It Took a Lot of Gumption to Write This

How a wordworm can become an earworm: a triptych down musical alley

Apr 10, 2023

It’s 8am, Sunday.

My wife and I are in bed sipping coffee. We are staring at our iPads. Our dog Bernie is asleep between us, his limbs twitching from some dream where he’s likely chasing squirrels.

Karen’s playing Candy Crush on her iPad (she’s on level 7086 as I write this — oh wait, now it’s 7087); I’m reading George Saunders new short story collection Liberation Day. (So far, not too impressed; it requires more attention than I have to give. So it’s probably me).

We are having some sort of conversation, I can’t remember about what. It’s the sort of early-morning-barely-awake-talk that people have when they are doing other things and speaking to one another becomes something you can do without paying attention, like brushing your teeth or putting on socks. It’s not really possible to listen to someone when you are reading a book or playing a video game — multitasking has been proven to be a myth; but I’m confident some things can happen simultaneously, like reading the newspaper while eating Cheerios.

Suddenly — or maybe casually — Karen uses the word “gumption” in her sentence and I am swiftly thrust out of my trance of partial listening.

Gumption. What a great word!

I repeat the word over and over in my head, using a variety of inflections until it starts to sound like a made up word. I am pretty sure Karen is still talking to me.

Then a thought: “Gumption” would be a great name for a band!

So I open Spotify and type in “gumption.”

1. Gumption - Ultramaroon

Of course there would be several bands with gumption in their name. I shouldn’t have been surprised.

The first of the search results — simply: Gumption — have one album, released in 1997, titled Ultramaroon. Sounds promising. I Iike the color Maroon. But I don’t like Maroon 5. I’m cautiously optimistic.

I slip my left bluetooth earbud in. The one furthest from my wife, so that I can sort of still hear her make word noises. I press play and am immediately hit with the sweet, fizzy sounds of melodic power-pop: one of my favorite genres.

The first song on Ultramaroon is “Gravity.”

It’s really good! It sounds familiar and peppy and reminds me a bit of the band The Smithereens but less smoky.

The website allmusic.com compares Gumption to The Replacements and Guided By Voices, which feels like higher praise than I’m willing to give it. I like that the band has two lead vocalists, guitarist Kurt Hagardorn and bassist Gary Miller. Their vocal interplay is more Raspberries and less rasp.

Would I describe Gumption as having gumption though? I realize that maybe I’m unclear on the definition.

American Heritage Dictionary defines gumption as:

Boldness of enterprise; initiative or aggressiveness.
Guts; spunk.
Common sense.

First, it seems like common sense doesn’t belong there. Isn’t that a bit in conflict with guts and aggressiveness?

I suppose that there is a boldness of initiative in the song “Gravity.” Not sure it’s got much spunk though. Doesn’t matter. It’s close enough.

This Gumption search is waking me up faster than the Peet’s coffee!

2. Gumption and Glory — This Song is a Piece of Crap

Well, Gumption and Glory songwriter Ray Gennari did warn us right up front.

So if you were expecting a diamond in the rough, well….you will get the rough part. But damn it if the words: “This Song is a Piece of Crap” — which get repeated a couple dozen times here — haven’t stuck in my head like….a piece of crap you step in and it’s smooshed into the grooves on the bottom of your shoe and no amount of power washing can clear it out completely. That’s what listening to this song is like.

I think I mean it as a compliment?

I don’t want to waste any more precious time researching Ray Gennari or Gumption and Glory, but I will say that his YouTube channel has two videos and four subscribers so there’s clearly a big following. Oh, and it says it was recorded in 2014, but who knows.

The only important thing to remember is that This Song Is a Piece of Crap.

3. Forest Gumption — Year of the Gump

There are dozens of influential hip-hop and rap scenes, from all corners of the globe.

In the U.S. alone we have East Coast, West Coast, Southern Rap, Midwest, probably others I’m forgetting. And there are internationally recognized rappers from Mexico, France, Nigeria, England, Australia, and countless other countries.

What I haven’t heard much of though? Canadian rap.

Does Canada have a bad rap when it comes to rap?

I know what you are about to say…. Isn’t one of the most popular rappers — Drake — Canadian? Yeah that’s true, but he’s not really a rapper. He’s a pop star. I’m not gonna get into it though, cause me, I’m secretly Canadian. I’d love to be openly Canadian. Maybe one day. I lived on Vancouver Island for 10 months when I was 28.

Most of my favorite comedians are Canadian. People in Canada are kinder, warmer (literally — they are legally mandated to wear three layers of flannel year round), and less self-absorbed than their neighbors to the south.

So I was thrilled to discover that the 3rd artist of my Gumption triptych is a Canadian rapper named Forest Gumption. Yeah, I agree. What a puntastic moniker!

Did I save the best for last? That’s for you to decide, but Forest Gumption is still going strong, and “Year of the Gump,” from his 2023 just released 3rd album Groovy Gumption is destined to be a hit in across the Northwest Territories. And maybe a couple other places too.

Including Lancaster, Tennessee, where apparently there is a 50 acre mystical wonderland for camping and adventuring called Forest Gumption! And if you would rather stay indoors and not rough it, maybe consider booking this AirBnB below! I don’t think it comes with the dog.

Speaking of dogs, Bernie is staring at me now. And my wife too. Both are exhibiting definite hints of gumption. I think I need to get up and make them some breakfast. We can’t lay around in bed listening to music all day!

Or can we….

Earworms and Song Loops

Discussion about this post