fluff crush stuff

latest news from kim's desk/deck:

my 20-min-old last.fm radio just flicked to "Crush" by David Archuleta; and I was struck with a momentary soppy, floppy happiness. You know, the kind where you wish with all your heart to eat ice cream after lunch and you're afraid your friends are too full to do so so you shut up and then someone says: I feel like eating ice cream and a *MOMENTARY SOPPY FLOPPY HAPPINESS* hits you. yeah, something like that.

this is a very telling confession, because if YOU, READER, know your cloud-deck administrator well enough, you'd be well aware that she is adverse to Cheesy, Mainstream and Manufactured.

But sometimes anything goes yeah. you abandon your lofty principles for a moment of fluff.

There's something wired in the human being that makes us all susceptible to fluff, though to different degrees. What I mean by 'fluff' is any ready-made, carbon-copied, commercialised thing constructed by a fixed set of laws.
Laws that sometimes can go: put a hunk together with a heart-breaking voice, soppy lyrics, pop rhythms and bright chords and you got yourself a winner. (Time to CASH-IN)

Fluff has to be likeable, because it was invented to sell. It works on formula so money-makers can recycle it whenever they wish and ensure continued flow of moolah. Go listen to songs produced for American Idol finalists.
Check out
"I Believe" by Fantasia Barrino
While we're at it let's be patriotic and listen to
"I Dream" by Taufik
On second thought you can just note their inspring titles.


Let's now analyse "Crush".


We start with piano chords and that weird drum effect thingy which sounds like mechanical humans clapping their hands. When David says: "Ooooooh" you know immediately that this cheese was made to sell. While the piano part is nice enough the lyrics really aren't very good. I should correct myself by saying that the lyrics were written under circumstances that do not support its critical evaluation. It's as though the writers of the song (who are NOT David Archuleta) wrote them with the following mindset: I'm just going to write this so badly that anyone who thinks of criticising it is wasting their time and will look like a goon.


fluff usually has nondescript, bland verses. To illustrate my point I shall give you a personal example. I'm known for being able to recognise titles 3 seconds into the song, or even 3 beats (note 3 beats may take a second to last). When Jamie played this song for me one day I said: "mmph. Nope. Don't know it." Then, came the chorus.

I don't know how these music producers do it, but the choruses of fluff songs are engineered (I say engineered because I sincerely believe the chord progressions are mathematically devised to ensure optimal fiscal returns) in such a way that they lodge themselves in your ears and never come out. I recognised the song immediately and practically bellowed into Jamie's ear that YES I DID KNOW THIS SONG AND YES I DID LOVE IT.

Because I do! After paragraphs of analysis of fluff and the dangers of fluff, ultimately if your ears tell you you like something, then there's no hiding it. The moment our little David launches into the chorus of Crush, a stupid smile just breaks across my face, my eyebrows do some wiggling and there's no taming them.

Be proud of fluff. But only sometimes.


Crush - David Archuleta




P.S.
Additionally I admit "I Believe" by Fantasia is not bad at all, but "I Dream" by Taufik is very bad.

P.P.S.
I know what I like about this chorus
- The ecstatic lift of the melody
- The offbeat of the Drums.

P.P.P.S.
Off to listen to it again