Music Review: Tom Tom Club "Genius of Love"
Tom Tom Club
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Genius of Love
Album: Tom Tom Club
Year: 1981
Tina Weymouth, lead singer of the Tom Tom Club, praises her boyfriend in the quirky "Genius of Love."
A nimble keyboard beat opens the single. Immediately, Weymouth is asked once what she plans to do after finishing her jail sentence. She answers that she's going to have sex with her boyfriend.
The keyboard beat bobs and skips.
She dreamily says that she's in pure bliss when she hangs out with her upbeat boyfriend. It's as though she's in another world where time has ceased to exist. He is gentle with her, which she appreciates. It's how she always thought
The keyboard beat returns.
She's missed listening to her favorite records while in jail. In her opinion, Bootsy Collins is an innovative musician and no one can make her tear up like Smokey Robinson. She's going to put on her Bob Marley record and dance around the room. She's also going to explore reggae by finding out about a group called Sly and Robbie.
Chris Frantz interjects with random nonsense
An electic reggae-influenced drum follows. It's then blended with the keyboard beat.
She sulks that her boyfriend was nowhere to be found the weekend she was released. She was looking forward to being intimate with him. She recalls a fond memory: the time they experimented with cocaine and couldn't handle the effects of it.
A made up language with space effects is spoken. Then-radio talk show host Jim Bohannon is referenced over the keyboard beat.
She distracts herself with her Kurtis Blow record and listens to it all week. Frantz interjects with some more nonsense. She then references Bohannon again. Frantz howls James Brown's name.
She mopes to her friends. In a bid to get him back, she gets her friends involved. She tells them that if they happen to see him, tell him that he's the best lover and most intelligent guy she has ever known.
"Genius of Love" is versatile and ironic without being estoeric. On the surface, the subject matter seems like the average pop song: Weymouth misses her boyfriend. However, the cliche is fleshed out to its utmost absurdity. She's a criminal, which is why she hasn't seen him for a while. Instead of simply stating that she likes reggae, she offers a knowledgable lesson.
Weymouth's innocent, deadpan delivery of the subsersive lyrics should be studied by aspiring teenage pop stars. It's hard to believe an adult is singing the lyrics. She does manage to make a point about light, breezy pop music, though. Although the dance beat is fun and the girl is young doesn't mean she's talking about puppies and stars.
Album: Tom Tom Club
Year: 1981
Tina Weymouth, lead singer of the Tom Tom Club, praises her boyfriend in the quirky "Genius of Love."
A nimble keyboard beat opens the single. Immediately, Weymouth is asked once what she plans to do after finishing her jail sentence. She answers that she's going to have sex with her boyfriend.
"What you gonna do when you get out of jail?/I'm gonna have some fun/What do you consider fun?/
Fun, natural fun."
The keyboard beat bobs and skips.
She dreamily says that she's in pure bliss when she hangs out with her upbeat boyfriend. It's as though she's in another world where time has ceased to exist. He is gentle with her, which she appreciates. It's how she always thought
"I'm in heaven/With my boyfriend, my laughing boyfriend/
There's no beginning and there is no end/Time isn't present in that dimension/He'll take my arm/When we're walkin', rolling and rocking/It's one time I'm glad I'm not a man/Feels like I'm dreaming, but I'm not sleeping."
The keyboard beat returns.
She's missed listening to her favorite records while in jail. In her opinion, Bootsy Collins is an innovative musician and no one can make her tear up like Smokey Robinson. She's going to put on her Bob Marley record and dance around the room. She's also going to explore reggae by finding out about a group called Sly and Robbie.
"I'm in heaven/With the maven of funk mutation/Clinton's musicians such as Bootsy Collins/Raise expectations to a new intention/No one can sing/Quite like Smokey, Smokey Robinson/Wailin' and shakin' to Bob Marley/Reggae's expanding with Sly and Robbie."
Chris Frantz interjects with random nonsense
"Oopsie mamacita, oopsie mamacita, oopsie mama."
An electic reggae-influenced drum follows. It's then blended with the keyboard beat.
She sulks that her boyfriend was nowhere to be found the weekend she was released. She was looking forward to being intimate with him. She recalls a fond memory: the time they experimented with cocaine and couldn't handle the effects of it.
"All the weekend/Boyfriend was missing/I surely miss him/The way he'd hold me in his warm arms/We went insane when we took cocaine."
A made up language with space effects is spoken. Then-radio talk show host Jim Bohannon is referenced over the keyboard beat.
"Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon."
She distracts herself with her Kurtis Blow record and listens to it all week. Frantz interjects with some more nonsense. She then references Bohannon again. Frantz howls James Brown's name.
"Stepping in a rhythm to a Kurtis Blow/Who needs to think when your feet just go/With a hiditihi and a hipitiho/Who needs to think when your feet just go (Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon)/Who needs to think when your feet just go (Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon)/James Brown, James Brown/James Brown, James Brown."
She mopes to her friends. In a bid to get him back, she gets her friends involved. She tells them that if they happen to see him, tell him that he's the best lover and most intelligent guy she has ever known.
"If you see him/Please remind him, unhappy boyfriend/Well he's the genius of love/He's got a greater depth of feeling/Well he's the genius of love/He's so deep."
"Genius of Love" is versatile and ironic without being estoeric. On the surface, the subject matter seems like the average pop song: Weymouth misses her boyfriend. However, the cliche is fleshed out to its utmost absurdity. She's a criminal, which is why she hasn't seen him for a while. Instead of simply stating that she likes reggae, she offers a knowledgable lesson.
Weymouth's innocent, deadpan delivery of the subsersive lyrics should be studied by aspiring teenage pop stars. It's hard to believe an adult is singing the lyrics. She does manage to make a point about light, breezy pop music, though. Although the dance beat is fun and the girl is young doesn't mean she's talking about puppies and stars.
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