Feeling Groovy

by Brendan Cavanagh

Lately I've been in a funk of depressed creativity. I've had about ninety million ideas for a good blog post, all of which seem to revolve around making a list of movies, music, books (not really, Eliot)... These ideas will likely one day be revisited, once I get in a couple posts without resorting to numbering my thoughts, 'cause you know what? I'm starting to feel a lot like Cash Bundren these days.

I’ve had an outstanding week off school, spending every second of free time with family, friends and food. It’s wonderful to be home and around people I love, but for some reason I just feel glum. Perhaps I’m dreading my return to school, which means homework, unfamiliarity and intolerable roommates. I think it’s just the perfect storm of powerful emotions: euphoria, depression, anger, ennui and the deadly assassin nostalgia. My mind is in a constant state of tumult and consequently I’ve been moping around the house today, listless and unable to extract myself from the Monty Python’s Flying Circus marathon on IFC. I had begun writing a post on Thursday, but Thanksgiving forced me to put it off, and it’s such a major concept that it will take longer to complete than I anticipated. It shall be done though. I began to think I would simply have no blog post this week. But then I flipped through my iTunes collection of videos I once illegally looted from Youtube, mostly just music videos and filmed performances, and rediscovered an old favorite: the video for Mocedades' 1973 hit "Eres Tú."

The only reason I ever looked into this song is because I was curious as to what exactly about the song made Chris Farley and David Spade sob as they blasted the song on the highway in the movie Tommy Boy. One night I finally decided I'd just look the song up on Youtube, and found out that it won second place in the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest, being Spain's entry. Despite losing out to some other song, it became a single and achieved international renown, subsequently leading to this video being created. And it's surprisingly inspirational.

There are so many things about it that simply make me feel good. For one, who doesn't like to hear a song in another language and pretend they know what exactly to say, and what exactly it means? Falco's "Amadeus" made every amusement park-frequenting, acid-washed phony in the 80s believe they could speak German. Julius La Rosa's "Eh Cumpari" taught formerly uptight Americans in the 50s that they don't necessarily have to speak Italian in order to sound like they are, if they can grunt and make exclamations remotely similar to the emotional language. And similarly, Mocedades' "Eres " had everyone in the 70s saying, "Oh yeah, You Are right...yeah I speak Español. Como una duh duh ERES TÚ." That sounds scathing, but it's true for you and me. Even though I can speak Spanish relatively well these days, it only makes me more pretentious if I try to showcase my knowledge of what the song says. It's not pretentious if you figure it out quietly for yourself though, don't worry.

The song is good enough with the woman taking lead vocals- she has a pretty voice- but "Eres Tú" gets infinitely better once the verses end and the song rises in crescendo to create this anthemic climax sung by all six members of Mocedades. It makes you want to join hands with them and sing along, too. And when I get in that mood, I really belt it out.

But all aspects of the song aside, the video is where it's at. The six members of the band, two with guitars, are in a room full of mirrors, which allows for some trippy cinematography. The lead vocals, a cute chick in a pinstriped suit, spits a couple verses until the camera pans out frenetically and begins a sweeping shot of everyone in the outfit-

1. The most Hispanic-looking guy with an acoustic guitar.
2. The suavest man I've ever seen. He's got a hell of a beard and looks so smooth in his blue
sweater and seems confident in his corny dance moves. He's the man I aspire to be.
3. The aforementioned female lead vocalist. She's the type of girl who is admittedly pretty cute,
but you tend to kind of pass her over because she's wearing a suit. But underneath that
"masculine" apparel lies an attractive girl.
4. The "hot" girl in the band. I think her peasant's blouse and dark hair are really sexy for some
reason. She has a really pretty smile.
5. The guy I imagine to be really quiet and apparently nerdy, but secretly hilarious and witty.
He's like a cross between Spencer from Criminal Minds and me, with those goofy, thick
glasses. He's equipped with the electric guitar.
6. The sex appeal. Clean shaven, handsome, nice hair. Kind of a Spanish John Cleese.

This is a later picture of the group. My suave idol grew his hair out more, and the "nerdy" one who reminds me of me grew an ENTIRE beard. I bet he’s the Spanish Richard Manuel.

I don't know. I guess I just like the fraternal quality of the video- how everyone's friendly and happy and singing along together. It's one of those simple pleasures. I don't need cryptic and ambiguous lyrics or meticulously constructed, synthesizer-laden songs all the time. It's nice to be able to relax and enjoy the inherent simplicity in music. It kind of takes you back to the roots of music- a nomadic clan gathering around a fire at night in order to relax, eat, share stories and engage in musical appreciation. And maybe I can't do exactly that, but I sure can appreciate what music means to me and share it with others. At the very least, this song makes me feel a little less depressed.