Wonderfully profound, Futurama!

Ahh, Futurama. Who doesn't love that show? Me, I adore it, but the thing I love most about it are the songs. Now, the songs are entertaining and catchy, but there's one that goes beyond entertaining for me, into something that might be actually meaningful and philosophical in a weird way.

In the episode "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back", Hermes sings an upbeat, reggae-style tune detailing how much he loves bureaucracy. On the surface it seems to be just another catchy song, but there are two lines in it that, oddly enough, really speak to me.

"When push comes to shove, you gotta do what you love/Even if it's not a good idea."

It really sells the whole "live life to the full" concept to me, which I've always been a fan of. I wish I could explain how I felt about this more, but I'm not so good with words. Just know that I love those lines, and not just for their entertainment value.

Here's the song in full, just 'cause. I separated lines with slashes rather than line breaks because with the way this blog is formatted, line breaks wouldn't look good. Verses are separated by line breaks.

Hermes: (spoken) Requisition me a beat!

(Music starts)

Hermes: (sung) When I was four there was a hurricane in Kingston Town/With a foot and a half of water/Everyone was alright, but I cried all night/It blew my alphabet blocks out of order

And they said this boy's born to be a bureaucrat/Born to be all obsessive and snotty/I made my friends and relations file long applications/To get into my tenth birthday party

LaBarbara: But something changed when my man turned pro

Hermes: I was sorting but I wasn't smiling

LaBarbara: He forgot that it's not about badges and ranks

Hermes: It's supposed to be about the filing! People!

We didn't choose to be bureaucrats/No, that's what almighty Jah made us/We treat people like swine and make them stand in line/Even if nobody paid us

They say the world looks down on the bureaucrats/They say we're anal, compulsive and weird/But when push comes to shove, you gotta do what you love/Even if it's not a good idea! Zoidberg!

Zoidberg: They said I probably shouldn't be a surgeon!

Professor Farnsworth: They poo-pooed my electric frankfurter!

Leela: They said I probably shouldn't fly with just one eye!

Bender: I am Bender, please insert girder!

Hermes: Everybody sing Jamaica!

Everyone: Jamaica!

Hermes: Just the bureaucrats! Jamaica!

Bureaucrats: Jamaica!

Hermes: The Grade 19s!

(Pause)

Morgan: (reluctantly) Jamaica.

Hermes: Sing me home! When push comes to shove, you gotta do what you love/Even if it's not a good idea! Ha!

We salute you, Futurama. Light be with you all!

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