The last thing one expects to hear after “When I got my abortion” is Ben Folds doing his best Beach Boys ooo-WOO-ooo-ooo, yet there it is, launching the second verse of Amanda Palmer’s “Oasis,” a first-person narrative of being raped, aborting the ill-conceived child and having her best friend, Melissa Mahoney, ruin her reputation.This isn’t a tale of woe; the woe is incidental to teenage Brit-Pop obsession. Come the chorus, trials and tribulations take an emotional backseat to the letter she sends Oasis, and the reply she expects. The music jumps and buzzes through Folds’ modern doo-wop piano-pop production with a surf beat that begs for arms-above-the-head dancing.
It’s a classic Sting Disconnect, stretched tight on a two-minute pop song, delighting in its own absurdist extremes. The music is so traditionally up, that the content of the verses isn’t obvious. On repeated listens the story surfaces and takes on definition and nuance. Palmer dares us to become enraged at her teenage girl, but the self-assurance infects you.
All you can do is laugh and shake your head, tickled, like old men do when they hear what computers are up to these days. As she says, “it isn’t [her] fault that the barbarian raped [her].” She’s not weak-minded, but a strong-willed woman, who knows what’s important to her.
What’s important to her is making Melissa Mahoney jealous. Didn’t you hear? Oasis sent her an autographed picture!
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