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A fact from Black Strap Molasses appeared on Wikipedia's
Main Page in the Did you know column on 15 July 2016 (
check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
I think the article needs to say something brief about what blackstrap molasses is.[Changed my mind -- the link to
Blackstrap molasses is enough]]
According to
Molasses#Blackstrap_molasses, the song parodies the health claims, and "someone" should chase that down and clarify it in the article if possible.
{signed) Assigner of Tasks
Yeah, I put that there so this page wouldn't be an orphan. Its sourcing is frankly bad: the quote only notes that the song ascribes "absurd attributes" to molasses, and it's not written by anything like a music critic. The Billboard review says it's "designed for the Gaylord Hauser 'Live Longer' set." There are some unRS online saying it's a parody (
this analysis, and an Amazon review or something). The "free plugs" article seems to imply people didn't get the joke.
Irony in music is
often overlooked, but it's obvious from the lyrics here IMO. One verse runs, "I used to be thinner than a pencil line/ Had no muscles and I had no spine/ But now I'm friskier than a pup/ All ya gotta do is prop me up"; in another, Marx says he used to be insomniac; "But since I'm eating right I feel okay/ I'm sleeping every night and half the day". But of course that's OR, even if linking the lyrics wasn't forbidden by
WP:ELNEVER.
I'm pretty sure the only reliable interpretive literature I haven't seen and mined yet is The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia, which says something which is invisible online, and which I'm ordering through Hollis. In the absence of anything useful from that, I should probably go fix that.
FourViolas (
talk)
18:31, 8 July 2016 (UTC)reply
Ordering? It's on the shelf. I hope you're not becoming one of these Scan&Deliver lazybones. Go get it yourself, and browse nearby volumes while you're at it. Your true education will come not in the lecture hall, but over meals in the dining hall and in the stacks of Widener. EEng20:25, 8 July 2016 (UTC)reply
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Comedy, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
comedy on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ComedyWikipedia:WikiProject ComedyTemplate:WikiProject ComedyComedy articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Pop music, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of articles related to
pop music on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Pop musicWikipedia:WikiProject Pop musicTemplate:WikiProject Pop musicPop music articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Songs, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
songs on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SongsWikipedia:WikiProject SongsTemplate:WikiProject Songssong articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the
United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions.
A fact from Black Strap Molasses appeared on Wikipedia's
Main Page in the Did you know column on 15 July 2016 (
check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
I think the article needs to say something brief about what blackstrap molasses is.[Changed my mind -- the link to
Blackstrap molasses is enough]]
According to
Molasses#Blackstrap_molasses, the song parodies the health claims, and "someone" should chase that down and clarify it in the article if possible.
{signed) Assigner of Tasks
Yeah, I put that there so this page wouldn't be an orphan. Its sourcing is frankly bad: the quote only notes that the song ascribes "absurd attributes" to molasses, and it's not written by anything like a music critic. The Billboard review says it's "designed for the Gaylord Hauser 'Live Longer' set." There are some unRS online saying it's a parody (
this analysis, and an Amazon review or something). The "free plugs" article seems to imply people didn't get the joke.
Irony in music is
often overlooked, but it's obvious from the lyrics here IMO. One verse runs, "I used to be thinner than a pencil line/ Had no muscles and I had no spine/ But now I'm friskier than a pup/ All ya gotta do is prop me up"; in another, Marx says he used to be insomniac; "But since I'm eating right I feel okay/ I'm sleeping every night and half the day". But of course that's OR, even if linking the lyrics wasn't forbidden by
WP:ELNEVER.
I'm pretty sure the only reliable interpretive literature I haven't seen and mined yet is The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia, which says something which is invisible online, and which I'm ordering through Hollis. In the absence of anything useful from that, I should probably go fix that.
FourViolas (
talk)
18:31, 8 July 2016 (UTC)reply
Ordering? It's on the shelf. I hope you're not becoming one of these Scan&Deliver lazybones. Go get it yourself, and browse nearby volumes while you're at it. Your true education will come not in the lecture hall, but over meals in the dining hall and in the stacks of Widener. EEng20:25, 8 July 2016 (UTC)reply