jon_chaisson | It amuses me...

...how I'm seeing more and more commercials, most likely made by people my age, with the alt.rock songs playing in the background.

It also amuses me how, if one really knows the song well, how inappropriate the song could possibly be within the context of the commercial.

Cases in point:

--M&M commercial using The The's "This Is the Day" (a song about moving forward, even though your life has been pretty crappy for the most part)
--the ubiquitous cruise ship commercials using Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" (I mean, really--why use a song whose first line is here comes Johnny in again, with his liquor and drugs, he's a sex machine, he's gonna do another strip tease??)
--last year's Kodak (I think) commercial using The Cure's "Pictures of You" (kind of a sad song about letting go, if you think about it)
--AARP using the Buzzcocks' "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" (Not sure...I think it's about just being pissed off about everybody else being in a good mood?)
--and recently, a commercial (forgot--I think it's a kid-centric thing, though) using Supergrass' "Alright" (basically about being juvenile delinquent)

It's like watching The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and catching all the "I can't believe they let that pass the censors" moments...guess it's that Gen-X style knack for knowing obscure references that amuses me.

I'm not complaining, mind you...just finding it amusing...