“Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains Of Wayne gets a dark, clown-filled sequel

“Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains Of Wayne gets a dark, clown-filled sequel

“Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains Of Wayne is not a menacing song. Sure, the 2003 hit and its accompanying music video could be called out for possible sexism (Rachel Hunter sure is objectified), plus hints of voyeurism, not to mention vague implications of multigenerational pedophilia. Stacy herself is shown wearing heart-shaped sunglasses in the video, a nod to the ad campaign for Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita, while the lyrics ponder a possible relationship between a teenage boy and a grown woman. So that’s icky. But the song was not likely to give anyone nightmares or cause them to feel unsafe in their own homes. That is, until now.

Pop cultural re-arranger DJ Cummerbund has given the song a decidedly twisted and unsettling sequel, entitled simply “Stacy’s Mom Pt. 2.” Part of the reason that “Stacy’s Mom” didn’t set off alarm bells back in 2003 is that the song itself is uptempo, Cars-style power pop. And the video, which cleverly references Fast Times At Ridgemont High, is so bright and colorful that it’s practically a comic book come to life. The whole thing seems so fun and harmless. DJ Cummerbund’s version changes all of that.

For one thing, while the lyrics are basically unchanged, the arrangement has been altered dramatically. Using Michael Andrews and Gary Jules’ piano-driven cover of “Mad World” from the Donnie Darko soundtrack, “Stacy’s Mom” is now a haunting ballad in a minor key. (No pun intended.) Ample footage from the original video is used, but the color has been desaturated, giving it the grim, gritty appearance of a horror film. More importantly, footage of scary, threatening clowns, including Tim Curry’s Pennywise from It and Sid Haig’s Captain Spaulding, has been added to the mix. The video’s description provides a bit of a plot summary: “Several years have passed since the creepy little boy from ‘Stacy’s Mom’ by Fountains of Wayne stalked an unsuspecting single mother. He’s back… and he brought some friends with him. Clown friends.” Now, when the boy sings about how he’s “waited so long,” the listener has to question what this disturbed kid has been waiting to do all this time.

 
Join the discussion...