TYSG: Collisions of Music and Humor

Hi darlings,

I have sincere intentions of devoting more time to movie-dedicated posts this year, especially in observing that, together with posts about how challenging internship was, last year TYSG posts largely dominated the content of this blog.  That of course is largely a reflection of the fact that last year was, in fact, genuinely in need of a Terrible Year Survival Guide.

Even so, I love writing about movies and want to continue to do so with regularity, even if I sometimes hesitate because it takes more time than these posts do.  Although the TYSGs speak to the Psycho (i.e., graduate school) half of PsychoCinematic, obviously the Cinematic half needs just as much air time.

That being said!  I've spoken to the value of music as a way to get through difficult times, and even how one's relationship with music might shift depending on precisely how difficult times get.  I've also spoken to the importance of humor as a remedy for pain.  But what happens when their powers are combined?

AMAZING things!

Two examples:

1) Sharks!

Bear with me.

I listened to this PRI story about a great white shark named Lydia who has been GPS tracked over 27,000 miles of travel through the oceans, and whose progress fans can follow on Twitter.  It's a great little story, but the song at the ends takes it to another level.

The song is "Lukey" by the Canadian band Great Big Sea, in collaboration with the Irish band the Chieftains.  It's such a jubilant, joyful song that I honestly think it's impossible to listen to it without smiling, even if you can't understand a word they're singing.

But!  It gets even better when you imagine a 2,000 pound lady shark swimming around off the coast of Newfoundland, pumping her fins to the beat of the music like:

...Minus that slightly rude bit, of course.

Anyway, here's the video:

2) Dancing robots!

I like Spoon a lot, but their songs might not seem outright cheerful at first listen.  They have more of a brooding, sexy beat thing going that reminds me a little bit of the Beta Band--a little heady, a little chill, and really great to listen to.

But!  Then you watch this adorable video of a squishy little dancing robot and his blank-faced scientist compatriot, and suddenly this song is an utter, giggle-inducing delight:

So what I'm highlighting with these two examples is that the associations and narratives you make for yourself in your mind, especially when paired with music (or a smell, or an image, or a place, or...), can offer such potent little jolts of joy throughout your day if you just stay in contact with them.  For my purposes, rest assured that both of these songs are on the happy playlist I've dutifully cultivated for years now, as well as the other musical TYSG entries over the years.  I'm pleasantly surprised by how powerful the lift in my mood is when either of these songs comes through my headphones, but that's because of the delightful little movies they cue up in my brain.

Enjoy!

{Heart}