Little Boxes

A few CDs bought recently that one has absolutely no regrets about. One of them was a CD called Oldies Hits, with songs from the yesteryears - some very familiar, some a blast from the past and some one has never heard before. Among all of these one song stayed in mind: Little Boxes by Pete Seeger. It is the same song that plays in the background of the Maruti Estilo commercial which shows people wrapped in cardboard boxes until an Estilo comes around - this advertisement, I felt, pitted conformity against uniqueness very well. The commercial made an impact, not because of the car, but because to me it showcased today's society rather well.

I never really paid as much attention to the song itself playing in the background until I heard it on the CD recently. Written by Malvina Reynolds in 1962, this song starts out describing a series of row houses on a hillside; there is a pink one and a green one and an yellow one - presumably individualistic; but as the lyricist points out each is made of "ticky-tacky" and each looks like any of the other houses. Further, the song talks about the people living in these all-similar houses, and how each is the same as the other - every one of them would go to school, summer camps, universities, get married, have children (who will again do the same) and live in the "ticky-tacky" houses that all look the same.

When this song was written it was said to lampoon "the development of suburbia and what many consider its bourgeois conformist values". I feel that it continues to throw light on people in today's world as well - how so like each other we are in terms of the lives we lead. There are times when I feel that there are these pre-designed little frames that we are supposed to fit into. And per chance you don't, you are considered to be weirdo. I am not sure if it is the expectations or if it is the fear of being "ostracised" (even if it is only to a certain extent) but most of us do try and conform, don't we?

Here is a video of the Little Boxes song I found on You Tube: