[78-L] Happy 100th, Johnny Mercer

[Randy Skretvedt]

Cary, I didn't want analysis, I merely wanted Mercer's lyrics to be heard.

This was cut with such a short attention span that any given song wasn't performed by one artist, it was performed by six or seven, sometimes with jarring key changes along the way.  And you're right--everybody was identified, along with the source of the material, which normally I would applaud, but when each shot only lasted six or seven seconds at best it made for a tremendous amount of visual clutter, all of which distracted mightily from appreciating the nuances of Mercer's lyrics.  I felt like Johnny was softly trying to sing one of his songs, while a juggler and a circus clown and a guy on a pogo stick were all blocking our view of him.

This should have been edited with more of an emphasis and respect for Mercer's words.  Lyrics are delicate things.  

I should note that I thought the biographical portions of the show were generally fine, just not organized the way I would have liked.  You and I know Mercer's story forward and backward, so if this documentary actually told it forward and backward, we still knew what happened and when.  Someone who was just learning about Mercer would be mightily confused, I suspect.

--Randy