Make Me Smile

If you ask college students today to name their favorite band, they'll say the Beatles. If you asked that same question 10 years ago, you'd get the same answer. It's actually a boring question to ask because it's had the same answer for 40 years.

The Beatles are the best. There is no doubt. There are many reasons for this. But one of them is that they weren't afraid to be funny. Most musicians have this naïve idea that to be an artist they have to be suffering or angry or just plain nuts. Not the Beatles. Some of their best songs were laugh out loud funny things. Guess what folks. You can be funny and still be an "artist." You can even be happy and still be an "artist."

Critics tend not to equate humor with artistry. Give them some doped up depressed cat with a guitar and they will go on and on about how genuine and compelling he is. Sorry. That cat might be an artist. But most likely he's just a depressed doper who happens to play guitar. Critics tend to be a depressed lot. So they are predisposed to like the sad sacks in life, be suspicious of those who make us laugh and be especially suspicious of those who smile.

The Beatles didn't care about any of that. They could depress you with Eleanor Rigby. They could make you feel good with Maxwell's Silver Hammer or When I'm 64. Funny or depressing, it was all art all the time.

Most "artists" avoid funny like the plague. They're too scared that they won't be taken seriously. But if you're good at what you do, who the hell cares what some depressed critic thinks? Just do it. My Morning Jacket comes close to being funny, but tends to stop short and stay in the land of irony. They would be better if they just let loose more often. Camper Van Beethoven wasn't in the class of the Beatles, but their best moments were when they aimed straight for the funny bone.

And what about me? I write a lot of funny songs. I could care less what some depressed critic thinks about my authenticity as a result. Those guys need to get a hold of some Prozac and get out of the music business because they're just wasting space anyway (not that I'm picking on any depressed critic in particular mind you).

I look at my iTunes collection. There's some great funny stuff on there. Tom Lehrer. Randy Newman. Dr. John. Mickey Katz (you have to know Yiddish to understand his stuff, but if you did you'd find it funny as hell). Spike Jones. Shel Silverstein. The Beatles. Johnny Mercer. Cole Porter. It's all art my friends.

So ask me the question: "What do you want to listen to, some "artist" going on and on about how miserable their life is or someone who can make you smile and laugh?" That answer is as easy to predict as asking an average college student to name his or her favorite band. Funny is always good.