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The Meteor Men Beg to Differ // Judging by the Hole in the Satellite Picture

2020-05-22 · list · Hank · 3:49 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Pop culture · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: self promotion

Hank rants about the worst moments in top 40 songwriting, where meaning is sacrificed for aesthetics or the reverse: LFO's Summer Girls, All Star's meteor men, an Eminem pun, and, worst of all, Kid Rock's 'trying different things', which tries neither.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Songwriting fits meaning into structure; bad songwriting sacrifices one for the other; LFO's Summer Girls

  • ★★ Hank says songwriting, fitting meaning into an aesthetically pleasing structure, is a really interesting challenge that creates a lot of beauty in the world. — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ Hank, granting it is subjective, defines the worst top 40 songwriting as aesthetics deeply sacrificed for meaning or meaning sacrificed for aesthetics. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Hank calls LFO's Summer Girls the clearest example of meaning sacrificed for aesthetics. — 00:00:00

00:00:29 — Summer Girls' first line abandons the summer for a forced rhyme

  • ★★ Hank says Summer Girls announces a song about the summer they met, then its first line drops the summer for a man's stomach; a forced rhyme is fine, but a stretch needs a reason, especially in a first line. (playful) — 00:00:29

00:01:01 — The meteor men line: a bad, unemphasized forced rhyme

  • ★★ Hank says 'the meteor men beg to differ, judging by the hole in the satellite picture' is a forced rhyme that misunderstands climate science, but is less intrusive because it isn't emphasized. — 00:01:01 · climate change
  • ★★ Hank says Eminem undoubtedly has a mastery of language, rhyme, storytelling and meter, and he does not understand how Eminem's brain works. — 00:01:01

00:01:30 — An Eminem pun emphasized in a song about domestic violence

  • ★★★ Hank says an Eminem line ends on a terrible pun followed by a long gap, emphasizing it in a deeply troubling song about domestic violence; it hurts extra because it's Eminem. — 00:01:30

00:02:08 — Aesthetics sacrificed for meaning: the history-book line; the worst line tries neither

  • ★★ Hank says another song sacrifices aesthetics for meaning by wrapping 'page in your history book' onto another line for no reason; it should just leave out 'book'. — 00:02:08
  • ★★★ Hank says the worst line sacrifices neither meaning nor aesthetics: it just doesn't try to do either. — 00:02:08

00:02:51 — Kid Rock's 'trying different things' and the rhymes he could have used

  • ★★★ Hank says Kid Rock's 'trying different things' double-rhymes 'things' with 'things', an aesthetic sacrifice made for no reason, though plenty of things rhyme with 'things'. — 00:02:51

00:03:21 — Overheated sign-off, Sweet Home Alabama comparison and a pre-order plug for Hank's book

In the description and comments

  • ★ The description points to a video where Hank talks about LFO's Summer Girls. — video description
  • ★★ John: In a pinned comment John says 'songs that Skynyrd sings' is far better than 'trying different things' and Hank should write for Kid Rock. (playful) — creator comment · Hank Green
  • ★ In a comment Hank says he was actually yelling about pop music for about 30 minutes to make the video. (playful) — creator comment
  • ★ In a comment Hank says he thinks Eminem's 'Mom's spaghetti' line is genius, silly only because it became so iconic. — creator comment

Humor (significant)

  • Summer Girls promises a song about the summer they met, then its first line changes subject — 00:00:29

    “We are now talking about a man's currently somewhat racist stomach.”

  • Hank questions Kid Rock about what 'trying different things' could mean — 00:02:51

    “Did you try a Boca burger for the first time, Kid Rock?”

  • Hank lists the many rhymes for 'things' Kid Rock could have used — 00:02:51

    “Did Red Bull give you wings?”

  • After the rant Hank signs off visibly overheated — 00:03:21

    “I'm a little warm. I have to go outside.”

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: Kid Rock · songwriting · Summer Girls

Also: People: Eminem

Works: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor · All Star · Sweet Home Alabama

Organizations: Amazon · Bookshop.org

Groups: LFO · Lynyrd Skynyrd

Concepts: climate change · domestic violence

Products: Boca Burger · Red Bull

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