Make mine “˜Mambo No. 5′ if you please
By Daily Bruin Staff
June 11, 2000 9:00 p.m.
Most people who write these columns are going to be filling the
pages with endless goodbyes and shout outs to “that guy who
lived down the hall freshman year.” I don’t want to do
that.
I only know a couple of things: how to boil hot dogs and a
little bit about music. You probably don’t want to read about
hot dogs, though, so I’m going to stick to tunes for now.
I’m no genius or anything, but I’ll offer a little bit
of what I’ve learned in my tenure as music editor for the
Daily Bruin.
The one thing that this job has taught me is that there’s
a lot of crummy music out there. Well, I shouldn’t say
it’s crummy. Everything’s got some merit somehow. But
we can all agree that some things just have more merit than others.
For whatever reason, they’ve just got a little bit extra that
pushes them past the rest of the pack.
Perhaps you can see where this is going. For my final column as
your fearless musical leader, I’d like to talk about what I
thought was the best song to come out this last year. A bold
undertaking I know. One that lesser critics would quickly shy away
from. Because I care about you readers, however, I feel that it is
my sworn duty to do so. And without further ado, I present to you
my pick as the best song of 1999-2000:
Lou Bega’s “Mambo No. 5.”
Yes, I can hear the collective jaw drop already. I’ve
essentially just shot myself in the critical foot by admitting to
liking this cheesy pop tune. A music writer pledging allegiance to
Lou Bega is somewhat akin to a castaway dipping himself in blood
and holding up a big sign reading “Sharks, Come Eat
Me.” It’s a decidedly chilly world for those of us who
are closet Bega fans.
Trust me, I’m really going out on a limb here. My own
paper voted “Mambo” as one of the most overplayed songs
of the year. I’ve even gotten e-mails from as far away as
England skewering Lou left and right and my own friends detest him.
I might as well be championing New Kids on the Block or the musical
talents of William Shatner.
But Lou, I love you still.
Why? Okay, it’s not like he’s writing Beethoven
symphonies here or anything. This is disposable, dime-a-dozen pop
at its best, and even Lou himself couldn’t follow it up.
Trust me, even Beganites like myself won’t touch “I Got
a Girl” with radioactive gloves.
What makes “Mambo” so good though is its simplicity.
The vacuous lyrics, the excitable horns, the catchy chorus: all
ingredients for a killer tune. It doesn’t even particularly
sound like any mambo I’ve ever heard, but hey, you can
forgive that once you hear that raucous horn call. If you’re
looking for deep poetry, look elsewhere, but if you’re
looking for a good time, then Lou’s your man.
Actually, to hear him tell it, he’s an awful lot of
people’s man. While this veritable laundry list of lovers
isn’t exactly sensitive or touching, it’s kind of
funny, and that’s all I really need in a song. If I want true
emotion, I’ll read some Shakespeare.
So there it is, I’ve laid it on the line. You all can make
fun of me ceaselessly forever now, but I don’t care.
I’m going to be dancing a little bit of mambo, thank you very
much.
