Plaid Clashes With Polka Dots

My favorite sister Katie made me a mix of Outkast songs, um, maybe a year ago.  It’s a great cd to pump when riding down the street with the windows down.  It’s also a great pick-me-up mix.  Real hip-hop, which in my mind is defined as “happy rap”.  One of the songs on the cd is “Funkin’ Around“, and I’ve had a few lines stuck in my head for the past couple of weeks that I’d like to share with you:

one slash one slash ninety-one
my teacher sees potential in me, says sit down son
now let me tell you like I heard it, when I felt deserted
it wasn’t no other way to word it got my feelings murdered
by the the bullet of bad the singer of sad
songs to make you long for your mum and your dad
plaid clash with polka dots I hope you ain’t mad
back up little mama I’m about to react

My sincere apologies to Katie, Dan, Gino, and Christine, as they had to endure my endless repetition of these lines on Saturday night. 

Overall, this is a great track; it’s got a great P-Funk sound to it.  The thing I dig about these lines is the mental picture I paint:  Adre3000 has or had someone in his life that he looked up to and respected - the “teacher” – and this person took time out of his or her day to bring Andre up out of the doldrums.  The teacher recognizes “the potential” in Andre, which means that on some level the teacher identifies with Andre.  And Andre views this identification by someone he respects as a compliment.

The teacher says “sit down son”, which means that the teacher is being pro-active and taking time out of his or her day to pass something on to Andre.  Andre didn’t go to the teacher and ask for help or advice, the teacher is offering to share his or her experience with Andre.  The thing I dig about this is that it makes me feel good to think that there are people like this “teacher” in the world.  I’ve often pulled aside someone with whom I’ve identified and offered my own experience as a salve to help them deal with whatever they’re going through at the time.  I’ve only ever done so from an altruistic motive.  It makes me feel good to think that there are other people in the world who act from altruistic motives. 

Without getting too cynical, it’s been a rare occasion in my life that someone I respect has pulled me aside to share their experience with me – strictly for my benefit.  I’ve always been told that I have a lot of potential in me, but I’m usually told this in a disdainful manner.  “You have potential” is generally followed immediately by “but…”  Those that I’ve looked up to and respected who have recognized the potential in me generally view that potential as a threat and – rather than being pro-active in assisting me – have gone out of their way to stymie my efforts in whatever arena we’re both engaged.  Not that I care all that much – life can be tough, and I try not to be a whiner about it.  Again, it’s nice to hear that there are other people in the world who will go out of their way to help another human being without having a purely selfish motive behind the assistance.

The teacher further identifies with Andre’s state of mind at the time – he was “feeling deserted” and his feelings had been “murdered”, which is obviously a lot worse than them being hurt.  From the perspective of the student, the teacher is infallible and didn’t have tough times or struggle to get to the superior position of “teacher”.  In this case, the teacher is revealing his or her own humanity to Andre as a way of helping Andre through his difficult time. 

My read on the line “plaid clash with polka dots I hope you ain’t mad” is that the teacher is turning Andre’s attention back to Andre and reminding him that his own choices in some way led him to being hurt.  That is, if we take this to the schoolyard, the teacher is saying to Andre “Look at yourself, son:  you’re wearing plaid and polka dots.  They clash.  It’s cool if you want to wear that, but you can’t expect to do so without attracting a little bit of negative attention from your peers.  Either wear some duds that don’t “clash”, or be man enough to have confidence in yourself and endure the ridicule of others.”

To repeat, the thing I dig about these lines is that it demonstrates that there are people in the world who will go out of their way to help another person, with no thought for their own gain.  And these altruistic actions have a positive impact on the recipient.  This event must have had a pretty big impact on Andre for him to write and rap about it.  And if you’ve ever seen what Andre wears and the confidence he displays, you know what I’m talking about.  Without being too circular, it’s good for me to hear Andre revealing his own humanity to me through his lyrics.

Tagged as: altruism, Andre3000, Funkin' Around, Outkast