Oh No, I Think I Like Polka Music

I’m not sure how this happened, but I think I like polka music now. “How could you let this happen?,” you are undoubtedly asking yourself. Well my friends, it all happened so fast, and here is what I remember.

The Beginning

The other day at the local library, I noticed a CD with a cover featuring some rather portly gentlemen and their gal friends dancing around in a tent. My curiosity, having been piqued, prodded me to pick this album up. “Deep Polka: Dance Music From the Midwest,” the title said. I know now that I should have just put it back.

Infatuation

Having been born in the self-proclaimed “Polka Capital of the Nation” (New Ulm, MN), I figured it wouldn’t hurt to return to my humble roots. Upon its insertion into the CD player of my car on the ride home, I found myself keeping time with my fingers on the steering wheel. Something dark and terrible was awakening within me.

Rock Bottom

I was so enamored with the music that I actually found myself planning a trip to New Ulm in July for their annual “Polka Days” festival. Luckily for me, I discovered that this event was mysteriously discontinued in the early 1970’s. But as I sit here, listening with great enthusiasm to the Norskedalen Trio, I can’t help but wonder how long it will be until I find myself passed out with the drippings from schnitzel and Schell’s (brewed in New Ulm) beer trickling onto my sweaty, mustard-stained undershirt.

Well, here’s the Blong. It’s some polka, obviously.

And is it just me, or does this song from Super Mario sound like polka? Or is it technically a waltz?