Another song from Germany 'Oh Mein Papa' hails from a 1939 musical but it's a tune that's enjoyed an enduring popularity throughout the years (Eddie Fisher had a version at number one in the American charts at the same time as this). Enduring perhaps, but not that endearing - typical sentimental schlock, 'Oh Mein Papa' is a song of a son/daughter addressing their now aged parent with a wistful eye - "Oh my papa, to me he was so wonderful. Oh, my papa, to me he was so good". And so on.Well that's how it goes when the lyrics are sung anyway - Brit trumpeter Calvert's version is a more or less an instrumental take, his horn blaring out the main theme with a bricks on eggs lightness of touch while a female backing choir repeats the title on a loop that alternates with some ghostly wailing that's a dead ringer for the ghostly wailing on the Star Trek theme music. As abrasive as this all is (and it is. Very.), around halfway along an old time Wurlitzer organ chips in to the mix with a sound that evokes a dusty Brylcreem and Woodbines fifties feeling like no other song has done so far.
To be honest, 'Oh Mein Papa' leaves me scratching my head. Both then and now, I can't imagine what anybody would get out of hearing it, let alone wanting to buy and own it (nine weeks at the top for this one). As light entertainment it's about as attractive as a rusted dental brace with any sentimentality the original song may have possessed roughly sandpapered out by the car crash harshness of the mix. And while there's a beat there of sorts to shuffle dance to, I can't believe anybody in their right minds would ever want to. All quite horrible really.
No comments:
Post a Comment