It's hard to say precisely what's so awful about the video. Maybe it's the combination of utter silliness, a certain pretentiousness, the vague nod toward soft-core porn, the fact that the song's about a "drunken sailor" but the video has a "stalkin' zombie" instead, the total disregard for the song's history, the postmodern mix of historical eras and pure fantasy, the bland competence of the singing and dancing, etc., etc.

Is anyone ready to say what's great about it? (Well, it's light-hearted and peppy and the girls are pretty.)

Months ago I started a thread asking (just as an exercise in "folk criticism") what people really enjoyed about the song "Fiddlers' Green." It's so popular that it must "mean" something to singers and fans.

Not one person in the highly opinionated Mudcat Universe would venture a thought, much less an analysis.

Because that kind of thing is really hard! And why bother?!

Back to the video: none of those features *by itself* or even, perhaps, in limited combination, would necessarily spell disaster -but all at once, the mind boggles.

IMO.

Now, if I were thirteen years old, I might think differently.