Music Appreciation: The Flim Flam Cider Song by Daniel Ingram
Seeing that the grand day of silliness is upon us again, I had to take a quick trip back to Equestria for this post. This time we’ll listen to “The Flim Flam Cider Song,” music by Daniel Ingram, lyrics by Ingram and M.A. Larson, and orchestration by Steffan Andrews. This song appears in season 2, episode 15 of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (“The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000”).
I won’t do a beat-by-beat analysis for this one. Instead, I’d like to talk a bit about how this song relates to the song it pays homage to: “Ya Got Trouble” from The Music Man (music and lyrics by Meredith Willson). The Music Man is a classic Broadway show and one of my favorites, so I recognized immediately that that’s what the MLP folks were going for.
Set the scene
First of all, the setting: Both versions deal with fast-talking traveling salesmen visiting a small town. They try to hoodwink the townspeople (or ponies) into their respective scams. For Professor Harold Hill, it’s buying instruments and uniforms for a boys’ band. For Flim and Flam, it’s a contraption meant for speeding up the process of making apple cider.
Now, the songs: The primary similarity is that they’re both patter songs. In a nutshell, a patter song is a type of song that relies on lots of words at a high speed. “Ya Got Trouble” is one of the most well-known, along with the “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” by Gilbert and Sullivan. Rock bands have had fun with patter songs as well. I’m a fan of “One Week” by Barenaked Ladies (though I’m now feeling old because that song came out almost 20 years ago – yikes!)
Firing up the crowd
Notice also how the lead singers interact with the crowds and how the crowd joins in the song. In the “Cider” song, the ponies sing along with the melody, whereas in “Trouble” they act as an echo. So while it’s slightly different, it leads to the same effect of getting swept up in the swindlers’ spiels.
The “Cider” song makes sure to include a nod to the most iconic part of “Trouble” – the chant. The townsfolk are so enamored by the stranger they start chanting, egging the stranger on. Others have paid homage to this sequence, most notably the Simpsons and their monorail song.
What are your favorite patter songs? Have you heard any other tributes to “Ya Got Trouble”? Let me know in the comments – I’d love to hear from you!
Have fun and enjoy the frivolity of today! See you next time on Tonal Diversions.
