Maybe. Maybe not. But teenagers are definitely not going respond to a parent trying to explain.
I think the joke is that mom thinks dad could be teaching his son more useful skills than dancing.
P.S. If it were just the 1962 song, this would definitely be a strip reserved for geezers, but the song has been rereleased and turned into at least two movies (1995 & 2000).
@Kilby, and 2000 would be years before perpetual high school junior Jeremy was born.
I thought every radio station in the country (oldies or not) played this song at least once every October.
It’s a perennial classic, but I wouldn’t expect every single teenager to be aware of it.
Yes, Monster Mash is a perennial, like a Christmas song, “Jingle Bell Rock” or something. I think everybody knows it. I know that Bobby Pickett never had to work again: every October the checks would come rolling in.
To me the joke is just Dad breaks into song hoping Jeremy will join in. There’s an assumed unseen panel before 6 where Jeremy says something like “What in the world is that?”. Meanwhile, Mom doesn’t pass up on the opportunity to make a lazy kid joke.
I think Jeremy is probably exaggerating his ignorance and is too embarrassed/disdainful to admit any familiarity because his dad is being a such a pathetically hopeful doofus.
I do really like the dad’s hopeful look of “Yeah? You get it? Come on?” in the second to last panel.
Andrea… So is Arlo’s reaction of “Scary, huh” an acknowledgement that he was being condescending, and if so was his mansplaining an intentional part of the execution? Or was his “scary, huh” just a man-like blithe plowing ahead without acknowledging the reactions of others? Also what did Janice’s “Anyway” mean? I read it as “either way” in which case Arlo being a mansplaining pompous ass is a bane to women or… being the frankenstein monster is? Or is the “anyway” a “you just said a bunch of stuff, but i want to say something not directly related”? In which case it rather is related as the “bunch of stuff” was the bane to women.
I don’t think *teenagers* not knowing something should qualify for the geezer tag.
You know, Walt, if Jeremy doesn’t know about The Monster Mash, that’s on you. Did you never play the record for him when he was younger? Never watch Mad Monster Party with him? No? Then it’s your fault.
I’m a child of the ’60s, now a geezer in my 60s. So I certainly remember the song which does get played every year, since it’s one of maybe half a dozen popular Halloween-specific novelty songs. But I just don’t remember there being actual dance steps associated with it. Was this really a thing?
I don’t think it’s so much Jeremy never heard of “Monster Mash” as he never GOT “Monster Mash”.
Walt is one of those cartoon parents who’s chronologically 40something but was somehow raised during the boomer years (Woodstock references, etc.). For him, “Monster Mash” is tied to being a kid when ancient horror pics ran on local TV with goofy hosts, when vintage monsters were marketed to modern kids, and the whole fad was referenced/spoofed constantly (Archie’s Mad House, funny-caption trading cards, The Munsters, etc).
Jeremy may get that it’s a goofy song about monsters, but he doesn’t get how incredibly cool and pertinent it was for Walt in his childhood.
Funnily enough, not long after reading this entry, I watched the first couple episode of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which used Monster Mash in the second episode (at a Halloween/birthday party that the teenage characters attend).
I saw something recently saying that the song is about some *other* dance song called The Monster Mash, but we never get to hear that one.
I thought “The Mash” was a well known dance of the time.
“I saw something recently saying that the song is about some *other* dance song called The Monster Mash, but we never get to hear that one.”
That depends on whether you consider the song self-referential or not. But many songs are self-referential. There are lyrics to the old jazz tune “Copenhagen”, probably added for no reason other than somebody thought it should be published with lyrics, and they include the line “Professor man, won’t you play Copenhagen for me.” Then there are all the piano rags with the referential titles: “That Teasin’ Rag”, “That International Rag”, “That Mysterious Rag”, “That American Rag”. Seems to me they should be “This Teasin’ Rag” etc.
But I don’t think “The Monster Mash” is self-referential. It’s a song about a dance: “They did The Mash. They did The Monster Mash.” The song refers to the dance, just like “The Twist”, “The Pony”, “Let’s Do The Jerk” and so many other songs from the 60’s.
Ah, Mark, I think you’re correct, but it’s /also/ self-referential because the Carpetbaggers (with their vocal group, the Crypt-Kicker Five) played the Monster Mash.
Er, that’s “Coffin-baggers”. Sorry.
There was a question about ‘The Monster Mash’ on Jeopardy! yesterday. In case you were wondering.
Comics I Don't Understand 
Maybe. Maybe not. But teenagers are definitely not going respond to a parent trying to explain.
I think the joke is that mom thinks dad could be teaching his son more useful skills than dancing.
P.S. If it were just the 1962 song, this would definitely be a strip reserved for geezers, but the song has been rereleased and turned into at least two movies (1995 & 2000).
@Kilby, and 2000 would be years before perpetual high school junior Jeremy was born.
I thought every radio station in the country (oldies or not) played this song at least once every October.
It’s a perennial classic, but I wouldn’t expect every single teenager to be aware of it.
Yes, Monster Mash is a perennial, like a Christmas song, “Jingle Bell Rock” or something. I think everybody knows it. I know that Bobby Pickett never had to work again: every October the checks would come rolling in.
To me the joke is just Dad breaks into song hoping Jeremy will join in. There’s an assumed unseen panel before 6 where Jeremy says something like “What in the world is that?”. Meanwhile, Mom doesn’t pass up on the opportunity to make a lazy kid joke.
I’m just tossing this in here ’cause it’s a ‘Frankenstein’ joke, kinda –
https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2018/10/30
I think Jeremy is probably exaggerating his ignorance and is too embarrassed/disdainful to admit any familiarity because his dad is being a such a pathetically hopeful doofus.
I do really like the dad’s hopeful look of “Yeah? You get it? Come on?” in the second to last panel.
Andrea… So is Arlo’s reaction of “Scary, huh” an acknowledgement that he was being condescending, and if so was his mansplaining an intentional part of the execution? Or was his “scary, huh” just a man-like blithe plowing ahead without acknowledging the reactions of others? Also what did Janice’s “Anyway” mean? I read it as “either way” in which case Arlo being a mansplaining pompous ass is a bane to women or… being the frankenstein monster is? Or is the “anyway” a “you just said a bunch of stuff, but i want to say something not directly related”? In which case it rather is related as the “bunch of stuff” was the bane to women.
I don’t think *teenagers* not knowing something should qualify for the geezer tag.
You know, Walt, if Jeremy doesn’t know about The Monster Mash, that’s on you. Did you never play the record for him when he was younger? Never watch Mad Monster Party with him? No? Then it’s your fault.
I’m a child of the ’60s, now a geezer in my 60s. So I certainly remember the song which does get played every year, since it’s one of maybe half a dozen popular Halloween-specific novelty songs. But I just don’t remember there being actual dance steps associated with it. Was this really a thing?
I don’t think it’s so much Jeremy never heard of “Monster Mash” as he never GOT “Monster Mash”.
Walt is one of those cartoon parents who’s chronologically 40something but was somehow raised during the boomer years (Woodstock references, etc.). For him, “Monster Mash” is tied to being a kid when ancient horror pics ran on local TV with goofy hosts, when vintage monsters were marketed to modern kids, and the whole fad was referenced/spoofed constantly (Archie’s Mad House, funny-caption trading cards, The Munsters, etc).
Jeremy may get that it’s a goofy song about monsters, but he doesn’t get how incredibly cool and pertinent it was for Walt in his childhood.
Funnily enough, not long after reading this entry, I watched the first couple episode of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which used Monster Mash in the second episode (at a Halloween/birthday party that the teenage characters attend).
I saw something recently saying that the song is about some *other* dance song called The Monster Mash, but we never get to hear that one.
I thought “The Mash” was a well known dance of the time.
“I saw something recently saying that the song is about some *other* dance song called The Monster Mash, but we never get to hear that one.”
That depends on whether you consider the song self-referential or not. But many songs are self-referential. There are lyrics to the old jazz tune “Copenhagen”, probably added for no reason other than somebody thought it should be published with lyrics, and they include the line “Professor man, won’t you play Copenhagen for me.” Then there are all the piano rags with the referential titles: “That Teasin’ Rag”, “That International Rag”, “That Mysterious Rag”, “That American Rag”. Seems to me they should be “This Teasin’ Rag” etc.
But I don’t think “The Monster Mash” is self-referential. It’s a song about a dance: “They did The Mash. They did The Monster Mash.” The song refers to the dance, just like “The Twist”, “The Pony”, “Let’s Do The Jerk” and so many other songs from the 60’s.
Ah, Mark, I think you’re correct, but it’s /also/ self-referential because the Carpetbaggers (with their vocal group, the Crypt-Kicker Five) played the Monster Mash.
Er, that’s “Coffin-baggers”. Sorry.
There was a question about ‘The Monster Mash’ on Jeopardy! yesterday. In case you were wondering.