In the case of words, I guess they can only become part of language proper when the Oxford English Dictionary or some similar august journal sanctions them for inclusion in their latest edition. If a similar level of acceptance for a concept is when that idea or image has become so recognisable that a singer can write a song and make a video to back it up, as Samuel Wilbur has done here, then The Karen is now part and parcel of the modern age, whether you like it or not.
So here we find Samuel Wilbur, aided and abetted by Rachel Kenney’s lush harmonies, laying down a deft blend of acoustic guitars and banjos, buoyant beats, and gentle, lilting grooves to deliver a narrative that we are all so familiar with now that it has become the stuff that memes are made of!
But the great thing is that they never play the song for laughs. It’s humourous, of course, but that humour comes mainly from the fact that so iconic is the figure that they portray, both via the words and the video, that most of the fun comes from the fact that as we watch we can all nod and say under our breathe, “ahh yes, I’ve seen one of those in action.”
I suppose jokes are best when they don’t have to be spelled out, and all Samuel and Rachel have to do here is the point at this modern banshee that now haunts the shopping aisles and parking spaces, the restaurants and school runs, and all points in between, and let the listeners mind do the rest.
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