The Song: Little Boxes Pt. 2

Little Boxes (Hereafter referred to as Pt.1) is a 1962  song written by San Francisco folkie Malvina Reynolds. It is of its time, an example of ‘60s neo-folk pop, a kind of criticism of the post-Eisenhower suburban cold war zeitgeist. Its sing-song lilt was appealing to the boomers and this kind of stylistic infantilization of serious themes was a common technique of the hippies to come. (Also, Jello Biafra, twenty years later!) Nevertheless the song has a biting power, albeit with a large dose of boomer condescension. What makes this condescension noteworthy is that it is pointed directly at the previous generation. (Put another way, it condescends upward. A technique which would make the so called Greatest Generation furious and bemused, but which was also flawed in its lack of introspection and sense of culpability.) Over time the song has lost much of its power, a cover version appearing in the soundtrack to a 2014 children’s animated movie. This leaves only crumbs of background amusement for grandparents on the upteenth home screening on babysitting duty.

I felt that a sequel was in order. An answer of sorts. Something different, but working with the bones of the idea put forth in Pt.1. This was not to be a cover song, but a reimagining. (As for cover song attempts, I had already given myself a headache during the Bush II presidency with taking a go at Know Your Rights by the Clash. From thinking about my appreciation of Know Your Rights, I was forced to examine polemics in song, and (outside of song[writing]) question the utility of polemics in life. Of course I could also not technically pull off playing the song. Then Eddie Vedder did a version... Game over!)

Here’s the main reason to reimagine the tune: So much has changed in the world since Pt.1. The little boxes were no longer just suburban homes. Now the little boxes were smartphones providing the American Dream/Nightmare on a much greater scale. People are driving themselves crazy in new ways. But the crazy itself is timeless. Insight!

Temporal considerations aside, there’s lots of satirical relevance in Pt.1 to work with. For example, the problems of housing segregation/equity still exists. Though the legality, process, and ethos of this has mutated. There is (what I believe to be) the gospel theme of the hillside. In Pt. 1 this a twist on the idea of heaven on-the-hill, now a suburban Babylon. Also, that most sing-songy part of the song, that ticky-tacky refrain-- seemed a lot more effective than saying, “It’s all bullshit.” So I took the parts I liked, did no research whatsoever on the music, and started a creative process of reimagining the song. The end result is Little Boxes Pt. 2. You could think of it as a satire-- of a satire.

Musically, I was trying to get some of that action so beautifully realized by a band that I love, Centro-Matic. (Here’s the thing: I will never approach anything close to what Will Johnson and Co. can do. I know that, okay?!) So I pushed around drum loops, trying for that drop kick beat and paper-dry snare that features so prominently in their songs. Guitar tone was dialed in low gain and twangy. A chirpy arpeggiated synth line was added to emphasize the digital aspect of the hubris and mania in the subject matter. This is kind of an obvious move, but I think it integrates into the mix pretty well. I had also (finally!) discovered reverse playback in Garageband. I started to go nuts with this as it allowed me to make digital tape music-- a technique I had really enjoyed back in my days of taking the Analog 1 class at USF back in the ‘90s. I made some more progress with doubling vocals as well. My affinity for dry vocals remains (It’s all about the makeup gain after compression!), but the progress I’m talking about is the judicial use of where to drop the layers in, phrasing, and force (volume control). It’s a nice song and one that fits into the restraint mode of Giant Lusca. I need to do more of these, as the touchpoints of late ‘80s hardcore and thrash can become too easy in terms of problem solving in songwriting. Variety, man! It keeps things going.