American Hi-Fi

[robotnik2004]

OK, it's a nice sentiment, but why do the geeks get the girls? You can't just assert that they do without any further explanation. It's the same narrative flaw as that Wheatus song. There's nothing in the first three verses to suggest that Noel (Noelle?) has any interest in Iron Maiden whatsoever. Would Nerf Herder have resorted to such a flimsy deus ex machina? Would Super Deluxe? I think not.

Edit: Come to think of it, how did I get the girl?

Comments

[head58.livejournal.com]

Also: don't be dissin my boys Wheatus. What, you want the poor kid should just hang himself in the third act or something?

Given the fact that the high-pitched Brendan sings both his and Noelle's parts, I've always just been under the impression it's a fantasy/dream sequence thing. Like in Fast Times but without the walk-in. This opinion is reinforced by the soft filter applied to Tara Reid (if I recall correctly) in the video, traditionally signifying dream sequence.

[robotnik.livejournal.com]

It's all a dream? That's no kind of answer.

Look, I want the guy in the song to get the girl, but unless movies and TV have lied to me, the geek only gets the girl after he accomplishes something: punches out the school bully, pays the prom queen $1000 to pretend to be his girlfriend, teaches a mermaid or possibly a living department store mannequin about life on dry land, wins some kind of zany ski race, crosses his DNA with that of a fly, becomes a Jedi Knight, etc. Just waiting out the first two-thirds of a three minute punk-inflected pop song hardly qualifies.

If it was a Nerf Herder song, (or insert any other equivalent turn-of-the-millenium era geek-rock band here) the kid WOULD have hung himself in the third verse. In fact, I think that actually is a Nerf Herder song. I don't even want to think what a dour old Calvinist like Rivers Cuomo would make of this generation of instant gratification geek rockers.

My friend Steve, my very good friend Steve...

[robotnik.livejournal.com]

I should add, I got no beef with Wheatus. They're catchy little buggers. I just think it's all a little too easy.

My friend Steve addressed the complex American Hi-Fi / Wheatus issue in an off-list email I feel I must post here.

So, I have not heard this American Hi-Fi song but I did
read likely error-riddled lyrics online, which, when you come right down
to it, is probably the way most musicians wish people would approach their
art. I don't have a lot of substance to support these feelings, but after
reading the lyrics, I feel these things.

"The geeks get the girls" is meant to be a joyful exagerration of the
actual event, which was one geek getting one girl. That may seem obvious,
but it reduces the question from "How do the geeks get the girl?" to "How
did _that_ geek get the girl?" And I think the answer is: it's the girl.
I mean, said geek certainly did nothing to help his case, so it almost has
to boil down to external factors. God in the machine, you suggest? No no.
As all geeks must believe, there are woman who will love us in spite of --
heck, in large part because of -- the awkwardness and the dice and the
Weezer allusions and references to X-men plots from 1986.

Thus, what I propose is that American Hi-Fi intends to unteach the very
attitude you blogged, and bring this back around to all the geeks in the
world: you don't need knock-down drag-out teen fights and ski races to win
the girl. Be you, and your time will come. A glorious hymn of hope and
optimism!

Or it could just be that your paragraph about the song was about three
sentences deeper than anyone in the band approached the lyrics. These guys
did rhyme "week" with "weak," afterall.

Too stoned, Nintendo,

~Steve

He may have something there. At any rate, it's this kind of determined application of thought to an idiotic question that makes me cry to the heavens, why doesn't this guy have a LiveJournal?

Re: My friend Steve, my very good friend Steve...

[(Anonymous)]

At any rate, it's this kind of determined application of thought to an idiotic question that makes me cry to the heavens, why doesn't this guy have a LiveJournal?

It's this kind of determined application of thought to an idiotic question that makes me cry to the heavens, how in god's name do I have a real job?