Timeline.
June 2nd, 2007. The last of the poems, this room, and this outfit. All three were updated on the same day and clearly edited from the same footage. This one comes in at a humble third place in views, too, totaling just over 1500. It has six likes and seven dislikes. It has only three comments. Four years ago johnnymilkshark wrote "You are one of a kind." Three years ago felixcostello wrote, very astutely, "what the FUCK." Indeed, felix, indeed. Finally, only three months ago (showing people are still stumbling across Daniel Songer and the ass-end of the internet), Mr. angrygrunt commented, "u suck." All of these commenters show their own uniqe and accurate insight.
Presentation.
You would think by now, given this is the third video of Dan the Poet Man from the same footage, that I would be out of insight into his presentation. It's true that I've exhausted much, if not all, there is to his overused gesticulations, ridiculous outfit, and bland setting. It's true that I've explored much of the poor editing. But is it true I've said all there is to say? Yes. No! I'm just getting started! This video's gesticulations strike with avengence, bringing in a whole new breed of weird and stroke-like physicalization! You thought there was nothing left to say about Daniel Songer crouching? You. Thought. Wrong.
These things have begun to make me nauseous: putting his hand out up and open, leaving his hand off to the side awkwardly and not fully closed, putting his hands up in a W, fiddling with his pants, jacket, or tie, gesturing to the air with his right hand, and when he thinks yelling his poem somehow provides intensity.
So the crouching only happens twice in this video, which is still two times too many, but in the analysis of Mr. Songer, it's a relief. Notice, in the first crouch around 0:19, where he is clearly pulling up his pant legs so he can get down. He doesn't even do it smoothly. Not that it isn't already awkward and weird, but now it's embarassing. Also, in the second crouch around 0:50, did you notice anything else he just won't stop doing? Fiddling with that damned tie. A huge part of these videos is performance. Dan clearly understands this: over gesticulating, spinning around, wearing that hat, but he doesn't rehearse, film again, or even know the basics. This is the kind of stuff you do in the mirror, alone with the door shut. The stuff you do on film and stage takes time and practice. Not to mention this thing we call effort. It's strikingly obvious, not just in the stupid things he thinks are a good idea, but more emphatically in these little things he's less conscious of, that he is just winging it. It's true that he's written these poems, but even these poems come off as extremely early rough drafts done by an eighth grader. He clearly has never exposed them to sincere, in depth criticism, whether from himself or others, and it's highly unlikely he's ever changed them from their first incarnation. And this bleeds more heavily in these three videos, all clearly edited from one straight shot of footage, that he takes the same approach in his acting. This is not okay.
The only thing I noticed that's particularly new is a circular motion Dan makes with his hand. It happens around 0:43 when he says, "I came to Atlanta" and at 1:04 when he says, "I traveled all over the world." So whenever you're trying to tell someone of your travels, and you want to express that physically (if, say, English is their second language or they're hard of hearing), the best way to do it is to lift your right hand up and spin it around in a circle. Either do it at the wrist like he does the first time, with his index finger out, so you basically look like gay dancer, or torque at the elbow with your hand completely open, so it looks like you're wafting some horrible smell out of your ear. Seriously, what made him think that these motions in any way capture or emphasize what he's saying? I can't find any reasonable justification for this that isn't stretching thin. So let's stretch! Spinning your hand around captures "around" really well! Normally you would do that in front of you, not up and to the right, and usually with both hands, and even that is still kind of weird, but whatever. The finger in the first one was somehow pointing to an invisible globe with Atlanta on it. That's why he implements the index finger the first time and not the second.
One final thing about Dan's presentation, given that this is the last of his poetry videos: I don't think I can properly emphasize just exactly how bad his presentation is. The best way for me to try and explain it is to describe an alternative. Imagine Daniel Songer was just a bit more flexible, energetic, expressive, or eccentric. More eccentric? More eccentric in his physicality, less monotonous, dull, and redundant. This is why he crosses that threshold from comically bad to painfully bad. What if he ran in place, put his hand up to shield his eyes from a pretend sun and scanned that room? What if he stopped, pointed at the camera, as if he had found the love of his life? You know, as if he was the host of Blues Clues or some other children's show. At least then he would be funny. One of these videos might have even gone viral. Instead, he does the same things over and over again. There is not a single gesticulation in any video that he only does once. This is the depth of the horror that is watching Dan the Poet Man. This is the heart of the awful awful beast.
Content.
My Georgia Peach is absolutely shocking at times. This poem, unlike "I'm a Statue" or "Queen of the Thunder," truly takes me by surprise and even makes me feel uncomfortable. Any religious undertones in the first two, such as "hope and pray," are suddenly full blown Bible belt religious right homophobic preaching. It practically comes out of nowhere in the poem itself, too.
You can be a woman, or you could be a girl.The first stanza is standard for Daniel Songer Poetry(tm). It's just awkward, shitty rhythm about love and a woman. Originally I just thought he was trying to be funny with the next stanza, but under the surface it is extremely creepy and mysoginistic. Right now he's talking to a woman, or a girl, and she has apparently three looks she could do: business, athletic, or naked. Wink wink women (or girls who like pedophiles), you can put on your birthday suit. If you dare. Really Dan, as if you weren't creepy enough? And the next stanza increases this exponentially. It turns into a preachy, almost "did you know?!" poem, where today we live in a world where women can be police officers, have muscles, or even careers! Get back in the kitchen. And the creepy, mysoginistic, backwards frosting on this fucked up sundae comes courtesy of the last line in the third stanza. Out of all kinds of women, he fears tranvestites. All the women...transvestites...women...transvestites... Of course, my first thought is Quagmire from Family Guy, constantly hitting on women at bars, desperate and over compensating, always with an undertone of homosexuality. Holy crap.
Open your heart, and you'll find beauty.
Just as you open a shell to find a beautiful pearl.
You can put on your business look, or you can put on your athletic wear.
You can put on your birthday suit,
if you dare.
Today we have police women, muscle-bound women, and women who search for their career.
Out of all the women in this world,
It is the transvestites, I fear.
I'm not sure what Mr. Songer's goal is in this poem, what exactly his overall message and theme of the poem are. From the first three stanzas, it sounds like he's talking about how every girl, no matter what she wears, on the inside is a beautiful pearl. Even if she is one of them strong career-type women that exist now. Just not transvestites. Ew. The following stanzas are where it seems to turn into something preachy, some sort of religious message for his audience, when originally it seemed to be about "My Georgia Peach." You know, Dan just waiting for love, as always.
God created man and woman in his image and gave us the opportunity to excelThe first stanza seems to emphasize "man and woman in his image," as if to make sure we know that transvestites are not a part of God's plan. They're gross and weird and ew. Ew. I still find it funny how he says "I came to Atlanta" because it's the gayest thing I've seen him do. I'm also really uncertain about his use of the word "implement." I think it might work, but you have to stretch it or go with its fourth definition. In the final line we seem to get back to what I think is the original purpose of this poem: Dan's ideal lady. That being said, it's still awfully mysoginistic. Isn't the Southern Belle a more old south thing? "Well I do say there, Mr. Songer, your cotton looks mighty fine today. I made you some tea while you sit out here on this porch smokin' your pipe." But it quickly dissolves back into that weird homophobic right wing message as he continues.
I came to Atlanta to implement my career
And to find a beautiful angel they call the Southern Belle
There's a lot of women in this world,You hope to find a woman that won't be a pretender. You know, it's not really the first thing I'm worried about. Hell, it's not even the 100th thing I'm worried about. It's kind of something that I only worry about if she pulls down her pants and has a penis. When I'm out looking for love, my first thought isn't whether or not she's a transvestite. I'm really starting to wonder about Daniel Songer's past. More importantly, is his real sexual preference, but more on that later. Also, did you notice again that his angel will come to him? He's certainly never going to be the one going to her: passive passive passive. I also can't stand that he feels the need to yell at me, "FOR HER MY HEART I WILL SURRENDER." I get it, geez.
and you hope to find a woman that won't be a pretender.
My angel will come to me
And for her my heart I will surrender.
I traveled all over the world to give love and the word of god, to teachSo I don't really see Dan as the master of the sentence structure, and this by no means proves me wrong. That first line is just atrocious. I feel like he could have just given love and the word of god, but for some reason he felt the need to add "to teach" at the end. I also don't entirely understand why he feels that the South is necessary in order to live his "life as one with god." Hang on, let's get really nitpicky for a second. Did you notice the use of the word "as" in this? Don't most people just live their life one with god? Think of it like this: "to live my life one with god." Isn't that enough? What purpose, exactly, does the word "as" serve in this sentence? Yes, I'm seriously asking! All the word "as" does here is weaken the conviction and image Dan the Poet Man is creating. Basically, he isn't going to live his life one with god, he's going to life his life as one with god, like being one with god, kind of similarly to living life one with god. I guess he's not too confident in his abilities to be an extreme Southern religous individual. Only in his fear of transvestites, maybe. And finally, in the last line, we get the title. Whatever.
the South is where I want to be
and to live my life as one with god
as well as my Georgia peach
What exactly is going on?
I don't feel I really need to reiterate his passiveness for love. I've gotten into this a bit, but Daniel Songer reveals an intensely religous side and some serious homophobia. The "women" he fears most are tranvestites, and the logistics of that sentence aside, he feels the need to emphasize this issue when he hopes the woman he finds "won't be a pretender." What does his search for love have to do with transvestites? Can't he let them do their thing and he can do his? Of course not, because "god created man and woman in his image," which--even though includes the ability to give/have sex changes--does not include pretenders. And in addition to his overwhelming fear of "fake women," Dan's "traveled to Atlanta" motion is, without a doubt, really gay. This is not to say he necessarily has to be gay because he does a motion that's really effeminate, but it's clear that there is a side to himself he fears. Oh Mr. Untrained-Not-Actually-A-Psychologist thinks he can claim Daniel Songer is projecting his fear of himself onto transvestites. I'm not claiming to have some sort of reliable knowledge when it comes to the study of Psychology, I'm just calling it like I see it. And it seems to me that Daniel Songer is scared of transvestites and is kind of effeminate. Draw whatever conclusions from that you want.
But it's really the religious overtones that got me in this one. Atlanta, The South, living life "as" one with god, god creating "man and woman in his image," etc. It's fine to believe in god and--in this particular religion--Jesus, and sure, you know, preach it if you want, but it's how it ties in with the rest of his views. Dan notes that he wants to be in The South, because, I assume, that the Bible Belt has better Christians. Whatever-who-cares-deal-with-it. Couple this with his notion "the Southern Belle," and the "informative" stanza about how today we have "police women," hell, even "muscle-bound women!" That's so crazy! Fine, so Dan is from another era, but notice that he still wants a woman from that previous era, the not-really-in-existent-anymore Southern Belle. Certainly in these days we've got them police women, but hell if I still don't want me a good ol' home cookin' honey. Meh, I don't really care. He wants what he wants. Still, it's revealing.
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