The B-52's : 52 Girls

I'm not a huge fan of The B-52's, but some of their stuff is pretty good. You've almost certainly heard "Love Shack", which despite it's over-saturation is still a good song, and I'm assuming you've heard "Rock Lobster" at least once. "52 Girls" comes from the same eponymous debut album as "Rock Lobster" and has that same stripped down dance rock feel.

The song itself is relatively simple, with just your basic guitar/drum/bass combo jamming on a very danceable groove that barely changes across the entire song, even from verse to chorus. The two female vocalists, Kate and Cindy (Fred is nowhere to be found, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your point of view), sing the lyrics together in a nice close harmony throughout the song.

What really makes the song so arresting is the vocal phrasing. The lyrics are stretched and condensed over the constant beat, like verbal rubber bands. For instance, in the chorus, 'name' is sung three times in succession, and each time it gains an extra syllable. 'Tina and Louise' are crammed together almost into a single syllable, whereas 'Madge' gets four and 'Reba' stretches over nearly eight bars. It's an odd but very effective technique, resulting in a very prog, almost jazz-like feel.

Then, there's the lyrics themselves. Who are all these people? Why on Earth do I need to 'name them today'? The only clue I can find is they mention Kate and Cindy, so perhaps these are just names of women they know. Also, the names seem to trend from old-fashioned to modern as the song progresses, so maybe the song is a shout out to their relatives. Or maybe it's just a list of names. In any case, there aren't 52 of them, but don't let that stop you from enjoying it.

As previously mentioned, you can find "52 Girls" on the B-52's 1979 self-titled album, which also houses "Rock Lobster", both of which are great songs. The album itself is considered a true classic, though for the most part, I'm ambivalent.

[You can listen to the B-52's "52 Girls" by navigating to the post "Song049" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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