As celebrity tributes go, Duck Sauce's "Barbra Streisand" may not stack up against musical tips of the hat like "Lee Remick" by the Go-Betweens or King Missile's "Martin Scorsese," but there is some pleasure to be had in imagining La Streisand's reaction to the track. Would she scratch her head in confusion at the repetition of her name over a house disco beat and Boney M sample before retreating to her Malibu mansion's inner sanctum, or could she go on the offensive, cracking the whip over a team of lawyers to try and determine if her personal trademark is being infringed?
Personally, I'd like to think she'd just smile, shrug, and get her assistant to mail copies of Yentl to Duck Sauce DJs A-Trak and Armand Van Helden, who probably spent an afternoon throwing this track together before adding cameos by the likes of Roots drummer ?uestlove and Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig. Sure, the track is a lot more simplistic than Duck Sauce's old school soul throwback "aNYway," but it's damned catchy on a dancefloor and bound to get revellers whoo-hoo-ing along and chanting the name of a singer/star/director, who probably hasn't been heard in a club since her 1979 disco match-up with Donna Summer, "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)." I'm sure DJs are working on their beatmixes of the two tracks as you read this.
On iTunes: Duck Sauce / "Barbra Streisand"
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.