I got it goin’ on like Donkey Kong
The first time I heard the DJ introduce “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” I cranked the radio all the way up. A song with a title that good had to be worth hearing, and oh good lord was it ever. It’s currently on my list of songs I’ll *always* stop station-surfing for, and I can count those on one hand.
Really, it’s all right there in the title. It takes a mind of uncommon genius to come up with such a hilarious juxtaposition, and that mind belongs to one Trace Adkins*.
Evocative, concise: I can *totally* picture a honky tonk badonkadonk, can’t you? The lyrics go as you might imagine they would, only funnier:
Now honey, you can’t blame her
For what her mama gave her
Ol’ T.W.’s girlfriend done slapped him outta his chair
Poor ol’ boy, it ain’t his fault
It’s so hard not to stare
We hate to see her go
But love to watch her leave
Even if you don’t like country music, you’ve got to admit that this is pretty fabulous. I wish I had some sort of songwriting talent, but as long as I don’t, I’m content to admire others’.
To listen to the chorus, go here. It’s the last song on the album, track 11.
Clever title, etc., aside, how can you *not* be charmed by that accent? Yummy. I’m a sucker for a hearty Southern accent. Or an Australian accent. Or a Russian accent. Or a South African accent. Really any accent at all—I’m all about that. I wish I had one. I guess I’ll just have to move somewhere where I *will* have an accent, though I can’t imagine anyone finding an American accent pleasant to listen to. It sounds so *lazy* to me, but who knows, maybe that’s enviable in some other country out there.
I was thinking for a moment that it sounded hypocritical, or at least careless, of me to postulate that few people would find a “lazy” accent charming after I’d already professed my love of Southern accents…but no, that’s different. I don’t love the twang because it sounds sloppy, I love it because it’s what I grew up with. I can’t imagine someone from, say, Boston finding a Southern accent easy on the ear (nor can I listen to that nasal non-rhoticity without cringing, ick). I imagine if I heard a non-native English speaker with an accent that sounded ’sloppy,’ I’d find it rather off-putting. But maybe most people find that sort of thing adorable, and I’m just a snob. Meh.
———
* That “Arlington” song? Makes me cry every damn time.
Tags: miscellany