Onomatopoeia

What is Onomatopoeia?
Mrs. Munger’s Class www.youtube.com/watch?v=evUzS6K-5Wg&feature=related explains what the word “onomatopoeia” means and Todd Rundgren describes it here www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeNIiX2opy4 in his excellent song entitled “Onomatopoeia”.  Basically, it means words that imitate or suggest the source of the sound that they describe.  If you're old enough to remember the 1960's Batman TV show, everytime Batman or Robin would punch a villian, big word balloons would pop up saying things like "SPLAT" or "KABOING" or "BLAMMO" and so on.  You also see it frequently used in comic books, like in this Captain America story where the Captain is fighting some evil robot..."WANK".

Songwriters have been using onomatopo-eia for years and years.  Way back in the doo-wop era, bands like the Cadillacs had songs called "Zoom" and "Zoom-Boom-Zing".  Great Blues tunes like "Boom Boom" by John Lee Hooker and "Wham!" by Stevie Ray Vaughan are onomatopoeia.  If you're a fan of Flights of the Conchords, you know their song called "Boom" and that Bret is the Boom-King.  Gunther, the self-proclaimed "Pleasure Man" is onomatopoeia-esqe when he croons his "Ding Dong Song".  Classic Rock stations nationwide play Pat Travers' spectacular "Boom Boom (Out Go The Lights)", probably daily.
Wham!, the eighties pop duo which launched George Michael is, in fact, onomatopoeia. They clearly inspired Hugh Grant's character in the film Music and Lyrics who sang "Pop! Goes My Heart".  Country singer Jim Ed Brown, and later Alan Jackson, reminded us that we had time for one more round in "Pop a Top".  The younger kids will be familiar with Chris Brown's "Poppin'".  Zydeco fans will instantly rejoice when they hear "My Toot Toot" by Rockin' Sidney.  Country legend George Strait gave us "Honk If You Love Honky Tonk" and his latest masterpiece "Twang".  Down in Texas, there's a lotta honkin' in honky tonks.  Every weekend the great Gary P. Nunn is "Honking Out Some Hank".

You had to be living under a rock last year if you didn't hear "BOOM BOOM POW" by the fabulous Black Eyed Peas, my latest choice as the band that will save popular music.  Rock music has been giving us onomatopoeia for a long time..."Shake RATTLE and Roll" by Bill Haley & the Comets, was also covered very well by Elvis. Of course, there's U2 magnificent album "RATTLE AND HUM", which takes it's name from a line in their epic tune "Bullet the Blue Sky". Rock songs should make a lot of noise.  The best ones sound like cannon blasts. Understandably, rock music gave us T. Rex's "Bang a Gong", Iggy Pop's "Bang Bang" and Todd Rundgren's anthem "Bang on the Drum All Day".  But I would be remiss if I did not mention Cher's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)".

It's the weekend...get out there and make some noise.