R.I.P. Steve Harwell

[Sabin]

Dead at 56. Liver failure.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/musi ... 234817636/

Posting largely because of my mocking post of Jimmy Buffett. He was a singer of famously limited range. You can hear the upper-limits of his singing ability in the second syllable of the first word of "All Star" ("someBODY once told me..."). I've never been at a party where that song didn't come on and people didn't snicker. Smash Mouth was one of 436 mid-to-late 90's alternative bands that filled the air waves (each with their one moment in the sun about white male detachment) right before the the boy bands and pop icons of 1999. I don't claim to be any kind of music expert but simply as someone in high school at the time, the shift in culture was like nothing I've experienced since, like the entire industry said "Moving on..." Unlike the rest of those bands, Smash Mouth hung in largely due to the lasting impact of "All Star" which was oddly rescued from one film by another. Originally released as part of the Mystery Men soundtrack (a flop that was probably a bit ahead of its time), it's a song that's completely owned by Shrek. The marriage between film and song is an interesting one because of how our relationship with both changed over the years. Originally used as a way of indicating to audiences that they were in for a savvier, more pop culture aware story than they had ever seen before in an animated film, both became regarded as something we were almost ashamed to have liked in the first place. And then they achieved a third life status as memes too weird for me to understand. The torch has been passed to a new generation. I've always held affection for both because it's about that very late 1990's concept that's gone by the wayside. They're not about losers. They're about outcasts. There's the cool crowd and then there's everybody else. It was a song from an era where the phrase "sell-out" was still bandied about.

As I write this, Twitter is filled with users posting pictures of Steve Harvey to commemorate Harwell's passing which is somewhat fitting considering what his legacy became. I want to salute the man who empowered anyone with a microphone at karaoke to sing their heart out to a song too lousy to fuck up and for a brief moment reconnect with the loser anthem of 1999. The man brought a lot to joy to a lot of people whether they wanted to admit it or not.