Song of the Day # 59 Pharrell Williams

 

'Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof. Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth.'

 

So this isn't the stuff this blog is generally made up of. I'm a 48 year old Velvet Underground fan. But this is clearly genius. I heard it on the jukebox at my local the other day and knew within seconds that it was something quite special.It's one of those songs that comes along once in a while such as Nelly's 'Hot in Herre', Outkast's 'Hey Ya' Missy Elliot's 'Get Your Freak on', or Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky' that transcends the, (well for me anyway), generic nature of so much of what's around it to become music for the ages. As good as anything that's come before. Williams has had a hand in several of the records I've just mentioned so he clearly knows what he's doing. This is Prince, Stevie, George, Marvin, Curtis, Sly, Smokey, Aretha, Miles. It's as good as that. It's also for people of every other colour, age and  persuasion too. It's completely inclusive. The video makes that utterly clear. It manages within seconds to draw you effortlessly into the state it's describing.  The state that we all want to be in as much as we possibly can. I won't be watching Williams' twenty four hour video for the song any point soon. But it's clear why he felt entitled to make it. He understands what he's got here.