Perhaps the most disturbing thing about this is that the song in question -- "Prelude To 110 or 120/ Women of the World," the first track off O'Rourke's seminal Eureka, released in 1999 on Drag City -- seems almost tailored to Walmart's wholesome campaign. It works. The mom's tired voice-over, the American kids playing American football in America, the array of T-Mobile products: All of these things lean comfortably against O'Rourke's lush, string-heavy arrangements. And no wonder: It's a very pretty song. So why does it feel so dirty in this context? Short of everything that's intrinsically devious about TV ads and retail giants, is there anything really wrong with the highly enigmatic, highly prolific O'Rourke hawking one of his gems to a corporate powerhouse? Doesn't the dude need to make money, just like everyone else? Jeez, I dunno. What I do know is: I feel suddenly compelled to switch to T-Mobile.
Oh. Eesh. I don't know, but I feel not good about this.