Last time I wrote admittedly a rather unflattering analysis of a presumably romantic song When Susannah cries by Espen Lind. I do most sincerely hope that no tender hearts were hurt. I just wished to expose a callous sexual predator hiding under the mask of a romantic prince charming, drawing to your attention how nice sounding words in combination with a sweet face can be misleading. Today, I bring another song to your attention, another vintage classic from the ’90s, MMM MMM MMM by Crash Test Dummies. I remember humming this tune mmm mmm mmm before I could not speak a single word in English. It was much later that I first understood some of it and even later before I saw it in combination with the clip. Then I finally understood what it was about. Yes, it is about love, although not the romantic kind, but the parental love, and the lack of it. It is about life that hurts, it is about unconditional support. It is also about religious fanatism, about cruelty and hypocrisy. Not a pleasant mixture of topics, but altogether much more truthful than the song that was under the discussion the last time.
In the exposition of the clip we see a theatre, people are sitting down, the closed curtain is gently moving, presumably, the actors are setting the stage behind it. All the people in the audience are adult, even elderly couples, their faces are full of expectation. Then the curtain opens.
On the stage, there are two boys sitting in cardboard cars and a boy policeman. One of the drivers, although he can be about 10 years old, has white hair. The cardboard cars slowly move, then crash. The performance is rather clumsy, the faces of the children actors show no emotions, they are painfully blank, not even a hint of a smile. On the other hand, the audience is watching them intently, there are tears in their eyes, they are applauding, deeply moved by the scene. It all seems a bit odd, quite different from most children theatres where the youngling present songs and dances carefully choreographed by kindergarten teachers. It is something more serious.
Once there was this kid who
Got into an accident and couldn’t come to school
But when he finally came back
His hair had turned from black into bright white
He said that it was from when
The car had smashed him so hard
See, the boy got into an accident on his way to school and the shock and trauma turned his hair white. Imagine this boy coming back to school after he recovered physically and having to endure his classmates’ questions or even jokes about the strange look he now has. They say that children can be cruel and I think it would be hard even for an adult to deal with the situation, not to mention a little kid. The performance is not just a presentation of a school project, it is a therapy. The kid who cannot really talk about his trauma communicates his feelings on the stage, without words, just by acting it out. That’s why the lack of smiles on the stage and the support from the audience. The parents are helping their beloved son to heal.
The scene changes and we see a girl in her teens, wearing a cloak and passing nervously in front of a door labelled Change Room. Suddenly, about 5 other girls arrive, dressed in Sherlock Holmes style, holding magnifying lenses and pulling at the cloak covering the girl. She finally throws it away and the detectives begin to examine closely the dark spots on the girl’s arms and neck. She looks deeply uncomfortable but her face is quite as blank as the boy’s in the previous scene.
Once there was this girl who
Wouldn’t go and change
with the girls in the change room
But when they finally made her
They saw birthmarks all over her body
She couldn’t quite explain it
They’d always just been there
Apparently, this girl suffers from a skin condition, she has a lot of distinct birthmarks. Like perhaps most teenagers, she is understandably sensitive and self-conscious, because changing from a girl into a young woman affects the person on all levels and brings a lot of stress. Being different from other girls does certainly not make the process any easier and being constantly gazed at and asked curious questions makes her uncomfortable.
However, despite the fact that both children have to deal with serious issues, they can call themselves happy not to have to go through the ordeal that the third boy has to suffer.
But both the girl and boy were glad
‚Cause one kid had it worse than that
In the last scene, we see a boy in a church. He is standing there, with other children, hopping and shaking. Apparently, the church follows the Pentecostal tradition, meaning that the churchgoers commit themselves to vigorous shaking, dancing and thrashing on the floor. The reason is, as far as I can understand it, to show that they are under the influence of The Holy Spirit. Apparently, the boy did not quite share the religious fervour of his parents and was rather unsure what to think about it. However, the bizarre behaviour of the community to which he accidentally belonged was not the only issue the boy had to deal with. From the song, we learn that the boy was also socially isolated and not allowed to make friends with other children.
‚Cause then there was this boy whose
Parents made him come directly home right after school
And when they went to their church
They shook and lurched all over the church floor
He couldn’t quite explain it
They’d always just gone there.
The problem was not just the religious practices but mainly and foremost the boy’s parents. In the audience, we can see many parents and family members showing their love and support to their offspring. Among those deeply moved, crying and smiling people there is a couple whose behaviour is staggeringly different. Their faces never reveal any emotions at all, save for occasional twitching grin betraying deep disgust and anger. In the end they do join the other people in the applause, however, it was sheer hypocrisy from their side as their hard looks towards the stage foretell the boy was in for some serious trouble.
To sum it up, while the message of the previous song was: “It does not matter what you do to your girl/boyfriends as long as you say you love them, in this case, it boils down to ´Life is hard enough as it is. Help each other to deal with it and do not add to the misery by being insufferable assholes.´
Comprehension task
Decide whether these statements are true or false. Then check here.
- The “Mmm mmm mmm” is another romantic song about love.
- The parents in the audience applauded to the performance that lacked artistic quality because they were expected to.
- The first boy wore a white wig to impersonate an old man.
- The teenager felt anxious because she was ashamed of the way she looked.
- All three problems presented in the song were equally serious.
- The third boy had a problem because he didn’t believe in God.
- The third boy’s parents were fundamentally different from the other people in the audience.
For more exercises like this and for further improvement of your English/Spanish, feel free to contact me and arrange some online lessons.