Song Impressions is a weird little time capsule from the silent era

Wait, what did I just watch?

If you have about ten minutes and want to feel like you’ve traveled back to a dusty theater in 1920, Song Impressions is worth a look. It’s not a movie with a plot, so if you need a story to stay awake, you will probably hate this.

But for anyone who likes seeing how people used to entertain themselves before the internet, it’s a total trip. It’s basically a series of actors doing 'impressions' of songs that were popular at the time.

I found it while looking for something else, and honestly, I couldn't look away because of how weird the energy is. The first guy comes out and he’s doing this very exaggerated walking-in-place thing.

He looks like he's trying to fight an invisible windstorm. It’s hilarious but also kind of impressive?

The film quality is pretty rough, like someone dragged the negative across a gravel driveway. There are these huge white scratches that flicker over the performers' faces every few seconds.

At one point, a woman in a very heavy-looking dress starts spinning around to what I assume is a upbeat tune. Since it's a silent film, you just have to imagine the music, which makes the whole thing feel like a fever dream.

She has this fixed grin that never wavers, even when she almost trips on the edge of the rug. That moment is my favorite part because she just keeps going like a pro.

I noticed the background is just a flat painted curtain that looks like it was borrowed from a high school play. It reminds me a bit of the staginess in The Lost Paradise, but much cheaper.

There’s a second guy who comes on later wearing a hat that is clearly two sizes too small for his head. He spends half his 'impression' just adjusting it so it doesn't fly off during his dance moves.

I wonder if the director told him to keep it, or if they just didn't have any other hats that day. It's these small, unpolished details that make me love old shorts like this.

The lighting is super harsh, too. It’s like they just pointed one giant spotlight directly at the actors' foreheads.

You can see the sweat on their faces by the end of each segment. It makes the whole thing feel very human and desperate to please the audience.

If you’ve seen Hot Water, you know that 1920s energy where everything is fast and a little bit chaotic. This has that same vibe, but without the actual budget for stunts.

One of the 'impressions' involves a man pretending to be drunk, which was apparently the height of comedy back then. He stumbles around a lamp post that is clearly made of cardboard and wobbles every time he touches it.

I actually laughed out loud when the lamp post nearly fell over. It’s much more honest than the polished stuff we get now.

It’s definitely not as 'cool' as something like Harold Teen, but it has its own charm. It’s the kind of thing you watch and then immediately want to show someone else just to prove it exists.

The ending is very abrupt. The last performer just bows, the screen goes black, and that’s it. 🎬

No credits, no explanation, just a sudden stop. It left me sitting there in the dark for a second wondering if I dreamt the whole thing.

It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a fascinating look at what passed for a 'music video' a century ago. If you see it on a playlist, don't skip it.

Just don't expect it to make any sense. It’s just people dancing to songs you can’t hear, and honestly, that’s enough for me today.