4 Non Blondes - Bigger, Better, Faster, More!

(Interscope, 1992)

Reviewed by Kloghole

It was a typically warm, humid day in the Amazon. We were traveling by canoe up the Bobonaza river in the Pastaza province of Ecuador. As I contemplated how the riverbanks were reminiscent of the river valleys of the driftless area of Wisconsin, my eyes must have welled up because my traveling companion remarked that I looked deep in thought.

This area of the Ecuadorian Amazon is remote and largely untouched by the scars of so-called civilization. It is difficult to communicate the peacefulness, yet strength, within this community. The children are almost unbelievably mellow while the parents do not appear to exert any direct authority or control. They are obedient in a way that is not from domination but simply the way it is. For example, we went to a swimming hole to clean up before we flew out. We were joined by three children. When it was time to leave, we simply said “vámonos.” The children immediately stopped playing and joined us joyfully. There was no, “just a bit more, come on, five more minutes ...” that would spew from US children’s pampered pieholes. The children joined us not because we exerted authority but simply because it was what we were doing. Like I said, this is difficult to describe especially to those of us used to living in the crushing pace of US society.

The contrast in societies is a painful juxtaposition. I traveled to Ecuador to expose students to the struggles of an oil nation and to learn a little bit about the social movements in the country. While I certainly was confronted with poverty and a struggling nation in some respects, the country exhibited a warmth and decidedly more laid back pace of life (excepting motorized travel). Within the context of these economic struggles and calm exterior were people motivated toward positive change. People that we met were engaged in struggles, sometimes for their very existence, while maintaining a cheerful and optimistic interaction with us. This dedication to progressive social change is not absent in the US, but certainly buried under layers of consumerism, propaganda, and corporate financed political machinations. Visiting Ecuador can make you feel as though change is possible, but returning to the US quickly dispels this illusion.

Highlighting this contrast was a song I heard at one of the hostels where we stayed. While checking into our hostel, all of us are milling about, lugging our backpacks and trying to pull out some money to pay for our rooms. While the desk clerk is distributing room keys, “What’s Up” by the 4 Non Blondes radiates from the speakers in the office. While others continue unaware, I pause, listen, and lament for a bit as I absord those lyrics.

“So I cry sometimes when I’m lying in bed

to get it all out what’s in my head

then I start feeling a little peculiar

so I wake in the morning and I step outside to take a deep breath

I get real high

then I scream from the top of my lungs

what’s going on ...

I try all the time in this institution

and I pray, oh my God do I pray

I pray every single day

for a revolution”

The contradictions of wealth, privilege, poverty and exploitation are laid bare in the juxtaposition of US citizens visiting nations we have used to enrich ourselves. The emotion in the song commingles with emotions of Ecuadorian struggles and my own working class existence. The righteous anger against privilege, gained from exploiting others, bubbles to the surface to be tempered with the melancholy of the losses suffered by the oppressed. I find it hard to contain my emotion in the hostel office. I need one of those $2 quarts of beer. Instead, I wander off to take photos.

The emotion in the 4 Non Blondes album resonates with my experience in Ecuador, but also my own life experience. There is a depressed anger that permeates this album. For someone who has made a career of depression, this album allows me to wallow, swim, splash and revel in my dark mood. “Pleasantly Blue” sums this up perfectly. “Morphine and Chocolate” rescues the chronically depressed for the moment by substituting “gloom with happiness” and “sickness with health.” The rage of “What’s Up” returns in the song “Dear Mr. President.” While similar to “What’s Up” musically, its lyrics bite a bit more directly. “Oh please Mr. President will you lend me a future ‘cause you will just get it back from the little blind woman with the kid on the corner and the people all over doin’ crack”

At one point, this album was in heavy rotation driving back and forth to my graduate program in Minnesota. I find this record infectious mainly because it suits my mood and dire outlook. It is lamentable that 4 Non Blondes did not bust out another album, and I have yet to track down Linda Perry’s solo effort. For some inexplicable reason, I find myself wanting to give this album 2 1/2 sweet sticky balls. I have a feeling that some unconscious sexism does not allow me to put this album on the same level as others I play just as often. So, 3 sweet sticky balls it is. It is worth it.

Sweet Dreams Motherfuckers