There are two types of music fans: those who like “cheerful” music and those who like “miserable” music.
Is that a huge sweeping generalization? Of course.
For my own part, I know I veer to the ‘sad/melancholy/miserable’ side more often. But there’s a lot of examples of songs that drag me back to the sunny side.
One of these songs is “Wimbledon White” by slimdan.
An insistent strummed motif starts the song, and a breezy wave of cheeky melody comes in as he sings.
I feel like I can hear a number of influences here: Crowded House, Weezer, The Feeling, McFly, (Blink 182?) and yet these influences are subtle and don’t detract from an individual song that has its own charming personality.
From the way the song is produced, there’s a confidence and a sheen to the vocal performance. The way the harmonies punch out from the choruses recalls the kind of semi-novelty pop of a band like Barenaked Ladies.
I could see this becoming a theme tune for a hit sitcom despite the lyrics, or maybe because of them.
The initial verses don’t immediately make clear what the song is about, and “Wimbledon White” is a fantastically ambiguous song title. As it progresses though, slimdan’s economic poetry paints a picture of a reluctant groom who is prepared to go along with the wedding day, even if he’d rather sneak away quietly with his bride-to-be and get married privately.
It ain’t that bad of a bullet to bite
When your dress is Wimbledon White
He admits to her that she looks radiant enough for him to do things the way she wants. But before that, it seems like a kind of rocky road to get there:
Why the change? Why should things be different?
All of this just to take the name
You wonder why you’re met with such resistance
Honestly, I’m wondering the same
Words like this could easily suit some semi-angsty indie band, but in the hands of slimdan, the chirpy accompaniment feels like we’re swimming in sunshine and love.
Handclaps, harmonies, counter melodies, and aaahs in the background arrive, but don’t take over. It’s a strong sound, but is comfortable with feeling loose and easy, nicely in keeping with the song’s optimism – always in danger of breaking out, but confident enough to never give in to that temptation.
The mix of confident and loose is a strange thing.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget there were people in a room performing what you hear. That performance, and the way it is played and sonically shaped, is what gives a certain song its personality. The shaping of this particular song makes a tension that is wonderfully subtle. A tension between the singing, the song, the arrangement, and the lyrics.
The little sounds that introduce a new part of the song, the spritely trumpet solo, the lovely vocal delivery throughout – all this serves the optimism of the song brilliantly, shaping it into the sunny and irresistible nugget of sunshine that it is.
Based on this buoyant ace of a song, maybe I should spend a little more time on the sunny side of music.
