Uncle Kracker "Smile"

I figured "Smile," a song by 90's somehow-survivor Uncle Kracker, would be a good start for my reviews as it's representative of what I love in a pop song: simple, sing-along melodies and easily-digestible, universal lyrics that, while they may border on banality and cliche, offer a clear-cut message with enough cool metaphor as to still be considered acceptable by anyone with a brain and willing to suspend disbelief for three minutes and change.

Lyrically, "Smile" is a grab-bag of grade-school metaphors that works thanks to the its playful, breezy production. It's really just a modern-day update of Randy Newman's "I Love To See You Smile," itself a throwback to the simple, tiptoe-through-the-tulips songwriting of Tin Pan Alley. In "Smile," Uncle Kracker's love interest makes him "shine like gold, buzz like a bee," whereas Newman's "like a sink without a faucet, like a watch without a dial," without his love's smile. The lyrics are pretty much relatable to anyone with the 17 muscles it takes to smile, so EVERYONE (mostly.) 


Melodically, "Smile," is simple enough as to sound instantly familiar, but I can't quite pinpoint the origin, so it's money in the bank for him. Curiously, for all the sing-alonginess of the chorus, the song's verse melody sounds a bit half-done and unsure of itself, and were it not for the piano/drumbeat hook going on (and Kracker's higher-up connections), it might have been the death-knell for this song. Kracker and the other songwriters involved hit gold with the chorus hook, placing the highest note right at the word "smile," repeating its peak/valley melody, beating it into our heads. The bridge is great, a minor descending thing that twists the song and gives it a tiny tinge of darkness before coming back to the classic "quiet" chorus and topping it off with some pleasant female backing vocals.


This song's a good example of the randomness of pop hits. "Smile" hit radio in summer 2009 and tanked. In an odd stroke of luck (or payola), it returned in summer 2010 and blanketed the airwaves, probably confusing a few people along the way ( "Is that the same dude that sang "Follow Me"? Is this 2001? Are skinny ties back?") It's nothing groundbreaking lyrically or melodically, but "Smile"'s got enough character and innocence to make it something worth remembering, at least til the end of the summer.