Superfluous

The word of the day for Saturday, February 11th, 2012 is:

Superfluous

(from vocabulary.com)

1. “When something is so uneccessary that it could easily be done away with, like a fifth wheel on a car, or a fifth person on a double date, call it superfluous.” 🙂
2. More than is needed, desired, or required.
3. serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being.

Song: Superfluous Umbrella

Artist: Tyler Walker

Album: Singles

Year: 2012

For the full song (the video above is only 1:37 wherease the original is 2:22) visit Tyler Walker’s website where you can listen and download his music for FREE.  Yeah, that’s right: FREE.  The song can also be found on a site called SOUNDCLOUD where you can also download his music for free.  I think actually the player on his website is from SOUNDCLOUD.  It is on this second website that I found this description:

“You see, you brought an umbrella because it was supposed to rain, but instead it was beautiful outside. Therefore your umbrella was a notably super-numeral accessory.”

This quote I’m guessing is from Tyler Walker himself.  Doesn’t leave much for interpretation.  BUT: what I did think was interesting is that I kept picturing electronic rain, and as the drops fell they created splashes of color, light, and sound, much like the video I found.  To me, a world where rain makes awesome music and colored lights would make an umbrella superfluous – who would want to duck and cover from that? I already love playing in the rain, but that would be epic.  And the video proves I’m not the only one who thought of a rainy day/water with this song. I guess you see the word umbrella, even with the word superfluous, and you can’t help but connect it to water.

I have to say the most fun part of this experiment is finding what other worlds my search for matching songs brings me to.  The world of music is both expansive and minute at the same time – at times I feel a connection to everything, very 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon.  For example: the first word in this project, pontificate, brought me to Matthew Herbert.  I had never heard of him before the moment I hit “enter” in my google search bar.  But then, after researching him a bit, I saw that he produced and was featured in the song “Ruby Blue” by Roisin Murphy, which was featured on volume 1 of the Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack.  So, I had actually heard him before I knew I had heard him (his feature isn’t labeled on the the soundtrack) – and you may have too.

This guy though, Tyler Walker, is new to me, as is the website improveverywhere.com which features Walker’s music in their videos of pranks they pull.  Their mission is to cause “…scenes of chaos and joy in public places.” (from improveverywhere.com) Now how can you not be down with that? BUT: Turns out I HAVE heard of it, again, I just didn’t know it.  Improv Everywhere does this annual prank called “No Pants Subway Ride” which started in January 2002, making this year it’s 10th anniversary.  Looking through this website I remembered MC mentioning how his friend Gatto’s younger brother, who goes by G3, was going to ride MN’s Lightrail with no pants on as part of some weird train ride thing and this was his second year doing it.  I thought to myself then, what an odd thing to do in January.  Now: MIND BLOWN – oh music, you never fail to bring me right back home.