Father John Misty penned a hilarious eulogy to the Chuck E. Cheese’s house bands that are being phased out
We can always trust Father John Misty to have, uh, interesting takes on pop culture. The musician’s latest opinion involves everyone’s favorite childhood birthday party spot: Chuck E. Cheese’s, of course. (Sidebar: Remember when Nick Jonas as in a Chuck E. Cheese’s commercial?) The playland and pizzeria recently announced it would retire its animatronic character bands. Understandably, this affected Misty on a deeply personal level.
So, Father John Misty wrote a powerful eulogy to those mechanical Chuck E. Cheese’s performers and posted it on Facebook.
He managed to pay tribute to Chuck’s work ethic while putting him in the context of American neoliberalism, a not unimpressive feat.
First, let’s remember what watching those robot bands is like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAR2hgwSfxk?feature=oembed
Wow, that was really something. Misty wrote that he had an appreciation of Chuck from an early age. Now, as a professional musician, he respects the mouse even more.
Misty brings up a good point — that band worked very hard.
"When I consider that this motherfucker was playing up to 5 sets a night all over the country simultaneously i [sic] am reminded that, yes, it can be done, and that just by getting on that stage every night and leaving everything up there, I am part of lineage, of a collective imagination that spans the generations. How he maintained that smile on his face, playing so consistently and with such little flash (even though I'm sure some nights he just wanted to stretch out and make it all about himself) is beyond me. Don't forget: this man's middle name was literally 'Entertainment.'"
Misty also paid homage to Chuck’s unique musical style, a style all his own.
"[Producer]Max Martin would've had nothing to do with Cheese. He was a little thick around the waste [sic], and certainly refused to change with protean fads in the culture.
And of course, Misty related this all back to neoliberalism and the economy.
"He was never political, but he didn't need to be. Neoliberalism had just left the think tanks and had been deployed in service of combatting the rampant stagflation that had bedeviled the economy of the 70's. Chuck embodied the American ideal of the time while presaging the alternative currencies that we'd see 30 years later."
Wow. Just wow. Here’s the full piece in all its glory:
Somewhere in animatronic heaven, Chuck is grinning.
