Nuff Said
I recently heard someone putting down the old, cheesy, 60s cartoons of the Merry Marvel Marching Society. Fine, but then he went too far and mocked the theme songs.
Sorry, but those short pieces are works of art. The lyrics were sophisticated and the music got the point across in less than 20 seconds.
In the past I've expressed my admiration for the stunning interior rhyme of "Captain America":
If he's led to a fight and a duel is due /Then the red and the white and the blue'll come through.
Cole Porter would be proud. Or look at "Hulk":
Wreckin' the town with the power of a bull /Ain't no monster clown, who is as lovable?
Reminiscent of Sondheim--or is it the other way round? (Sondheim from 1970's Company: "When a person's personality is personable/ He shouldn't oughta sit like a lump./It's harder than a matador coercin' a bull / To try to get you off of your rump.)
Or listen to "Thor". Not one of the best, but even it has this nice touch of interior rhyme:
You'll behold in breathless wonder /The God Of Thunder, Mighty Thor!
Then there's the hero of the hour, Iron Man. His theme song gets across what this guy's all about with effortless wit. To show "cool exec" Tony Stark, they use cool jazz, and to show his more heroic, martial, "Iron" side, they essentially use march time, and then combine the two to show how he brings them together.
It doesn't get any better than that.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:11 AM
5 Comments:
My bank became Bank of America a few years ago and I have found myself humming the Captain America theme song and mindlessly inserting financial themes("When Bank of America shows its mighty yield" )- it doesn't really scan (try to work in "credit shield" or "it won't let your password be revealed") but I can't stop myself..
On a related note, I met a relative of a neighbor this weekend whose first name was Dedalus (it could have been spelled differently) which immediately made me think of that seminal 60s cartoon Hercules which also had a boffo theme song, (Dedalus was the evil villain- due no doubt to the sound of his name). The relative, only 34 or so, was apparently unaware of the character
Unfortunately I can only remember the joke lyrics we sang on the bus in 3d(?) grade ("Hercules! /Is a big fat phony!/ Hercules! /Is a piece of baloney!...with the strength of ten/plastic army men" though sometimes "macaroni" was involved and we ended with a hearty "Hiyo Silver!")
Here's the Hercules lyric, and it's not very good. Mostly cliches:
Hercules, hero of song and story
Hercules, winner of ancient glory
Fighting for the right, fighting with his might
With the strength of ten, ordinary men
Hercules, people are safe when near him
Hercules, only the evil fear him
Softness in his eyes, iron in his thighs
Virtue in his heart, fire in every part of
The Mighty Hercules
I'll give them credit for rhyming and scannig properly, but what's the deal with "iron in his thighs"?
Actually, his sidekicks song was simpler, but better:
I'm glad, I'm glad
To have, to have
A friend, friend
Like Hercules, like Hercules!
Yeh- I think the seventh line was inspired by a Steeve Reeves movie. I thought there was a more martial version than the Johnny Nash version, which is kinda wimpy.
I believe the last line of the bus ride song was "Fire in his heart/Watch out for the fart /of the Mighty Hercules!" heheheh
Your post sent me to Youtube and I had headphones today- Captain America and Hulk are pretty good but Spiderman still takes the cake
Would Centaur taste like venison?
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