Pair #16: "Our Love Is Like Dungeons and Dragons"

"OUR LOVE IS LIKE DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS"
Original Post Date: November 12, 2007
Runtime: 0:18
Genre: [Its own thang]
Compilation Album: Sweat Pants

Prompt Summary: "a love song with the most epic lyrics ever"

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(Yeah, I didn't even try to put a genre on this one. David Pumpkins said this one best.) 

We have here a very short, very sweet, very odd, and very nerdy song. The prompt as summarized above is effectively the whole thing, and nowhere does it mention D&D or any other pop culture phenomena. The lyrics that Andrew came up with reference, in order: D&D, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings. The references aren't deep cuts, either; D&D is only mentioned by name, Harry's wand gets a fleeting mention, and LotR's reference is just about how "Gandalf gave Frodo the Ring."

Where, then, did these references come from? We'd probably have to ask Andrew for that. I'd do it, but I don't have the time or a method of contacting him. Instead, I'll offer my best guess, which is that Andrew made a cheeky interpretation of the word "epic" from the prompt and decided to reference epic fantasy literature. If that's the case, then well done, sir.

The song's humor comes at you from multiple angles. First, we have the lyrics, which are, again, incredibly shallow, directly contradicting the prompt of "epic." It's like they were written by someone who's emphatically not a nerd, trying very hard to sound like they are. It's like Hillary Clinton's infamous, "Pokémon GO to the polls." Nice.

Another source of humor is the actual singing. Andrew went up to his upper register, possibly to sound like a tweenage girl—if that was his intention, bravo, although if not, then that's still what I got out of this song. The singer also pronounces words in a manner similar to Homestar Runner: Rs and Ls like Ws.* That adds to the juvenile effect; whoever is singing the song "in-universe" probably has no idea what love or kissing is actually like, hence the meaningless pop culture references.

And then remember that this is supposed to be an epic love song. But it's kind of the opposite. The lyrics are blah, the singing is half-hearted at best, and the only instrumental accompaniment is some basic (albeit on-tempo) drumming. The end result is a song that's somehow both extremely endearing and deeply unsettling. Does that count as "epic"? I'll leave that determination up to you. (Aren't I generous?)

*David S. Pumpkins AND Homestar in the same post: check out my nerd cred.