Elliott's Eccentricities - Red Solo Cup by Toby Keith

Quiz: what genre of music gets the least amount of love from the blog? What is that you say… Pop Punk? Sorry avid reader but you are mistaken, Eric loves himself some pop-punk. So as much as the rest of the blog will hate on that particular craphole of a genre, it has a home somewhere on the log. What about “old school genres” like classical or jazz? Nope, John has those covered. Even current mainstream pop gets a bit of respect; some bloggers don’t deny that Lady Gaga and Adele make some good music. No, the genre that receives no love on the blog, no love at all, is Country.

No one on the blog genuinely enjoys country. We don’t listen to it, we don’t talk about it, and we certainly don’t blog about it. We probably couldn’t name more than a handful of country artists if we tried. Maybe we are biased against it because we’re from Philly, a northern city. Perhaps we have never been introduced to the great classic country singers (I don’t count Johnny Cash because he isn’t purely country). It could also be that Country is just a crappy genre that cannot possible contain good music.

I reject that idea. I think that every genre, including my mortal enemy pop-punk, has at least one masterpiece. A genre might be mostly terrible, but it has the potential to contain a good track. I must admit that Welcome to the Black Parade is a really incredibly song despite the fact that any other song like it makes me want to punch Eric in the face for supporting those bands by buying their albums. I am positive that there is great country music out there, I just haven’t heard it. Note that I haven’t listened to much country so that statement is not bashing too many songs/bands. So today I am taking the first step towards accepting Country music in to my heart (and the blog) by featuring a song by Toby Keith.

Recently a friend of mine forced me to listen to a country song that she thinks is fantastic (and hilarious). I resisted, thinking that it would be about “how his wife cheated on him in another guy’s truck so now he is drinking a whiskey in his truck that he loves so much thinking about how he loves America and trucks”. (That is what all country songs are about right?) She persisted so I eventually caved and gave it a listen. What I found was a pleasant surprise.

I wasn’t quite wrong in my prejudiced view on what the song would be about; Red Solo Cup is a love song directed at the red cups people drink beer in at a party. So sure, it falls into the stereotypical topics of country music, trucks, women, booze, trucks, cheating, and trucks. Yet it doesn’t make me roll my eyes because it doesn’t take itself seriously.

On the eccentricity scale ranging from 1 to 10

1 - I wrote a song about a plastic cup

10 - I tuck a plastic cup into a miniature bed and give it a goodnight kiss

Red Solo Cup - 1/10

The song is just funny. Right off the bat Keith claims that anyone who prefers beer in a glass doesn’t have testicles. The whole song is sort of sardonic yet genuine. He knows how silly the song is, yet I feel like Keith really does appreciate all that the red solo cup does for society. Just the fact that I can write the previous sentence and be serious is proof that the song is awesome. Anyone who has ever been to a college party has had experience with the so called red solo cup, and thus knows how pervasive they are. The red solo cup is an integral part of youth culture.

The word choice in the song is fantastic; it uses “yucky”, and “foreclosable” in the same song. It also rhymes “receptacle” and “testicle”. I also love the fact that the chorus “proceed to party”. “Proceed” just makes me picture a police officer not allowing the party to start until the red solo cup appears. It is such a formal word in a place that it just doesn’t belong, yet it works so well.

The background noises in the song are also great. The echoes of “Solo Cup” at the end puts a smile on my face. Lines like “that’s what I am talking about”, “what up, what up”, and “lifelong” permeate the song, filling me with joy. The cheering, wooting, and fight sounds make me feel like I am at a party with my trusted friend the solo cup.

The video for the song is really fantastic. It depicts all the typical things that can happen at a party, fights, encounters with angry drunks, and have naked women. The shenanigans that go down in the background are a joy to behold and almost always feature Keith’s best friend, the cup. Speaking of which, the breakdown where Keith calls the cup his friend cracks me up. It is so honest; it is exactly something a drunk person would say and exactly the way he would say it.

All and all the song is just catchy. The twangy guitar really adds to the mood without being obnoxious. The song is just the right length, any longer and the chorus would become annoying. It is just a good, clean, simple song that is proof that not all Country music is bad. From now on I am going to keep my eye out for some more good country. Hopefully next time it will be more serious.