The Sprout and the Bra

All right, if it wasn't official before, it's official now.

I am sick of commercials.

I'm sure no one really looks forward to commercial breaks on TV (unless the Super Bowl's on), but I've never really consciously thought about it until today.

Well okay, so I guess there are some commercials that I enjoy, like the McDonald's one with the singing fish and that one a few years back with the car falling to the center of the earth. Oh, and Nanerpus. I guess what I'm actually sick of is the fact that commercials like to ruin songs for me.

Several years back, I remember really enjoying the Jewel song "Intuition" (don't judge). I liked it for a solid year or so, and then it popped up in a female razor commercial. Now I have nothing against shaving or hygiene, but I don't need to picture women shaving their legs in a bathtub whenever I hear a song I like. I guess some people might feel the same way about those "Venus" commercials, but I never really cared for that song in the first place. Anyway, that was years ago, before I really had very many opinions.

All right, now flash forward to 2009. I've got opinions out the wazoo, so every little thing bothers me. Back in '08, I fell in love with a song by Joanna Newsom called "The Sprout and the Bean." If I was the type of person who makes annual top 10 lists of favorite songs, this one would definitely have been on mine for 2008. So one day while watching a recorded episode of "The Office," a commercial break occurred. I lifted the remote to fast-forward through it, but I heard "Sprout" playing and was momentarily mystified. Then I realized I was watching a bra commercial. Again, bras are a very important part of our culture, but they are one of the last things I want to think about while I'm listening to this soothing masterpiece.

So I guess I just wish commercials would just start composing their own original music, or at least choose songs I don't love. Or find a song that matches the commercial and doesn't make you feel weird about liking the song. Like that one car commercial from a few years ago with the rose petals and the Dirty Vegas song. I might not think "rose petals and cars" when I hear "Without You," but at least i'm not bombarded with images of female undergarments or leg-shaving.

UPDATE: Let's just go ahead and add Santogold's "Lights Out" to the list. Freaking Budweiser.