SOUNDTRACK: BENNY SINGS-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #50 (July 14, 2020).
I watched a Benny Sings Tiny Desk Concert back in 2016. I wasn’t that impressed. I thought it sounded fine, describing him as a slower Elton John. Since then, he has apparently gone on to bigger things (and must have many fans).
I’ve never come across a moderate Benny Sings fan. The Dutch singer-songwriter and producer has maintained a cult following for over 15 years and performed in the United States for the very first time at the Tiny Desk back in 2016.
Benny and his band play three songs.
Recorded at his studio in Amsterdam, the set list reads like an inventory of quarantine essentials, opening with “Apartment” from last year’s Free Nationals LP (shout out to Anderson .Paak).
As with all of the songs, the music is lightly R&B with some disco flavors. Each song has a loud low end from Bram Wassink’s bass and crisp drums from Colin Lee. The songs are gentle and catchy. “Apartment” is less than three minutes long.
“Sunny Afternoon” was written with PJ Morton and is a bit catchier (and sweeter). There’s a nice backing vocal “oooh” solo from June Fermie while Adam Bar Pereg play s anice piano solo.
The set ends with “Music.” Honestly I can’t imagine a worse title for a song than “Music,” but it is about music. And the blurb admires the sentiment:
The hook reminds me that I’m not the only one who continues to seek refuge in song. He sings, “Music help me through this / I can’t do this on my own / But music help me through this / Whenever I’m down.”
I will not be an immoderate Benny Sings fan. His music is pleasant, but forgettable. Although he seems like a very nice fella.
[READ: July 20, 2020] “The Dinner”
As the United States roils with protests about institutional racism and out immoral leaders conduct illegal schemes of violence against citizens, it was an very charged time to read this story about racism in Ireland.
As Roddy Doyle stories tend to do, this story has a lot of heart and humor in it. It begins by introducing Larry Linnane and his family. He loves his family. He loves his girls (he and his wife have four) and his son.
But he especially loved hearing his intelligent girls as they talked about everything at the dinner table. And, as usual, Doyle’s ear for dialogue is spot on. Larry is a pretty open minded guy, he doesn’t even mind hearing his daughters talking about their love lives. Nothing they said or did ever shocked him.
Until Stephanie brought home the black fella.
He heard Stephanie talking about a boy-an accountant. He was about to joke that no daughter of his would be stuck with an accountant, when Stephanie said that he couldn’t get work. That no one would let him work.
The man, Ben, was a refugee from Nigeria. Things came home when one of his other daughters said that Ben was gorgeous. The girls were talking about him when Larry stood up and said some gibberish that ended in “not in my house.”
As he realized how racist he was being and his wife mentioned how much he loved Phil Lynott, he said something unforgivable about Phil Lynott being civilized.
The next few days were terrible. He and Stephanie weren’t talking and Ben was coming to dinner in a few nights. Larry thought about whether he was racist. He certainly didn’t judge footballers by their race–nor celebrities.
Maybe he’s more concerned about the nature of Nigeria–AIDS, for a start, and war everywhere. It was heartbreaking but what kind of people came out of a situation like that.
When Ben arrived, Larry was pleasant. He shook Ben’s hand–the first black man’s hand he had ever touched–and it was grand. He quickly sized him up and approved of the man. Until he smelled Ben’s perfume.
Larry hated men who smelled of things–even manly scents. A man with a smell was hiding something. He gave Ben a dirty look, but it was lost when his daughters and his wife Mona gushed over how lovely Ben smelled.
The dinner was polite until someone said something and Ben said he was used to insults from people in this country. As Larry tried to defend his countrymen, Stephanie argued with him. Ben immediately said that he was disappointed that Stephanie would disrespect her father so. This made Larry smile until Ben looked at him and said he didn’t like hearing Larry curse.
Larry told him to get out of his house.
But Mona told Ben to sit. She had made a beautiful dessert and Ben was not to leave until he’d had some.
Things settled down and Ben old them about his family–the troubles they have had. Larry had seen a program a few years ago about people “disappearing” in Nigeria. He’d imagined what that must be like to live with that.
This humanized Ben. And suddenly he saw Ben as a person, not a race, not a refugee.
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