CATCHING UP ON FORTY YEARS. 2001: Can’t Get You Out Of My Head – Kylie Minogue
The Beatles brought us
Yeah Yeah Yeah.
Sinatra brought us
Dooby-dooby-doo.
Suzanne Vega brought us
Do do do do, do do do do, do do do do, do do do do.
In 2001 Kylie brings us
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la?
As a year 2001 will always be dominated by one world-changing event in September. And no music or song can ever change that, it can only reflect it.
Through the summer Kylie la laed to us, doing exactly what her song claimed – not getting out of our heads. It was one of those songs that we loved to hate, the summer hit that never comes off the radio with a meaningless sci-fi video to accompany.
And then 9/11 happened and the world held it’s breath in shock and anticipation of what would follow. Two days later we flew. We flew to Turkey, still wondering how the world would react. And while there, we used the excellent Turkish bus system quite a lot to get around and visit friends. Two comforting things happened. We were offered hot face flannels after meals, just like in Indian restaurants at home. They played Kylie Minogue over the internal speakers regularly, and everyone bobbed their heads along and it was reassuring. Despite all the mess out there in the world, one thing united us – a simple chorus of La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
It’s no classic bluegrass gospel number. It doesn’t have particularly meaningful lyrics. On the 1000th play it does become a tad annoying. But it is my song that represents 2001.
over the years I have wondered what makes a tune of extreme simplicity a mega hit.
is it the beat?
is it the meaningful words?
is it the artist?
I guess it is any combination of the above or in some cases only one of them.
2001 was the year when America suddenly woke up to the fact that maybe we had problems with terrorists and they were called the IRA.