90's Guilty Pleasures #37: Crash Test Dummies "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" (1994)

I still like Weird Al's version way better. I hated this song upon its release, and I should have stuck to my guns. In December 1994, Dumb And Dumber was released, and "Mmm" was used during a sequence after Lloyd and Harry get into a big argument. The filmmakers opted to use a section towards the end of the song that did not contain any of the baritone vocalist's awkwardly bizarre lyrics, and it was actually this exact moment that got me to enjoy "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm." Based on this, I determined the voxless outro to be this song’s best moment. Soon after this, the novelty aspects of the song made more sense, and lyrics such as "wouldn't go and change with the girls in the change room" became fun for singing along. Because honestly, who the fuck sings like this dude and expects to be taken seriously? (He also sings the words "their church" very distinctly.) Realizations such as these were difficult to fathom during 1994, because bands were "sincere" in those days and I thought Crash Test Dummies were all trying to be super-serious like Counting Crows or something. One element that's often overlooked is the music itself, as the chord progressions are actually well written, although the vocal melody sounds like a really bad Broadway number. I saw this band in 1999 (yet another embarrassment for myself). Out of the 6 or so covers of "Baby One More Time" I heard during the course of 1999, Crash Test Dummies version was the 2nd worst after Korn, and yet it somehow garnered them a standing ovation.