Bree's Blog

Cape Cod, Whassa Kwassa?

What is Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa?
As do so many things these days, it all started with an e-mail

By Bree Barton, Special for cctoday

When I first received the email from a CCToday editor, asking if I might be interested in writing a post about Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, I was thoroughly confused.

I must here confess that I sometimes skim my e-mails on the initial read and, as such, often determine content through a sort of word association game. The game basically goes like this: I pick out pieces and try to string them together in my head, somewhat akin to children stringing popcorn and cranberries on a strand of twine for old-fashioned Christmas decorations. Unfortunately, the result is-much like the popcorn and cranberries-typically less dazzling than how you visualized it in your head. And then, the squirrels eat it.

What is Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa besides being ranked the 67^th best song of 2007 by Rolling Stone?

And so, my first reading of Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa was that it was some kind of New England twist on an African holiday. Either that, or a horrible misspelling.

Clearly, this sort of e-mail-reading is remarkably ineffective. But it's not like I'm the only one who indulges in the tactic. Googlemail has made a fortune off the art of skimming e-mails. They devised a brilliant marketing tool based on the concept; it's called "sponsored links." It's quite remarkable, really based on the content of the e-mail, and using what I can only imagine to be some kind of automated device that picks up on keywords, Gmail will provide you with a sampling of tailor-made links that relate (at least in theory) to what the person is emailing you about.

Here are the links that accompanied the initial email regarding Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa:

Cape Cod Wood Floors
Call Us for Quality, Custom Hardwood Flooring and Installation.

Cape Cod Oceanfront
3 Acres, New Constr Fab Design Absolute Seclusion, Epic Beauty

Trigger Email Marketing
Automate Your Email Campaigns By Sending Messages Based On Events

Easiest Receipt Scanning
Effortless Receipts and Business Cards - Scanned For You! Try Free

Centerville Chiropractic
In Pain? Call Today!

Where the hell IS Centerville?

I wasn't in pain, and I didn't call, that day or any other. Where the hell is Centerville, anyway? Obviously, Googlemail wasn't much help.

So, disillusioned by Gmail's inappropriate non-sequiturs, I began my quest in a world far, far beyond the domain of Googlemail.

...I went to Google.com instead. Four backspaces far, far beyond.

That's when my journey took me to Youtube. There was a video of this Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. It seemed to be a song by a band called "Vampire Weekend." The video promised to answer all of my most pressing questions. So I clicked. And it started loading. I waited with bated breath.

And then my browser window closed.

Unperturbed, I reopened Internet Explorer and tried loading the video again. The same thing happened. It happened again, too, until I begin to question the integrity of Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.

Was it disrupting my firewall?

Was it pornography?

Had I been right in my first assumption, and the video was somehow an affront to the African-American people?

Was my name going to flash up on a list somewhere, like kids who check out Mein Kampf at the local library? Was I soon to be blacklisted for trying to access Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa?

Finally, I tried another link. The video loaded without complaint. And I watched it.

For a moment, I thought this was some kind of variant of the Rickroll - another guy with coiffed hair and a blue jean jacket, crooning on his guitar. But no - this was no Rick Astley. This was something new.

So what IS CCKK?

Any song that manages to weave in "Louis Vutton" by the second line (and "Benetton" makes an appearance later) is bound to earn my respect.

What is Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa? It's a song about love, labels, and Peter Gabriel. Apparently, Peter Gabriel himself has expressed interest in doing a cover, though he's not yet sure whether he would keep this part of the lyrics - "Peter Gabriel too" - or substitute something different. In a sense, having Peter Gabriel sing "Peter Gabriel too" would be the most logical, thematically appropriate thing in the world; still, it's getting a little meta for a pop song.

Also: any song that manages to weave in "Louis Vutton" by the second line (and "Benetton" makes an appearance later) is bound to earn my respect.

I'm not the only one who digs it - the song is all the rage. It's only Vampire Weekend's fourth single, but it was rated the 67^th best song of 2007 by Rolling Stone.

The lyrics are without pretense. Beds and sweaters all receive their due; in fact the song is rather tactile in nature. Linens. Sandy lawns. Mothers.

The tune is simple, too, and rather catchy. The lyrics are without pretense. Beds and sweaters all receive their due; in fact the song is rather tactile in nature. Linens. Sandy lawns. Mothers. You can practically touch the smooth and soft.

The video draws an amusing dichotomy, I think, between the classic perception of the Cape Cod elite and the more vampiric, spiky-haired, black-eye-linered Gothic contingent. But the problem is, put either type next to the crashing waves of a Cape Cod beach (as they are in the video), and they still appear exactly as they are: young, enthusiastic, beautiful.

I miss the Atlantic Ocean. Landlocked in the center of Ohio, where I am volunteering in the final days before the election, I feel neither young, nor enthusiastic, nor beautiful. I feel tired.

At least now I've got a groovy new tune to accompany me as I canvass the dilapidated streets of downtown Akron. Hey - it's definitely better than a bastardized Kwanzaa.

You can't dance to Kwanzaa. But you can certainly do a little reggaeton rumba to Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.

Do you want to?

Oh, you know I do.