Apu Aid
The saga of the Simpson family, and the history and environs of
Springfield, have long been recognized as the most fully imagined
landscape in American culture, surpassing such tough contenders as
George Lucas' Star Wars Galaxy and Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha
County, Sesame Street and Washington Irving's Knickerbocker
region. So at this point, the show's tie-in products -- be they
T-shirts, candy bars, custom chess sets or graduate courses -- have
reached a life beyond mere one-off merchandising. Simpsons products are
practically on a level with the Pledge of Allegiance, or at least the
Franklin Mint -- enduring symbols of American ascendancy. Legend has it
that during the Battle of the Bulge, American GIs weeded out Nazi
infiltrators by demanding answers to such U.S.-specific popular trivia
as "Who is Mickey Mouse's girlfriend?" This kind of strategy would never
work today for the simple reason that the Germans are as familiar with
Chief Wiggum and Ned Flanders as we are.
The Yellow Album is only the second Simpsons album from Geffen,
but it is one of a long line of CDs sung by the cast of the show. The
best known of all the Simpsons albums, Rhino's Songs in the Key of
Springfield, functioned as an original cast album, featuring the
songs written for the show by Alf Clausen (lyrics by the writers). The
two Geffen albums are all-original efforts, and of this concept,
perhaps, the less said the better.
For it's not just that the singing efforts of Simpsons characters lose
their charm when removed from the show, but that no song can do justice
to the show's sly, wry, full-blooded comedy. Consider two show-stoppers
written, respectively, for Lisa and Bart. On some level it makes sense
to have Lisa, the show's most durable feminist, cover Annie Lennox's
"Sisters are Doin' It for Themselves." By the same token, the hip-hop
effort "The Ten Commandments of Bart" (including "Thou shalt be sure to
shake your big rear end") is appropriate, but do we really need to hear
that Bart is a mischievous kid, especially when the rap never quite
lives up to its classic predecessor, "Mr. T's Commandments"? The really
objectionable thing about Simpsons spin-off products is that they
flatten the show, make it seem so literal, rob it of its subtle,
between-the-frames wittiness. Who needs new Simpsons stuff when the show
we already have is so perfect?
Which isn't to say that the album doesn't have its high points,
including an Isaac Hayes-like turn by Apu in "Twenty-Four Hours a Day"
and an appearance by George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars on "She's
Comin' Out Swingin'" (which is actually a pretty good song). But for
those of us with little patience for novelty records, the fact that this
one is sung by beloved Simpsons characters doesn't go very far in making
it enjoyable to listen to. For real Simpsons die-hards, the CD may be
worth buying only for its cover art -- a parody of the Sgt. Pepper's
cover, whose cast of characters reminds us of the richness of
Springfield in a way the CD's music never does.