Online - August 10, 2005

Kid Rock

The Marvelous Crooning Child

Kids today. No values. No goals. No sense of pop history. Most of them think “golden oldie” refers to the Backstreet Boys’ first single.

So you’ve got to admire The Marvelous Crooning Child. The permanent fixture on comedian Eugene Mirman’s website sings all your favorites — in a number of musical genres.

Feeling a little bit country, a little bit rock ’n’ roll? The MCC’s renditions of “Friends in Low Places” or “Sweet Home Alabama” will set those toes atappin’ in no time. Perhaps you pine for a twenty-second medley of The Who’s greatest hits. The Child will happily oblige.

Sure, he’s creative with the lyrics. And, yes, his severe haircut and penetratingly hostile gaze are a tad depressing. And, okay, he’s totally tone-deaf. But his rousing version of “I Fought the Law” is more punk rock than the original, and he doesn’t shy away from a cover of The Boss’s “Born in the U.S.A.”

Now that’s the kind of gumption we want in our nation’s youth.

Available online at eugenemirman.com.