Most Under-rated song in "The Wizard of Oz"

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

I was thinking "If I were king of the forest/Courage" but now I gotta go with the Wicked Witch of The West's guardsmen's "O-wee-oh-oh-ohhhhhhh" chant but then there's always the "we represent the lollypop kids" for you twee bastards.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 12:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Isn't it the Lollipop GUILD?

― Twee Bastard (Jerrynipper), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 13:01 (twenty-two years ago)

(My answer = "Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!")

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 13:01 (twenty-two years ago)

i think you're right about the lollypop guild!

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 13:05 (twenty-two years ago)

It IS Lollipop Guild.

My favorite? Probably a toss-up between "Us and Them" and "Brain Damage."

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 13:05 (twenty-two years ago)

ha! i forgot about that!

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 13:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Dance Of The Jitterbugs!! actually, i don't know what that sounds like, i just remember seeing that creepy, grainy footage of the Jitterbugs dancing that they cut from the movie and thinking it was the coolest thing on earth.

― scott seward, Tuesday, 6 May 2003 13:52 (twenty-two years ago)

My dream cover has always been Willie Nelson, backed only by Spanish guitar, doing "If I Only Had a Brain," multi-tracking his own backing vocals over the "Oh, I could tell you why/the ocean's near the shore." I've actually thought this out way too much.

TMFTML

― TMFTML (TMFTML), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 15:36 (twenty-two years ago)

as coroner i must aver!!

― jones (actual), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 15:55 (twenty-two years ago)

I really, really, really have an irrational hatred for The Wizard of Oz, to be perfectly honest. They show it on tv so much!

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 17:37 (twenty-two years ago)

they show everything on tv so much!

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 17:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Have you ever heard the late Susannah McCorkle's version of "If I Only Had a Heart"? Quite devastating, really. But I've always been partial to "If I Only Had a Brain" myself.

By the way, I believe that "oo-WEE-oo" refrain is called "The March of the Winkies." Which would make those scary alien/cossack guys Winkies, of all things.

― Lee G (Lee G), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 19:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I must be an Oz rockist because I think "Over the Rainbow" is the most beautifulest song ever sung.

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 19:23 (twenty-two years ago)

true indeed but you could hardly call it "underrated"...

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 19:39 (twenty-two years ago)

the insanely giddy one that goes "you're out of the woods/you're out of the dark/you're out of the night/step into the sun/step into the light" it's apparently called "Optimistic Voices"

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 20:11 (twenty-two years ago)

But Ally, they show GoodFellas on TV all the time too!

― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 23:58 (twenty-two years ago)

aren't they saying, "all we own, we owe"?

― mig, Wednesday, 7 May 2003 00:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't know, but how could a song referenced in both "Da Butt" and "I'm That Type of Guy" be underrated?

― Pete Scholtes, Wednesday, 7 May 2003 04:49 (twenty-two years ago)

i always sing that lollipop guild song, cos i am a munchkin. judy garland is the rulingest.

― di smith (lucylurex), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 05:24 (twenty-two years ago)

but now I gotta go with the Wicked Witch of The West's guardsmen's "O-wee-oh-oh-ohhhhhhh" chant

but everyone loves that since "O Brother, Where Art Thou?".

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 08:59 (twenty-two years ago)

or since "Da Butt"/"It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night"/"I'm that Type of Guy" as noted above

― James Blount (James Blount), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 09:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Mig: Interesting you say that. Are you familiar with the theory that the story of The Wizard of Oz as told in the original novel is an American political allegory? The Scarecrow equals the farmers, the Tin Man the urban factory workers, the Yellow Brick Road the gold standard, and so on.

― Lee G (Lee G), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 13:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Then explain Return to Oz.

― jm (jtm), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 15:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Lucrative sequel?

― Lee G (Lee G), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 15:15 (twenty-two years ago)

sure, lee, but i wasn't really interested enough to actually delve into baum's exact intentions because it seems like the same sort of problem as you have with chronicles of narnia: cracking the code sometimes curiously limits the appeal of the allegory.

the tales of oz and narnia, in contrast with say animal farm, are effective not because the story they allegorize is important in itself [though they may be], but because the story that the allegory illustrates [the populist debates, various bits of the bible] is itself a sort of allegory for mankind. a sort of met-allegory.

the populist follies are recounted by baum in order to illustrate to children and adults certain complex morals, mostly having to do with deception and intention. yet such a story is boring, so he allegorizes it. now, the funny thing is, the symbols which are blown up in large sizes from the populist debates have deeper significance. what i mean is, though one can say the yellow brick road represents the gold standard which misdirected the people, really, the story works artistically because there is poignant symbolism in a bunch of farmers and workers becoming misled by this concept of the gold standard. the true story is itself an allegory already. most bits of history can be viewed this way to some degree but it's apparent that baum felt that the populist saga really lent itself to moralizing and was chock-ful of symbolic import.

i think the narnia tales work the same way. i was quite disappointed to learn at age 12 that they were cobbled together out of xian myth. but then i realized that aslan is not heroic simply because he is an iconic jesus, but because aslan / jesus appeals to our brain-mappings of ethics and social identity. it's like, a good painting of jesus on the cross is good not because jesus died for our sins, but because we are made to respond to the sight of noble or mysterious suffering.

you are wondering at this point why i have brought narnia so deeply into it. i'm setting up, obliquely, the question of who's better: diana ross in the wiz, vs. vereen in jesus christ superstar.

― mig, Wednesday, 7 May 2003 18:19 (twenty-two years ago)

zoinks! nice segue! vereen all the way.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 18:24 (twenty-two years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.