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Something to sing about

Posted by Smokey Stover on April 20, 2008 at 15:22:

In Reply to: Something to sing about posted by Smokey Stover on April 19, 2008 at 13:33:

: : : Joss Wheadon?

: : : I have just seen a phrase from Buffy The Vampire Slayer's musical episode show up in a song by the band Paramore and have also seen it other places. I am curious if Joss originated it or it is older than that. The phrase is "Something to sing about" like, "I need something to sing about", indicating that the singer needs something to make them feel/happy. I am almost certain it is not a Joss original, but does anyone know where it did come from?

: : This is sung by Buffy: "Give me something to sing about," meaning "I need something to be happy about," as she has had little to be happy about up to now. In this episode the characters are suddenly imbued with a desire to sing instead of talk, although not always with an ability commensurate with their desire. Still, they all stay on pitch.

: : There are two movies entitled "Something to Sing About," the 1937 movie featuring Jimmy Cagney, and a religious movie made for TV in 2000. Joss Whedon would probably have known the Cagney movie, and the saying as well. Although it's not what you would call a common saying, neither is it rare, often occurring as "Give me something to sing about," or sometimes "I need something to sing about." Everything that Whedon ever heard is likely to show up in one of his scripts, but in this case it's very doubtful that he was trying to make some particular association other than the situation in which Buffy finds herself.

The group, Paramore, obviously did not need to lift the phrase from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, since it has been "out there" for quite a while.

: : This episode of Buffy includes what I think is one of the better examples of Whedon's humor. As Buffy is confronting the Devil, Giles, her mentor, appears with two of Buffy's girl friends. He tells them, "She needs backup," clearly referring to her physical danger. They take his words in a different sense, and take the role of backup singers, doing synchronized dance steps and singing in chorus. (You had to have been there.)
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