Last week’s Friday Face-Offs generated an enormous amount of reader mail. (Almost four emails!) Here’s a sampling:
From reader KG, an accusation:
It has gradually dawned on me that there is an insidious aspect to Friday Face-Offs that I can no longer deny. Essentially, you have created–whether intentionally or inadvertently–the greatest earworm delivery service known to man.
Being myself in the official “fuddy duddy” category, I have often never heard or even heard of some of the songs you feature in FFO. When I listen to the original song in your first FFO post, I often don’t care for the song. ‘This is something I would never listen to,” I say to myself. “This isn’t even a good song. Why would a minimum of 6 to 8 people even want to cover it?”
By the time I reach the winning entry, however, the song is firmly embedded in my psyche, and I find myself humming it for days. I have even been known to go to iTunes and download a copy for myself. You win this round, Rees …
Reader DM chimes in on the spirit of FFO:
On a straight-up note, I would like to say that I straight up love your humanism. To sully that praise with an awkward comparison, it reminds me of Parks and Recreations vs. The Office. Both have some satirical components, but Parks and Recreations seems to have an admiration and love for its characters/people whereas the Office so often just makes fun of things with cringe-inducing vulgarity. There’s a sweetness about your aesthetic of “glorified normality” that is refreshingly lovely in our age of saturation and cynicism.
Exactly! The whole point of Friday Face-Offs is to strike a blow against cynicism. It’s about leaning back and enjoying some jams!
Speaking of which, this week’s FFO is going to be a classic. I’ve picked a great song that lends itself to glorious interpretations.
Let’s talk soon on the internet.
