Some weeks back, when I criticized Glee for the boy band fiasco and the country horror show, Bob set me straight and told me they couldn’t all be Neil Diamond. Yes, that is an exact quote (well, almost … I left out the Carly Simon part).
Well, this week, my sick little Glee fantasy came true. I know, Julia, it probably wasn’t your favorite episode because you didn’t actually know any of the songs (I jest, because I know you have great respect for Neil … Mr. Diamond to you), but trust me, for those of us of legal drinking age, this was one musical coup.
Clearly, there is someone on the Glee writing team, or a musical consultant, or what have you, who is in their late 30s and remembers bustin’-a-move in their first year of college, when it was the cool thing to do. Somewhere along the way, said person also decided that there’s no better music than that of the singers/songwriters from the ’60s and ’70s. Either that, or they know there are people out there, like me, who revere Neil Diamond for the icon that he is, and will make an ass out of themselves when “Sweet Caroline” is dedicated to them at a sibling’s wedding … did I digress there for a moment?
No matter; the point is that I adored the music on this week’s Glee, and a few other things:
What did you think? Did you love this episode of Glee as much as I did?
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Oct 23, 2009 @ 11:30 EST5EDT
Excuse me, am I or am I not from Boston? I think I recognize the greatness that is Sweet Caroline.
I thought it was the best one since the pilot. Too many of the others were over-the-top cartoonish. I wasn’t crazy about the rap songs, though. And even though I’m not a Neil Diamond fan, Puck’s “Sweet Caroline” was fantastic. Kurt self-slusheeing was a great moment. And why can’t they tone down Sue to something resembling a human being, like she was this week, instead of having her revert back to being a Simpsons character? And no wife or stupid fake-pregnancy plot–perfect! Can she be killed off when she goes into fake labor?
Sweet Caroline is the song of Red Sox nation.
I so hope Will and Sue get together sometime, they were great dancing together.
The show is still cartoonish even without the lame no baby thing, and it’s because the way the music is done is cartoonish garbage. The actors can really sing and yet they use so much add-on background music I feel like I’m watching Godzilla the musical!
“Sweet Caroline” isn’t the exclusive domain of you yankees (and yes, the lower case is meant to refer to those who live in the north). Its a favorite at all karaoke, weddings, and (my personal favorite) dueling piano bars.
Was blown away by Jayma Mays’ voice. Just didn’t expect it to be that good for some reason (And that was a very pretty dress).
I do appreciate how the folks at Glee have delivered a wide range of different musical genres (Though, I’d argue Deb, I think they’ve only done one country song, let alone a whole episode).
*POST AUTHOR*
Yeah, I know they only did the one country song. Gotta love the English language! I meant “horror show” as in the phrase, not “horror episode.” And to get even more confusing, horror = country, not horror! ;-)
I didn’t mean just in that episode, I meant they’ve only done one country song total thus far. It might be the most under represented genre yet, so I’d expect more :)
*POST AUTHOR*
Aack! No… please no! :-) If they have to go there, at least go retro with some Kenny Rogers or Lucinda Williams (yeah, I know — who? ;-)). Or, even better, how about southern rock? I’d definitely be into some Eagles, Skynrd (sp?), or the like.
Lucinda Williams can hardly be considered retro… and is only barely considered country.
*POST AUTHOR*
Her old stuff is really rather twangy, very country. And ’80s is considered retro these days, my friend, and “Passionate Kisses” (one of the best songs ever!) was a 1988 release. Dude, I was 18 years old… that’s retro! ;-)
But her most well known album was released in ’98 and the album that she released last year was on the billboard top 10 (thanks, wikipedia). She’s more popular now than in the 80s. I’m not that familiar with her earlier stuff, though I suppose if they picked one of those songs it would be retro, but she’s certainly still relevant, if not more relevant than ever.