Immersion Worship

Have you ever played the game “Chubby Bunnies”? You know, where you put a marshmallow in your mouth, say “chubby bunnies”, then add another marshmallow, say it again, add, say, add, say, until you either choke, become incoherent, or puke? If you have, then you’ll know what a voice sounds like when it’s all marshmallowed up like that.

Now I’ve been a Five For Fighting fan for a a few years; really since their America Town album hit, but there’s always been something about John Ondrasik’s voice that has bugged me. He’s not a great singer anyway, but there’s a tonal characteristic that has always just annoyed me a little bit, and I’ve never been able to put my finger on it. That is, until today.

As I was driving to work today, I was listening to the radio, and they were playing a Dave Matthews Band song (The Space Between) and they followed it immediately with a Five For Fighting song (One Hundred Years), and it suddenly dawned on me.

John Ondrasik sounds like Dave Matthews playing ‘Chubby Bunnies’.

This is an unfortunate realization, since every time I hear Five For Fighting from now on, I’m going to think of Dave Matthews trying to sing with a mouth stuffed full of marshmallows, and that shall taint my listening pleasure for the rest of my days. I know this to be true, because about 5 years ago my wife pointed out to me that Billy Corgan from The Smashing Pumpkins couldn’t actually sing, and since then I’ve not been able to really enjoy listening to The Smashing Pumpkins because I just can’t get past the fact that his singing sucks.

I don’t know what’s worse; scratching the itch concerning John Odrasik’s voice and thus dooming my enjoyment of Five For Fighting, or knowing that sooner or later I’ll also figure out why I’m bothered by James Morrison’s voice and I’ll be forced to add another to the ‘unlistenable’ pile.

Tsk tsk.