Little boxes
Little Boxes is the title of a song written by singer-songwriter and political activist Malvina Reynolds in 1962. It was first known primarily through Pete Seeger , who used it in many concerts and recordings. The song describes and caricatures the conformity of the American middle class .
origin
Buildings or houses of Daly City served as inspiration for Malvina Reynolds, although it is no longer entirely clear which part of Daly City provided the inspiration. Nancy Reynolds, the daughter of Malvina Reynolds, said:
“My mother and father were driving through Daly City from San Francisco when my mother came up with the idea for a song. She asked my father to take the wheel and wrote the song on the way to La Honda , where she had a performance for the Friends Committee on Legislation. When Time (or maybe it was Newsweek ) wanted a photo of the exact spot, it couldn't make it out because of the many new buildings. "
A book about architecture in Westlake, a district of Daly City, refers to the song in its title: Little Boxes: The Architecture of a Classic Midcentury Suburb
The expression "ticky tacky" coined in the song, which alludes to the monotonous, uncreative and always identical construction of suburban houses, became a popular expression in the USA in the 1960s.
Recordings
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Malvina Reynolds published the song in 1962. Folk musician Pete Seeger took the song into his repertoire. A recording was made during a performance at Carnegie Hall on June 8, 1963. This live recording was released as a single in early 1964 and hit the US charts. It was his only hit single. It was through him that the song became internationally known. Another version recorded that same year, The Womenfolk , a female folk band, with producer Perry Botkin junior . It also hit the charts and at 1 minute and 2 seconds is the shortest recording ever on the Billboard Hot 100 . It was the only chart hit for her too.
The Chilean singer Víctor Jara sang a Spanish version of the song, which he published in 1977 on his album El Derecho de Vivir en Paz under the title Las Casitas del Barrio Alto (= The little houses of the Barrio Alto, a wealthy district of Santiago de Chile ) .
In 2003 the songwriter Gerhard Schöne interpreted a German translation of Kleine Schachteln on his album Fremde Federn .
The US television series Weeds used Little Boxes in seasons 1 to 3 and 8 in both their opening credits and their credits from 2005. From the second season the song was interpreted by various artists, including Death Cab for Cutie , Engelbert , Kate McGarrigle , Ozomatli , Regina Spektor , Jenny Lewis , Randy Newman , Angélique Kidjo , Donovan , Billy Bob Thornton , The Shins , Joan Baez , Michael Franti , Ben Folds, and The Decemberists .
In 2012 the song was re-recorded in England by Sniffy Dog with singer Adrienne Stiefel for a commercial. In this version the song reached the UK charts for the first time. The punk rock band Rise Against released a cover version of Little Boxes in 2013.
The animated film Die Boxtrolls , released in 2014, uses the song with slightly modified text in its credits. This recording was made by the band Lochmond .
swell
- Lyrics and information about various artists and recordings
- Malvina Reynolds reported death in Time Magazine
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://fromthevaults-boppinbob.blogspot.de/2014/08/malvina-reynolds-born-23-august-1900.html (accessed January 8, 2016
- ↑ Little Boxes: The Architecture of a Classic Midcentury Suburb by Rob Keil, Daly City, CA: Advection Media, 2006. ISBN 0977923649 .
- ↑ "Tacky into the Wind" , Time , February 28 1964th
- ↑ Charts UK Charts US Charts US
- ↑ Las Casitas del Barrio Alto at Allmusic (English)
- ↑ Album Fremde Federn by Gerhard Schöne on MusicBrainz . Retrieved July 4, 2014.
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0787474/soundtrack?ref_=tt_ql_trv_7 (accessed December 17, 2014)