Green Light Cameras plays Ball of Wax 63 off with “The Joke that Went Too Far.” This bitterly breezy tune was written in response to my prompt for Ball of Wax 62 – write a song in the immediate aftermath of the 2020 election – but, due to my lack of inbox organization and the overflow of brilliant submissions I received for that volume, I was forced to roll it over here, to the first volume of 2021.
Interestingly, the delayed release both amplifies and mutes the song’s original intent. The amplification comes from the added perspective, since December 2020, of just how far the awful, unfunny joke that was our 45th president went. On the other hand, the lack of context – appearing at the end of a collection of songs with a range of subjects and perspectives – means the listener may not apprehend just who is the target of this song’s meticulous ire. Depending on how one hears them, these words could be directed to a historical dictator, a terrible boss, a maniacal bus driver, or a high school bully. As such, though, it all still works, as an ever-unspooling list of burns (“you’re a fishing line without the hook / a dusty shelf but not the books / you’re not the clock, but the missing minute hand . . .”) set to a soothing lounge beat: poetic yet pointed, evocative yet disgusted; whoever this song is about, GLC is fucking over them – a sentiment we can all appreciate, whether about a former president or a former friend.