who had authored
"Hey Jude," "Helter Skelter," "Get Back," and "Blackbird,"
not to mention the most amazing "Things We Said Today,"
tossed off as a b-side to "A Hard Day's Night."
Imagine trying to resurrect Wings or Tears for Fears.
Imagine the shame if you try and explain at a party to
distracted people that you are working on a website to
honor Tears for Fears. Imagine the dumbfounded stares. But
imagine doing the same for Lipps Inc. who did a great
disservice to the English speaking world by stealing a riff
from the Doors (the Doors!) and remaking it into "Funky
Town." Imagine the knowing responses. Or imagine trying to
do a tribute to Journey. People will congratulate you.
Anyway, my point is this: culturally, irony has a very
small window and deals with extremes. Try being ironic
about something moderately bad or moderately good and
people stare at you blankly. And if irony is ultimately a
way for us to avoid dealing in our "weaknesses" that we are
afraid to admit in public -- such as wanting to be loved or
wanting to hug someone or thinking that Cyndi Lauper's
"Time After Time" is a really emotional song -- then I
would argue that irony of the moderately bad or good can
also serve a purpose. The purpose is this: if we start
ironizing things that are moderately bad or good, then
irony of the extreme will ultimately lose its power. And
that will be a good thing. Why will it be a good thing?
Because irony sucks, that's why.
I am sick of irony, especially in pop culture. Can there
not be anything that is sincere? Can we not exchange or
communicate our little lives without having to resort to
mechanisms (and machinations) of cleverness and
indirectness? This is why if I ever see Beck in real life,
I'll strangle him. I understand that he's a very clever and
talented young man. But are we to believe that he really
loves to PAHR-TEE? All his affectations about "gettin'
down" or "get on up" or whatever are just that -- they are
imitations of having fun...because we are unable to have
fun anymore without making fun of the fact that we are
having fun. Everything must have an inside joke. This is
why the best thing that any giant rock band did this year
was to chuck irony and go for the jugular -- ergo: U2's
"Beautiful Day." This is a magnificient song. It's about
being at the bottom and having nothing (what Dylan more
aptly put as "When you got nothing, you got nothing to
lose") and looking out the window and seeing that -- you
know, fuck it -- it's a beautful day and I'm alive.
Cynics will of course say that there is really no
difference in this day and age between what is fake and
what is real. Academics will call it very postmodern. They
will say that the difference is no longer important. This
is why Beck is essentially the same as James Brown with a
better producer. It's all real and it's all fake. This is
our culural currency -- it's genuine counterfeit. And they
will add that it is *this* self-awareness, the knowledge
that we we can't tell what is fake and what is authentic,
and the fact that we don't care -- that it is this
self-awareness that really matters in the greatest pop art
of the day. Ergo again: Beck or Air (who with their new
album have hit a major ironic cul-de-sac that they will
have a hell of a time getting out of). Anyway, if I'm
sounding cynical about irony, it's because I'm aiming for
sincerity -- and that immediately puts me under suspicion
by the irony police. So bear with me. Bear with my message.
The message is this:
I vote for sincerity. If you love somebody, say it just
like that. Sing it. Play it. Dance it. Write it. And don't
wink one eye when you do it. Keep both eyes open. You'll
remember much more later.