Song Meaning

Allan Sherman's "An Average Song" isn't striving for Billboard glory; it's a meta-commentary disguised as a novelty tune. The genius lies in its utter lack of genius. Sherman, a master of musical parody, deconstructs the very notion of songwriting by delivering exactly what the title promises: a composition so relentlessly mediocre it loops back around to brilliance. The song's humor springs from the tension between expectation and delivery. We anticipate a musical experience, but instead, we get a checklist of negations. It's not *this*, not *that* – a litany of averageness meticulously crafted. He's poking fun at the formulas and clichés that often plague popular music, stripping away any pretense of artistic depth. Sherman's lyrical strategy is a study in self-deprecation. Each line meticulously avoids any strong emotional or musical commitment. "It's not too high, it's not too low; it's not too fast, it's not too slow" – the song systematically dismantles the listener's desire for anything distinctive. The use of double negatives, like "not too gay, not too blue," further muddies any potential emotional resonance, leaving us in a state of complete indifference. The cumulative effect is both hilarious and unsettling, forcing us to confront the possibility that much of what we consume is, in fact, aggressively average. Ultimately, “An Average Song” transcends its apparent simplicity. It becomes a commentary on consumerism, the homogenization of culture, and our own complicity in accepting mediocrity. Sherman isn't just singing a forgettable tune; he's holding up a mirror to our own tastes, daring us to question why we settle for the mundane. The final line, a gleeful acknowledgement of the song’s own lack of merit, seals the deal: "So ain't you glad this is the end?" It's a mic drop disguised as a shrug, a perfectly imperfect ending to a perfectly average song.