Song #96: Baha Men - "Normal"

Song #96: Baha Men - "Normal" (2002)

Move It Like This

"She says I should go to school to get my B.A.. But me, I want to be a DJ."

Some world music - and by "world music," I mean music from all over the globe - I really like and form an instant connection with, while some alienates me right off the bat; Baha Men's "Normal" stuck with me since the first time I allowed the group's album Move It Like This to go past track two on my mom's car CD player when I was four. The first two tracks on Move It Like This were the title track and "Coconut," respectively, and I relished those two. Every time one ended, I'd have my mom replay it again, sometimes louder than before because I loved the unique voices of the Baha Men and the infectious beats they'd combine with them.

You know the Baha Men, but you just don't know it; they're the same Jamaican band that made the song I have gotten enough of, which is the ballpark anthem "Who Let the Dogs Out?" (which doesn't mean what you think it means, FYI). Aside from concocting that awful ballad, the Baha Men hit three home-runs on one album, with "Normal" taking prominence in terms of having an actual meaning other than just being a track to made you get up and dance.

If you contemplate the lyricism behind "Normal," it's really an intriguing song, praising individualism and disregarding convention. It talks about how culture finds ways to dictate our behavior and how perception distracts us from doing what we maybe want to do. My favorite line from this, as quoted above is when one of the Baha Men state, "She says I should go to school to get my B.A.. But me, I want to be a DJ," showing how people - often times parents or relatives - sometimes want to pressure us into doing something when our plan is different and more appealing to us. As someone getting ready for college (who, admittedly, has thankfully had little opposition to being an English major other than from myself), this song really replicates a certain mood one falls into. Some days, I want to go right to college and show off what I can do. Other days, I want a fifth year of high school. And on rare days, I wish I could drop everything, grab my cat and my portable DVD player, and drive till I run out of gas. 

On a final note, if you're someone who likes to defy convention and live by your own rules, I can't see how you wouldn't be moved or empowered by the "So what?" verse in this song.

Give "Normal" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1u_Fz5AogU