CityCynic.com jabbed by AdJab
June 14, 2005 
Kat Parr over at Weblogs, Inc.’s AdJab recently wrote a post entitled, Ads we hate: Kia Sportage that takes a jab (pun intended) at what I said in a previous post about that “Start Having a Great Life” song.
Here’s the jabby part:
CityCynic seems to think it’s catchy and uplifting, but uh, have you heard this song? (1) any song written after your mother commits suicide is bound to not have an “uplifting” quality, and (2) it’s just bad. Rant over.
Of course, it’s perfectly fine for Kat to hate that commerical, but how can the fact that the lyrics to the song have an uplifting quality to them be overlooked so easily? Here was my reply:
Hi, Anthony from CityCynic.com here. In defense of my comments, I do think that the song is uplifting.
Its like a reminder: “Start having a great life / Start living with inspiration”. If someone was depressed, that might jump start them back towards happiness, might it not?
At the same time, after hearing the song over and over again a million times, I’m getting tired of it, too. But that’s just what happens when a song gets played out.
And to go a touch further, I’d venture to say that theme of the commercial itself is uplifting — it’s a bunch of people sharing a Sportage in a crowded city. An idea far from reality, yes, but I think Goat’s song fits that theme perfectly.
One Response to “CityCynic.com jabbed by AdJab”
June 18th, 2005 at 2:44 PM
Your site is one of maybe two that talks about this song-I ordered the CD for 1 cent on Amazon (!!!)and got it last night.Apparently his brother also unbelievably died by his own hand. The soundbyte on the commercial makes it sound depressing as hell-not to mention the David Byrne-like deadpan intonation of the lyrics. That being said-the song in its entirety is GREAT.Very danceable-happy- I can’t stop playing it. Just wanted to let you know I agree with you-sure it’ll get tiresome eventually, but what doesn’t?
P.S. After seeing his picture, I’ve determined it’s not him in the commercial-something else that piqued my interest. Still a cute guy anyway, in a Michael Penn sort of way. (Another way under-appreciated guy).