Soundcheck Smackdown: Is The Ukulele Lovely, Or Just Lazy?
Who knew such a tiny instrument could elicit such strong feelings? In the pop music era, the ukulele has gone from cultural artifact and jokey sidearm, to songwriting tool and ironic totem. The four-string made a high profile cameo on a recent episode of How I Met Your Mother, and many online commenters were swift and harsh in their condemnation, says writer Jesse David Fox. So harsh, in fact, that Fox wrote an article in defense of the ukulele for Vulture.
And while Ben Greenman didn't actively take to internet forums to voice his disapproval, the contributing editor at The New Yorker, is no less dismissive of the ukulele as a lazy cultural shorthand.
"It's the goatee of musical instruments," says Greenman. "It's the vintage dress that verges on looking like a costume, because it's got that old-timey borrowed antiqueness, the automatic vintage feel, which sometimes isn't earned."
Fox and Greenman enter the Smackdown ring to settle it:
Is the ukulele a charming, portable composer's dream...or a twee novelty whose time has passed?
