Friday, July 24, 2009

The Ink Spots - I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire

Sorry to go old-timey two days in a row, but I didn't have a backup plan. Anyone who's played Fallout 3 will recognize this one as its unofficial theme song (what is it about old-timey music that works so well with apocalyptic scenarios

Some writer did a Michael Jackson piece, not a hagiography but an honest assessment, and he mentioned the Ink Spots as something of a prototype African-American boy band. But of course, they sound completely white. I would guess that most people know the Ink Spots from "If I Didn't Care" and I would also guess that a lot of those people don't know that they're black. I mean, Fats Domino sounds like a black guy when he sings, but it's hard to appreciate what that means and why it was so unnerving to some people unless you listen to the Ink Spots first. But anyway, racial politics aside, I just really like this song.

7 comments:

Whisk E. Bear said...

Hugs, this is my favorite by the Ink Spots. And I probably need to find a way to play Fallout 3.

Craig said...

You have the option, during the game, of listening to the built-in radio that your character comes equipped with, and the songs on the main station are these. There's only 20 of them, so it gets repetitive after a while, but the soundtrack is an integral part of the experience, and better than a video game really has any right to be.

Whisk E. Bear said...

This is the part where I wish I didn't have a Mac.

Oh God... It's Lou. said...

Drew made a good point. (This leaves me wanting to listen to Slim Whitman for some reason.)

Craig said...

Yes.....Drew did make a good point.

Eric said...

Ah, my roommate had this game, so I heard the soundtrack quite often. I remember walking in once, hearing "Easy Living" and asking, "Is that Billie fucking Holiday" (my roommate was not someone who'd listen to Billie Holiday)? He replied, "Yea, this game has a bunch of weird old music." And I sighed.

(Dan) said...

Double hugs for you Craigles.