As most of you know, I am puzzled by some of your human "emotions," such as... how you say... "happiness" or "joy." And yet, although the majority of my life is a bleak trudge through my own dystopic hellscape, there are some things that can afford me a glimpse of pleasure. Of course, those things are on the Internet.
I've said this before, about other stuff, but this is the best thing ever done, anywhere, by anybody, at any time in the history of human endeavor:
And this, I guess, would be the second-best:
I cannot hope to explain what it is that delights me so about both of these videos, produced some 40 years apart. But delight me they do. They make me feel, to quote "Sealab 2021," like a koala crapped a rainbow in my brain. Vade retro! Vade ultra!
Maybe it's the group dancing.
NB: The top clip is "Tumse Hain Dil Ko Pyar" from the 1965 movie "Janwar," starring Shammi Kapoor, the Bollywood Elvis; the bottom clip is the video for "The Laws Have Changed," by the New Pornographers.
have you ever seen 'ghost world'? i have some friends who tracked down the bollywood film she's watching at the beginning. that one dance number is pretty phenomenal and quite similar to the first clip.
Posted by: lisa | May 23, 2006 at 06:14 PM
I have seen "Ghost World," and I also dug the opening Bollywood film. (The entire movie seems to be available on YouTube, if you feel like violating intellectual property law while ruining your eyes with the crappy quality.) Here's the scene from the original movie ("Gumnaam," 1965). I think lavish, goofy production numbers are pretty typical of the genre.
And... holy crap! It's the same guy (Mohammad Rafi) singing on both tracks!
Posted by: Jerry | May 23, 2006 at 06:51 PM
My take: the first clip made me wish there was a higher quality version I could lap up like a lizard. (That's good). The second one was kind of more, eh, UNTIL the group dance started.
I love the idea of that giddy feeling being described as a koala crapping a rainbow into someone's brain.
Posted by: lastewie | May 23, 2006 at 07:39 PM
This one seems a little higher quality: http://www.transbuddha.com/mediaHolder.php?id=892
Posted by: Jerry | May 23, 2006 at 11:37 PM
oh MAN. That first clip really made me giggle. I do have a weakness for "beatlesque" things that aren't quite...The Beatles.
Which makes me realize that there is something else I need to add to a potential mix CD for you :-)
Posted by: pinky | May 24, 2006 at 11:59 AM
A tiny part of me wants to learn the 'Beatles' dance routine in the first clip. Just a tiny part.
Posted by: marianne | May 24, 2006 at 05:40 PM
For some reason I accidentally thought (at first) that the first clip was Japanese, and I was shocked at how Bollywood it seemed. Then I heard more and said, "oh."
Speaking of Asian moments in music, can I assume you saw Shaolin Soccer? And that you found the two brothers singing scene hilarious?
Posted by: Phil | May 24, 2006 at 09:48 PM
You should probably not assume that, no. But it sure does sound hilarious!
Posted by: Jerry | May 24, 2006 at 10:03 PM
Jerry,
This should also make you happy:
http://www.milinkito.com/los80.php
-Tom
Posted by: Tom Buhrman | May 26, 2006 at 12:26 PM
The first clip is actually one of the tamer versions of Shammi Kapoor's dance numbers
Posted by: | May 29, 2006 at 09:33 PM
I have the DVD. We should watch it together. On my parents' big screen TV.
Posted by: Phil | May 31, 2006 at 01:41 AM