Moxy Fruvous :: Music Musical Essays

Moxy Fruvous From their earliest gigs as buskers (street performers) in downtown Toronto, the Canadian pop band Moxy Fruvous has attracted attention with an energetic blend of tight harmonies and witty social commentary (Bush). The band’s first album, 1994’s Bargainville, highlights both these qualities, casting a skewed glance at topics ranging from video stores to the Gulf War. One of the disc’s highlights, â€Å"Darlington Darling,† examines blue-collar love and tells a tale of frustration, both economic and romantic. The first verse introduces the song’s speaker, who works on an assembly line in an auto plant, where he â€Å"slaps on† plugs and distributor caps for Mercuries (1-2). However, we quickly discover that the speaker is unable even to afford the cars he helps to build, noting that â€Å"I can drive. . . but this car’s made for you† (4). This point is underscored by the chorus. As the speaker says that he’d like to buy a car or cars for his love, his wishes are countered by the economic realities of his situation: I’d like to buy her one – (Where you gonna get the money, son?) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An’ I’d like to buy her more Than this blue collar can afford (5-6, 11-12). In the second verse, the speaker’s situation is contrasted with the case of a co-worker who is doing a little better. â€Å"Chipper down the line† sycophantically plies his boss with egg nog at the company Christmas party (13-14). In return, Chipper gets a raise, which he uses to pay for a vacation cottage/â€Å"love nest† on Lake Scugog (a rather unprepossessing man-made lake near Toronto)(â€Å"Lake Scugog†). Although Chipper is willing to let his coworker use the cabin for a weekend, the speaker’s girlfriend is working for nearly the entire weekend (16). Once again, the economic realities of the working class (weekend shifts) interfere with dreams of leisure and love. Also worth noting here is that, during the solo that follows the second chorus, the listener can here a voice berating Chipper, telling him to â€Å"Get back to work, you greaseball!† Apparently, even toadying for the boss only goes so far, and even the better-paid workers are subject to verbal abuse. After the solo and another repeat of the chorus, a final half-verse focuses on the speaker’s love. We learn that she lives â€Å"half a mile from the cooling towers† of the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, a nuclear power plant near Toronto (â€Å"Darlington†).