A cappella in Acapulco

Listening today to "Deadweight" by Beck (a good song by a great musician), I realized that this was one of those songs that I came to know, appreciate, and enjoy in a different way than most people. This was a song that I heard first, not in its original form, but as an a cappella song. To be exact, performed by a group from U of Buffalo called, appropriately, the Buffalo Chips. (There is an unspoken rule in a cappella that the name of your group must be some play on your school name, a musical term, or both.) Anyway, I first heard "Deadweight" when the Buffalo Chips came to perform at Oberlin a few years ago.

The disturbing thing is that this is not the only song that I came to listen to via the a cappella route. I can think of a few others off the top of my head -- "Redemption Song" by Bob Marley; "Bouncing Around the Room" by Phish; "Running to Stand Still" by U2; "Babylon" by David Gray; "Don't You Forget About Me" from The Breakfast Club...the list goes on. All I can say is that you listen to a song differently after you've heard it done a cappella first. You can hear how the elements are put together in a way I don't think is possible before. Yes, at times it's still a ridiculous musical form. It can be over the top and can sometimes ruin the music it's trying to emulate. It might not be as cool as being on the lacrosse team or being some college radio snob. But I will say this: the chicks dig it. Being in a cappella groups has supplied me with three girlfriends, as well as making other girls think you're a sensitive, new age guy by baring your soul up on stage while making awful beatbox noises with your mouth. Try getting a girlfriend by playing lacrosse, punk.

My final thought: The only other phenomenenon like the one I just described with a cappella that I can think of is The Simpsons. Many times I have heard a reference or person or place or idea described on The Simpsons before I have come across said entity in real life. But rarely will one ever acquire a girlfriend watching The Simpsons. Well, maybe Neil could pull it off.