Beyond My Ken (talk | contribs) Not a very good reason. Popcult entries which are straightforward descriptions are sourced by the items themsevles and do not require additional sources |
Are You The Cow Of Pain? (talk | contribs) which changes not at all that it's trivial garbage. |
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The version of the song by the [[Womenfolk]] is the shortest single ever to chart on the [[Billboard Hot 100]] at 1:03 minutes long.{{Fact|date=May 2009}} The Spanish songwriter [[:es:Adolfo Celdrán|Adolfo Celdrán]] wrote the first Spanish version of the song, called "Cajitas", which was published in 1969 and had several successive reissues. Another Spanish version of the song, "Las Casitas del Barrio Alto," was written by the Chilean songwriter [[Víctor Jara]] in 1971, depicting in a mocking way the over-Europeanized and bourgeois lifestyle of the residents of the "Barrio Alto" in [[Santiago de Chile]]. A French version was also performed with the title ''Petites boîtes'' by [[Graeme Allwright]]. Other artists who have covered the song include [[The Shins]], [[Regina Spektor]], [[Rise Against]], [[Devendra Banhart]], [[Phosphorescent (band)|Phosphorescent]], [[Man Man]], [[The Submarines]], [[Death Cab For Cutie]], [[Rilo Kiley]], and [[The Decemberists]] who expanded the song by several verses. |
The version of the song by the [[Womenfolk]] is the shortest single ever to chart on the [[Billboard Hot 100]] at 1:03 minutes long.{{Fact|date=May 2009}} The Spanish songwriter [[:es:Adolfo Celdrán|Adolfo Celdrán]] wrote the first Spanish version of the song, called "Cajitas", which was published in 1969 and had several successive reissues. Another Spanish version of the song, "Las Casitas del Barrio Alto," was written by the Chilean songwriter [[Víctor Jara]] in 1971, depicting in a mocking way the over-Europeanized and bourgeois lifestyle of the residents of the "Barrio Alto" in [[Santiago de Chile]]. A French version was also performed with the title ''Petites boîtes'' by [[Graeme Allwright]]. Other artists who have covered the song include [[The Shins]], [[Regina Spektor]], [[Rise Against]], [[Devendra Banhart]], [[Phosphorescent (band)|Phosphorescent]], [[Man Man]], [[The Submarines]], [[Death Cab For Cutie]], [[Rilo Kiley]], and [[The Decemberists]] who expanded the song by several verses. |
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⚫ | The song is used as the opening theme song for the [[Showtime]] television series ''[[Weeds (TV series)|Weeds]]''. The first season used Reynolds's own recording as the theme song; the second and third seasons used versions by nearly thirty different musicians. During the fourth and fifth seasons the song was no longer used in the credits, but appears or is referenced from time to time within the show. For a complete list of artists who have recorded this song for the show, see [[Weeds (TV series)#Opening music|opening music of ''Weeds'']]. |
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==In popular culture== |
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*The term "[[ticky tacky]]" became a [[catch-phrase]] during the 1960s, attesting to the song's popularity.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873851,00.html |title=Tacky into the Wind |journal=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=February 28, 1964}}</ref> [[Tom Lehrer]] described ''Little Boxes'' as "the most sanctimonious song ever written".<ref>{{cite journal |first=Christopher |last=Hitchens |title=Suburbs of Our Discontent |journal=[[the Atlantic]] |month=December |year=2008 |url=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200812/hitchens-suburbs}}</ref> |
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*The song was performed on the BBC satirical television program ''[[That Was The Week That Was]]'' on April 13, 1964, sung by [[Nancy Ames]] and accompanied by a film montage by Guy Fraumeni and Lou Myers depicting [[tract housing]] and other related images. |
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*"Little Boxes" was quoted in a [[Tony Campolo]] sermon, ''The Kingdom Of Ticky-Tack,'' that decried the de-emphasis of spiritual values. |
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*The song was performed by [[Keith Carradine]] in the movie ''[[The Californians]]'' in 2005. |
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*"Little Boxes" is the signature tune of [[BBC Radio 4]] comedy series ''[[Robin and Wendy's Wet Weekends]]'', sung by [[Kay Stonham]] in the character of "Wendy Mayfield" to a background of inept coaching by [[Simon Greenall]] as her husband "Robin". |
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*A book about Westlake, ''Little Boxes: The Architecture of a Classic Midcentury Suburb,'' is named for the song.<ref>{{cite book |title=Little Boxes: The Architecture of a Classic Midcentury Suburb |first=Rob |last=Keil |location=Daly City, CA |publisher=Advection Media |month=October |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-9779236-4-9}}</ref> |
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*The song is also used by the Italian journalist [[Gianluca Nicoletti]] as the opening song for his radio show ''[[Melog]]'', on air daily on the Italian national network [[Radio 24 (Italy)|Radio 24]] since the 9th of January 2006. |
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*It is also used on an episode of [[The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre]] to describe [[annotations]]. |
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*The term "ticky-tacky boxes" is also brought up in Ernest Callenbach's ''[[Ecotopia]]'' and referenced in the [[Planet P Project]]'s 2008 song "The New Frontier". |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
Revision as of 13:33, 15 June 2010
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/LevittownPA.jpg/275px-LevittownPA.jpg)
"Little Boxes" is a song written by Malvina Reynolds in 1962 that lampoons the development of suburbia and, by implication, the conformist middle-class attitudes thought to be prevalent there. It refers to suburban tract housing as "little boxes" of all different colors but "all made out of ticky-tacky" so that they "all look just the same." Reynolds was specifically describing the areas of Daly City, California built in the post-war era by Henry Doelger, particularly the neighborhood of Westlake. Nancy Reynolds, daughter of Malvina Reynolds, explains:
My mother and father were driving South from San Francisco through Daly City when my mom got the idea for the song. She asked my dad to take the wheel, and she wrote it on the way to the gathering in La Honda where she was going to sing for the Friends Committee on Legislation. When Time magazine (I think, maybe Newsweek) wanted a photo of her pointing to the very place, she couldn’t find those houses because so many more had been built around them that the hillsides were totally covered.[1]
Pete Seeger's rendition of the song is possibly the most widely known, but the song has been recorded by a number of musicians, including Rise Against, The Womenfolk and Regina Spektor. Other musicians have arranged and translated the song to meet their styles. The lyrics have been reprinted with photographs of "Little Box" houses in environmental publications.
Covers
The version of the song by the Womenfolk is the shortest single ever to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 at 1:03 minutes long.[citation needed] The Spanish songwriter Adolfo Celdrán wrote the first Spanish version of the song, called "Cajitas", which was published in 1969 and had several successive reissues. Another Spanish version of the song, "Las Casitas del Barrio Alto," was written by the Chilean songwriter Víctor Jara in 1971, depicting in a mocking way the over-Europeanized and bourgeois lifestyle of the residents of the "Barrio Alto" in Santiago de Chile. A French version was also performed with the title Petites boîtes by Graeme Allwright. Other artists who have covered the song include The Shins, Regina Spektor, Rise Against, Devendra Banhart, Phosphorescent, Man Man, The Submarines, Death Cab For Cutie, Rilo Kiley, and The Decemberists who expanded the song by several verses.
The song is used as the opening theme song for the Showtime television series Weeds. The first season used Reynolds's own recording as the theme song; the second and third seasons used versions by nearly thirty different musicians. During the fourth and fifth seasons the song was no longer used in the credits, but appears or is referenced from time to time within the show. For a complete list of artists who have recorded this song for the show, see opening music of Weeds.
See also
Notes
- ^ "Artist Spotlight: Malvina Reynolds". HomeGrown Humor. Showtime Networks. 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
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External links
- Smith, Charles H. "Little Boxes". Malvina Reynolds: Song Lyrics and Poems.
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suggested) (help) with a list of recordings - "Music". Weeds. Showtime Networks. Full list of music used on the show
- "America's Most Perfect Ticky-Tacky Suburb". Telstar Logistics. November 07, 2006.
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(help) - Adolfo Celdrán Spanish language homepage
- Rob Keil's website for Little Boxes: The Architecture of a Classic Midcentury Suburb
- Smoking Boxes the bossa nova band Zeep covers "Little Boxes" for freely downloadable album The Box, with versions in both English and Portuguese.
- Pete Seeger's television performance
- The Womenfolk's shortest-top-100 performance