I've always been fascinated by the notion of the virulent quality of the summer 'jam.' By summer jam, I'm of course referring to that one song that somehow dominates the airwaves and clubs during the hot months of June, July and August. One particular common trait among summer jams is the inanity of the lyrics, although the Thong Song--that paean to the thong--is rather brilliant. Relatedly, check out this essay where the author explicates Rihanna's summer jam "Umbrella" and explains why it was this summer's jam:
Rihanna’s song reminds us that umbrella is a cool word. It’s fun to say “umbrella,” which comes from the Latin meaning “little shadow,” by the way. Also, it is double fun to say cool words in different and surprising ways. We normally think of umbrella as a three syllable word. Rihanna has made it four. Um-bur-el-la. It is also fun to say parts of words and sometimes just to make sounds. And that is what Rihanna does. It makes up the entirety of the “hook” of the song. She sings, “under my um-bur-el-la, el-la, el-la, eh, eh, eh.”
Those last three sounds are important. I don’t think “Umbrella” could have been a summer jam without the “eh, eh, eh.” She makes it a guttural sound that comes from the back of the throat, or maybe from down in the esophagus somewhere. As a friend pointed out, it is the same sound that comes out of the throat of the Cranberries’ lead singer in the song “Zombie”. Now “Zombie” wasn’t a summer jam but it was a huge hit and I think that had a lot to do with the noises. If anything, the Cranberries woman went a little overboard with the “eh”ing. Rihanna reigns it in and gives us an “eh” trinity, which is appropriate. The summer jam has to be tight.
When I first heard this song, I would have never predicted that it would be the monster that it became simply because the Jay-Z intro is terrible, te-ra, te-ra, te-ra, eh, eh, eh. I would presume that a summer jam would need a heavy pop beat that instantly surrounds and infects the listener with its mind numbing pop injection. "Umbrella" doesn't quite fit this model. However, I think I agree with this author's point about the guttural quality of the "eh-eh-eh," but in addition, I contend that the final missing link in understanding how such an asinine song became a contagious hit is that the "el-la, el-la, el-la, eh, eh, eh" repetition made it a sing along that even Helen Keller could mimic.
[Thanks Kzar!]
And if you're reading this--you know who you are--for the last time: NO, I don't think you resemble Rihanna at all.