Martin Noakes is a pop musician and a conspiracy theorist. Here’s one of his tunes. It sounds like the opening to an after-school children’s show on PBS. But if you mind the lyrics, you’ll hear a disheartening prognosis of democracy, with references to Vietnam and the Holocaust. Martin Noakes receives many disgusted comments on his YouTube page. It’s true: that Elton John sound rubs against touchy lyrics, which are earnest and therefore also catchier than seems appropriate: “They don’t care about the blood that they’re spilling.” Not persuasive, but unsettling – or funny, if you like absurdity with sad tones. Noakes might strategically make naïve-sounding, subject-frictional pop: the only way we’ll listen. Or, earworms honestly get to his heart. In the YouTube comments for this track, someone named Jim wrote, “I disagree but that's a frigging great song. seriously, this is my fifth listen in a row.” Noakes, in a rare response, wrote, “Thank you for your comment Jim. Much appreciated.”   3

iprefernotto 24 Aug 2015