Nostalgic Music Video of the Day: Nada Surf - "Popular"

The second video in a small installment focusing on one-hit-wonders.

This band forced me to ask myself the question of what constitutes as a one-hit-wonder. Last year, Nada Surf released a new album and had one of their singles grace the airwaves of modern rock radio. But was it is popular as "Popular"? I don't think so. My theory is that if you played the two songs on the jukebox at a bar, the majority of people would recognize "Popular". A hit, to me, is when a song not only does well in the realm of its own genre, but is able to have some success outside of it as well. For example, "Last Nite" by the Strokes was a hit, but I would have to say that "Someday" was not, just because it didn't thrive outside of Alternative Radio. Instead, "Someday" is just one of their singles.

I remember when this video hit big. They took a lot of shit for ripping off Weezer, and rightfully so. The singer more than resembles Rivers Cuomo when he's in the teacher costume, and looks like he should be in the photo of the Blue Album when playing on the football field. The song owes a lot to "Undone (The Sweater Song)" too, with its talking verses that lead into the sing-along chorus. Still, I really kinda like this song. I remember being a geeky 14-year-old and wondering why they wrote a song guiding girls on how to date any boy they wanted to and not the other way aroud, because my nerdy freshman ass sure needed a teenage guide to popularity.

I also wonder why anyone would tell Johnny Footballhero they liked his article in the newspaper. Doesn't that just insinuate that Johnny can even write in the first place?