Friday Happy
January 17, 2020 1:28 PM   Subscribe

 
See also Komar & Melamid's Most Unwanted Song, and its bland cousin, the Most Wanted Song (as based on American survey data).
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 2:31 PM on January 17, 2020


Well, recommended with caveats.
What we are talking about here is, in some unavoidably literal sense, mind control. And the song is such an effective dopamine-delivery mechanism that I sometimes wonder, as I cue it up for the ninth time in a row, whether I am unwittingly laying down the precise neural pathways in my daughter’s tender little brain that will ensure a lifetime of addictive behavior. There is something creepy, too, about the way the song attempts to achieve its ends, leveraging the emotions of babies to increase parents’ awareness of a baby-food brand. And you wouldn’t have to lean too hard into this interpretation to start seeing the song — which was conceived as a corporate-branding exercise, germinated in a mulch of data and audience testing, optimized for maximal engagement and delivered via algorithmic targeting — as a troubling intensification of existing trends in the production of culture under capitalism.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 3:55 PM on January 17, 2020


recalls reading about Imogen Heap having a baby
posted by thelonius at 5:04 PM on January 17, 2020


After reading that, I feel a pressing need to listen to the two Happy Songs most carefully calibrated to release dopamine in cynical 58 year old men.

Happy Happy Joy Joy
A Happy Song
I sometimes wonder, as I cue it up for the ninth time in a row, whether I am unwittingly laying down the precise neural pathways in my daughter’s tender little brain that will ensure a lifetime of addictive behavior.
Don't worry, be happy.
posted by flabdablet at 6:25 PM on January 17, 2020 [1 favorite]


i discovered this video when i searched for songs for babies, co-signed, the kids love it. I had no idea there was actual science behind it! and honestly, when it comes to calming babies, more of this please.
posted by likeatoaster at 6:40 PM on January 17, 2020


Max Headroom: And I love, love, l-l-love... love those blip-blip-blip-blipverts!
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 7:50 PM on January 17, 2020 [1 favorite]


Kinda works on adults, too, although the moment it’s over, my 30mm shell of cynicism and existential despair begins to self-repair.
posted by drivingmenuts at 9:14 PM on January 17, 2020


the "Juchu" song from Botanicula does a lot more for me :)
posted by Zumbador at 3:09 AM on January 18, 2020


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