Friday PSTSS: "I.T.H.O.T.M.O.A. (In The Halls Of The Malls Of America)"

For this Friday, yet another a cappella song, and yet another song about alienation and the modern economy...except this one is by The Bobs, an irrepressible--and peerless, I say--bunch of comedic jazz improvisers and vocalists; and this song, far from exploring the hopelessness which comes when the world passes one by, instead looks joyfully towards all the wonderful ways in which our local mall will serve our post-alienation needs. Sarcasm? Irony? Probably--but find and give this tune a listen anyway (from The Bobs' 1995 album, Plugged), and you'll find yourself dancing to the most delightfully upbeat paen to the salve of mindless consumerism ever written.

I want to fill that empty hole
My pockets are full but there's a hole in my soul
I need a purpose, but I don't know where to look

Then I go to the mall and I go shopping
Maybe I'm buying maybe "just looking"
I hope to find something, I don't know what it is

I wish I knew what I was searching for
In the halls of the malls of America
Something to love, something to adore
I.T.H.O.T.M.O. America

I need to wear the latest fashion
My look should move you to a fit of passion
I want an image, but I don't know what it is

I need to buy a new direction
Please have a sale on human connection
I shop for meaning still I don't know where it is

I wish I knew what I was searching for
In the halls of the malls of America
Something to love, something to adore
I.T.H.O.T.M.O. America

No one to help me, I'm safely enclosed
There's dance music booming -- mannequins posed
No outside weather, no traffic, no crime
Please take my money -- I'm just spending time

I wish I knew what I was searching for
In the halls of the malls of America
Something to love, something to adore
I.T.H.O.T.M.O. America