Dua Lipa is one of the rare singers who continually tries new things in music videos, and songs. Those risks tend to pay off. I can’t remember the last song or video where I skipped it.
I only heard PHYSICAL on the radio and found the video because a dancer did a tribute that I swore was the actual official video.
And this song itself is a tribune to the original 1980s LET’S GET PHYSICAL by Olivia Newton John.
First, let’s check out Dua Lipa’s video before we talk smack.
Good, right? It’s paying homage without being a direct ripoff of Oliva Newton John.
What I like is Dua Lipa clearly cares about dance. They aren’t part of the background, making her look good — she’s dancing right with them, in this one and every video I’ve seen her do. Impressive.
The pioneer of legwarmer videos
Now here’s the original, which is still funny, but hasn’t aged that well.
This was a big deal when it came out. Huge.
Now it looks pretty cheesy, like those Crystal Light National Aerobics Championships, which is amazing and worth being studied in Contemporary History 376: What Were They Smoking in the 1980s?
VERDICT
The more I see and hear of Dua Lipa, the more I like her stuff.
Great job–please keep taking risks and trying new things with these videos. Give us moar moar MOAR.
Here’s how much: I could not adore it more, or find a single serious way to improve the lyrics or the music.
Seriously. Four out of four stars. Perfection.
For a parody of pop culture, it’s edited with style. And for a song, it’s better than 90 percent of what’s out there on the radios. But it’s main job is to be funny, and though I’ve seen it five times, it still makes me laugh.
Verdict: Give us moar moar MOAR.
Here are the lyrics:
Beat
I hurt the Gingerbread Boy,
Cuz he’s pretend-bread boy.
Little cookie man never waved to me,
So he got knocked out.
Man, cuz I flow.
La Jiggy Jar Jar Doo,
Dur Dur Dur Dee Dur.
Man, I just flow.
Shoe Shine,
No one wanted your stinking tiara,
Cuz no one wanted your sticky chair.
And why you always talk about the cool kids who take archery,
Yeah, you’re a shrinky dink.
You’ll get a funeral if you don’t wise up and call me Carl Poppa,
(oh,oh-oh,oh)
La Jiggy Jar Jar Do,
Dur Dur Dur Dee Dur.
I threw a brick in the air,
(what kind of brick?)
That shouldn’t matter cuz a brick is just a brick,
(Word.)
Dark days, darker nights,
Found my way down a hall without a light,
Because I flow,
La Jiggy Jar Jar Doo,
Dur Dur Dur Dee Dur.
This whole thing where random dead people try to kill me’s gotta go.
They keep walking, walking my way. If they’re talking, can’t tell what they say.
They keep falling, over stuff in their way. Dead dudes walking can ruin your day.
(oh,oh-oh,oh)
La Jiggy Jar Jar Doo,
Dur Dur Dur Dee Dur,
Now all the walkers sing!
(oh,oh-oh,oh [x3])
Yeah, I just like to dance.
Carl Poppa
Cellblock wisdom, french braid tabletop,
If you mess with Carl Poppa,
I’m coming at you like, one, two, walkers in the back of the club,
I’m guessing it’s a club where everyone dies,
If they try to dance to the music that doesn’t play,
Cuz we don’t got no electricity.
What we got is bones, bones, bones.
Piles of bones, bones, bones, bones, bones.
If you try to step to me, hit you in the femur,
With another femur that is laying on the ground.
Yeah,
Wordsmith,
Rhymes.
Hama Lama Sima Lama Hama Lama,
Someone had to cut my baby sister out my mama.
They keep walking, walking my way.
If they’re talking, can’t tell what they say.
They keep falling, over stuff in their way.
Dead dudes walking can ruin your day.
They keep walking, (no one wanted your stinking tiara) walking my way.
If they’re talking, (cuz no one wanted your sticky chair) can’t tell what they say.
They keep falling, (why you always talking about the cool kids, who take archery. You’re a shrinky dink) over stuff in their way. Dead dudes walking (If you don’t wise up and call me Carl Poppa) can ruin your day.
La Jiggy Jar Jar Doo,
Dur Dur Dur Dee Dur,
Man, I just flow.
(Carl Poppa [x2])
Man I just flow.
(Carl Poppa [x3])
I can barely remember pre-apocalypse. (Carl Poppa)
I guess nothing rhymes with that, except maybe “taco lips”.
Man, I just flow.
(Carl Poppa [x2])
Man I just flow.
Now, music majors and people with taste around the world will sniff that this song is far too simple and boring. Give us something complex and interesting, a song that’s less repetitive and more complex.
I agree with that criticism. It’s a very simple song and not really meant to crank up on your stereo as you’re driving around.
The great thing about the Series of Tubes is that so many people are sifting through so much stuff, you’re bound to find random bits of awesomesauce. Things you would never intentionally seek out.
John Lindo is wonderfully random bit of awesomesauce, and I am happy to do a little Friendly Friday shout-out to him.
Watch this, then let’s talk about why it works, and why it went viral.
This works because there’s a massive gap between expectation and result.
As an audience, we’ve been trained to think of professional dancers as size zero models that come in male and female. They’re young, tanned and costumed. They dance with the stars, and sometimes date the stars.
John is proudly the opposite of all that. He looks like an average middle-aged dad from the suburbs and shatters your every expectation. He’s full of joy, competence and confidence. I’m not a dance expert or fan, and I’d happily watch more videos of him, and try to learn a bit from him. My wife would go nuts. If we men were crazy smart, we’d do Fight Club on Tuesdays and Thursdays, then get John to teach us to dance like this on Mondays and Wednesday while our bruises fade, then we’d surprise our wives or girlfriends on Friday nights. Continue reading “Age and size matter not — attitude is everything”→
Music videos typically feature a rock band (a) in concert, (b) playing their instruments in some kind of industrial warehouse or (c) smoking cigarettes and wearing tight jeans as they stroll through the streets of London or whatever.
Such music videos are not creative. THEY BORE ME.
Pop music videos aren’t much better. Oh, look, it’s the bubblegum blonde singer dancing while lip-syncing, and she’s got a bunch of backup dancers trying not to dance way, way better than the singer!
Bruce the Springsteen showed us how it’s done, way back when, with this little music video.
Simple song. Simple lyrics. The camera isn’t flying all over the place. And it tells a story that’s deeper and more interesting than “Baby, baby, I want to be your baby.”
Bruce, I salute you.
Hey little girl is your daddy home Did he go and leave you all alone I got a bad desire
Oh-oh-oh, I’m on fire
Tell me now baby is he good to you
Can he do to you the things I don’t do
I can take you higher
Oh-oh-oh, I’m On Fire I’m on fire
Sometimes it’s like someone took a knife baby
Edgy and dull and cut a six-inch valley
Through the middle of my soul
At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet
And a freight train running through the
Middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire
Oh-oh-oh, I’m on fire
The Red Pen of Doom 