Song of the Day: “My Sharona” by The Knack

Will [5:50 PM]:
is there a better song
than
goodbye stranger by supertramp?
answer
no
no, there is not
dan you should just stop your song of the day articles
b/c the song of the day
every day
is goodbye stranger
by supertramp

Dan [6:37 PM]:
My rule is one song per artist, so i can’t pick it every day
Maybe I’ll do a “songs that aren’t goodbye stranger week”
and rate each song based on how similar it is to Goodbye Stranger

According to Billboard, “Goodbye Stranger” was not the most popular song of 1979: “My Sharona” by The Knack was. While I can only assume this is due to some sort of tabulation error, I can not hold it against The Knack. The heavily-hyped band made power pop’s most prominent stab into the mainstream ever. As a supporter of the genre, I appreciate the efforts. And it’s a great song, too!

“Goodbye Stranger” was, to my knowledge, never parodied by “Weird Al” Yankovich. Yet one of his very early, Dr. Demento successes was “My Balogna.” To paraphrase a great Earn This writer, Weird Al was at his best when he wrote about food.

In another bit of contrast, “My Sharona” is about being in love with a seventeen year old named Sharona, who was then featured on the single cover. Meanwhile, “Goodbye Stranger” is neither about a seventeen year old, nor a woman named Sharona. Those are two marks against “My Sharona.”

Despite these differences, the songs share an upbeat melody and manage to feel a bit “out of time.” Both are probably a minute or two longer than you remember. Both are timeless hits, even if one is “Goodbye Stranger,” and the other is not.

I rate “My Sharona”‘s similarity to “Goodbye Stranger”: ★★★(out of ★★★★★)

Click here for the full list

Click here for the full list


Dan and Brian from Earn This now have a film review site and podcast:

The Goods: Film Reviews

The Goods: A Film Podcast

Available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, and more.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *