what does it mean when people say something sounds "cheesy"? what are the definitions of the word? (applied to music obviously)
one of the qualities it refers to is expression of "genuine" feeling. for instance a R'n'B love song can be seen by some to be "cheesy". I'm sure loads of kids think Louis Armstrong's sweet, sweet ballads are "cheesy". i don't, at all. when i hear his voice i feel it straight, without any irony what so ever. but I do think Celion Dion is cheesy.
but why is "genuine feeling" considered cheesy? ever? is it because "bad" (as in not good) artists have cheapened it? too much indulgent, unreflexive, "fake" heart tugging, tear jerking; so that even when faced with "real" emotional content we think it's cheesy?
at times it has something to do with cultural age, like Louis Armstrong. or Marvyn Gaye or Bryan Ferry or Leonard Cohen, or, for that matter, Franz Schubert. so maybe a kind of expression i guess becomes so over used and loaded that many of the younger generations can no longer take it seriously. unless they really give it a chance, and "enter" the work; after which they see the substance and are able to overcome the initial "cheesy" feeling -- i like Bryan Ferry now, but when my ex first played him i thought it was the cheesiest 80s pop ever.
also something to do with personal age: seems that when i was younger i thought a lot of things were cheesy, like jazz for instance. so as time goes on less things sound cheesy to me, and I'm able to appreciate more things on deeper levels -- same for you or no?
what is the relationship of "cheesy" to irony? a friend remarked once that what makes "great" pop music "great" is that no matter how familiar it is, when it comes on at a club, all the irony just evaporates and people respond to it straight. he cited "billy Jean" as an example.
another quality is "kitsch", "cheap" or "common place" or "generic". and here I'm thinking of hand-bag house. but it's more than these descriptors... can't really put my finger on it. what makes cheesy house cheesy and Luomo's "Vocal City" not cheesy? is it about "depth"? or subtle layers which are more than meets the eye? or maybe Luomo IS cheesy (definitely the later albums), but Vocal City is more than that. maybe it plays with the idea of kitsch, but ultimately have another aim. I still often have a hard time with diva vocals, in house, in garage, in niche, in jungle. sorry but it makes my skin crawl.
and "cheesy" often does not translate cross cultural lines. for instance a kizomba track came on, no not the overly sweet cheap kind, one that has real depth of feeling for me, and my German friend said that it is very cheesy. i think black culture has a very different concept of cheesy than white culture. i don't think black people at R'n'B clubs think it's cheesy at all -- it is very real emotion to them, while to many whites it sounds cheesy. and of course many examples of the reverse... somehow can't think of any at the moment though...
i'm thinking about "cheesy" in relation to an "inability to feel or empathize", which may be increasing in our culture? I mean many expressions of "genuine feeling" in music just sounds fucking horribly cheesy these days. does it not? Jack Johnson. Elliott Smith. just fucking shoot me. now, please. but it doesn't to all those indie kids. very strange. so is it increasingly more difficult to express real feelings without sounding cheesy? compared to, say, 1962? (random year, have no example in mind)
anyhow, i need to think more about it... though really don't know if any of this meandering shit is of any interest outside of my own mind, outside of this hour. maybe tomorrow i will ask a mod to delete this post.
one of the qualities it refers to is expression of "genuine" feeling. for instance a R'n'B love song can be seen by some to be "cheesy". I'm sure loads of kids think Louis Armstrong's sweet, sweet ballads are "cheesy". i don't, at all. when i hear his voice i feel it straight, without any irony what so ever. but I do think Celion Dion is cheesy.
but why is "genuine feeling" considered cheesy? ever? is it because "bad" (as in not good) artists have cheapened it? too much indulgent, unreflexive, "fake" heart tugging, tear jerking; so that even when faced with "real" emotional content we think it's cheesy?
at times it has something to do with cultural age, like Louis Armstrong. or Marvyn Gaye or Bryan Ferry or Leonard Cohen, or, for that matter, Franz Schubert. so maybe a kind of expression i guess becomes so over used and loaded that many of the younger generations can no longer take it seriously. unless they really give it a chance, and "enter" the work; after which they see the substance and are able to overcome the initial "cheesy" feeling -- i like Bryan Ferry now, but when my ex first played him i thought it was the cheesiest 80s pop ever.
also something to do with personal age: seems that when i was younger i thought a lot of things were cheesy, like jazz for instance. so as time goes on less things sound cheesy to me, and I'm able to appreciate more things on deeper levels -- same for you or no?
what is the relationship of "cheesy" to irony? a friend remarked once that what makes "great" pop music "great" is that no matter how familiar it is, when it comes on at a club, all the irony just evaporates and people respond to it straight. he cited "billy Jean" as an example.
another quality is "kitsch", "cheap" or "common place" or "generic". and here I'm thinking of hand-bag house. but it's more than these descriptors... can't really put my finger on it. what makes cheesy house cheesy and Luomo's "Vocal City" not cheesy? is it about "depth"? or subtle layers which are more than meets the eye? or maybe Luomo IS cheesy (definitely the later albums), but Vocal City is more than that. maybe it plays with the idea of kitsch, but ultimately have another aim. I still often have a hard time with diva vocals, in house, in garage, in niche, in jungle. sorry but it makes my skin crawl.
and "cheesy" often does not translate cross cultural lines. for instance a kizomba track came on, no not the overly sweet cheap kind, one that has real depth of feeling for me, and my German friend said that it is very cheesy. i think black culture has a very different concept of cheesy than white culture. i don't think black people at R'n'B clubs think it's cheesy at all -- it is very real emotion to them, while to many whites it sounds cheesy. and of course many examples of the reverse... somehow can't think of any at the moment though...
i'm thinking about "cheesy" in relation to an "inability to feel or empathize", which may be increasing in our culture? I mean many expressions of "genuine feeling" in music just sounds fucking horribly cheesy these days. does it not? Jack Johnson. Elliott Smith. just fucking shoot me. now, please. but it doesn't to all those indie kids. very strange. so is it increasingly more difficult to express real feelings without sounding cheesy? compared to, say, 1962? (random year, have no example in mind)
anyhow, i need to think more about it... though really don't know if any of this meandering shit is of any interest outside of my own mind, outside of this hour. maybe tomorrow i will ask a mod to delete this post.
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