28. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy (2006)

In the first half of the decade, American pop was happy and optimistic, brimming with good records and good news. Different styles started productive dialogue with one another, after years of alienation and hostility; women, blacks and Latinos managed to establish themselves more than they ever did before; the sexual revolution finally liberated women as well, and a woman was no longer considered a floozy if she displayed her sexuality; new creative producers brought it all together to generate thrilling sounds; and the internet opened new channels of communication. Even the trauma of 9/11 did not dent the overall optimism, but only made the American people feel more righteous, and that they are now going to change other parts of the world for the better. By 2006, however, the outlook turned dark. Not only was the world not fixed, but it became painfully clear that fundamentalism is not just something that exists oversees, but resides in the heart of American society itself, causing a wide rift in it. Pop was always the bridge between different worlds, but fundamentalism regards pop culture as its greatest enemy, and requires a different approach. Unfortunately, pop went into this battle at a time when it reached one of its low points.

Several records of that year caught the spirit of the time. Nas' 'Hip-hop is Dead' expressed the feeling that hip-hop, which carried pop on its shoulders throughout the decade, lost its strength. Pink's 'Stupid Girls' documented the bad sides of the female sexual revolution of the beginning of the decade, which also allowed for the emergence of many idiotic behaviors. Amy Winehouse's 'Rehab' reflected the price we paid for the frivolities. TV on the Radio's 'Wolf Like Me' described the feeling of a man who suddenly turns into a wolf, and realizes that there is a duplicity in his soul, and he is a werewolf. And most of all it was this record, Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy', which manifested the feeling of helplessness that overtook pop. The style is contemporary, but the feel is blues, and I regard it to be the best blues record of the decade.

In the following year, this feeling changed into a sense of wonderment. The changes that pop affected in the American psyche have reached the political sphere, and everyone watched with amazement as an African-American and a woman battled for the head of the democratic party, and then as the black candidate won the presidency. In the two year process which all of this took place, all of America was compelled to learn to think differently about itself, and realize that things have changed. And as for pop, it seemed that this process plunged it into paralysis. The pop records of the era dealt with every issue in the world except the historic changes happening around them, and it seemed like the artists are afraid to say anything, lest they spoil it. In the last year there is a sense of recuperation, but still, the records of 2006 remain the last time pop captured the spirit of the times.


Gnarls Barkley "Crazy"

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