Penk is the Drug wrote:I can see what you mean but I think that because the song's a typical example of style over substance - and I don't think even its biggest fans could argue it wasn't - it is going to hit people with an immediacy especially if they're not cynical and suspicious like most of us here; the average listener is just going to notice that it's really different to most pop and it has an interesting tune and on the surface is uplifting and clever, so in a way they're going to get a lot out of it without necessarily going to the depths we do to analyse the bastard. Perhaps we lose some of the joy of pop music by doing that, there's maybe something a little sterile and small about looking for pleasure in the darkest corners of baroque 70s songwriting or waiting to notice that almost inaudible background sound you just know is somewhere in the Broken Social Scene album, compared to the instantaneous euphoria of an otherwise flaky pop song with a massive happy chorus.
Couldn't agree more. I don't know how much I'd rate 'Crazy' if it was tucked away as an orthodox soul song on a Kent compilation but that's a silly counterfactual anyway 'cos the fact is that it's out there and its presentation, its hyperactivity and modernity are part of the package, and what has made it connect with a lot of people. I won't deny that being able to share a song which is ostensibly in the tradition of my music with the laity is part of the thrill.
Still, I can't help but listen to the song with music obsessive ears and, for me, it stands up, even if I appear to be in a music obsessive minority in saying so.