Lately, maybe due to the untimely death of the great Bob Saget (RIP), I’ve been thinking a lot about TV dads. I love my real dad, but there is nothing like a good parasocial relationship with a TV dad. For me, besides Bob Saget, I had Steve Martin. Steve Martin is the ultimate TV dad, appearing in multiple of my favorite movies as a kid. One of these movies influenced my taste in music for many years.
Enjoy these short reviews of the Cheaper by the Dozen soundtrack.
These Are Days by 10,000 Maniacs – This song has one of the worst cases of 2000s indie girl voice. Everyone back in the day seemed to want to sound like Sinead O’Connor, Michelle Branch, or The Cranberries. This is a good montage song, I guess? Oh my goodness, I just realized why I recognized this singer. It’s Natalie Merchant! She’s a solo indie artist from the 2000s with some really good tracks both as a singer and as a songwriter. Even if you do not recognize her name, play some of her top songs and you will recognize them immediately. If you’re into the James Taylor/ Carole King/ Lana Del Ray/ Early Taylor Swift sound, you will love Natalie Merchant, who is much better as a solo artist than with this band.
Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts- Any line from this song could be stitched onto a throw pillow. We already all know how awesome it is, so I am going to tell a story. Akansha and I, and two of our college friends went on a 6-hour car ride. Akansha and I conspired to cue this song 4 times in a row. By 2 times in, we were no longer allowed aux privileges. To this day, a travesty. Oppression, some might say.
In Too Deep by Sum 41- BECAUSE I’M IN TOO DEEP AND I’M TRYING TO KEEP ALL THESE THOUGHTS IN MY HEAD INSTEAD OF GOING UNDER is a line that goes real hard when you’re in middle school. Being an edgy 9-year-old means having lots of thoughts and emotions without an outlet or even the words to express them. This song was exactly what I needed. Honestly, this is probably my favorite song on the soundtrack.
I’m Just A Kid by Simple Plan- I think I was born knowing every lyric to this song and even introduced it to the lexicon of jokes my college friends make so that they can know it too. Kids can sometimes feel like they are small, isolated people in a big, confusing world. This song perfectly captures how a kid might sound speaking about their loneliness. Sometimes, life just sucks when you’re young.
Help by Fountains of Wayne- Yes, this is a cover of the Beatles song. I feel for Fountains of Wayne, or as you may know them, the ones who crushed on Stacey’s mom. They did not get the chance that they were due and this cover is honestly not that bad. It is clearly not as good as the Beatles, but there is a certain emo pop-punk flavor to it. I am a Fountains of Wayne defender, probably the only one.
Classical Gas by Mason Williams- This song is like listening to Hotel California by the Eagles, but only the good parts. In other words, it is a killer guitar riff without having to listen to dopey half thought out lyrics. The introduction of the trumpets and then their integration into the string line is genius. Mason Williams won three Grammys for this song, for good reason. The guitar work is stellar and the construction and the construction of the piece are so specific and so clear in their motivation.
Rockin Robin by M*chael J*ckson- I sang this in the third-grade choir. It’s a great song for a kid to sing because it has brilliant childish charm to it. Saying “tweet” over and over again is extremely entertaining and masterful lyricism. This track makes me want to get up, change into my poodle skirt and do the twist.
Rockin Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee – On the scale of Christmas tree songs, this one ranks pretty high. Similar to Rockin Robin, this song just makes me want to get up and dance. This is a wholesome family-friendly Christmas dance time. What more could I want from my TV dad, Steve Martin?
