# Opinion on ska. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2020, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125 "2020-04-05T11:35:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/41 "2020-04-08T04:53:28Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I first encountered “ska” as a category I might assign an MP3 file to. I said to myself, “WTF is ska?” > > I keep confusing it with zydeco. Which is another term I wasn’t familiar with. Confusing ska with zydeco is a fine indicaton you’ve never listened to both, and probably never listened to either. Zydeco is real down-home music from the French Creole people of Southwestern Louisiana. It is accordion music with French Creole lyrics (often) and sounds nothing like the horn music with a distinctive beat which defines ska. > **[Zydeco](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zydeco)** > > Zydeco (/ˈzaɪdɪˌkoʊ, ˈzaɪdiˌkoʊ/ ZY-dih-koh, ZY-dee-koh; French: Zarico) is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers. It blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. Although it is distinct in origin from the Cajun music of Louisiana, the two forms influenced each other, forming a complex of genres native to the region. > Zydeco music is typically played in an uptempo, syncopated mann... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oTRBRQrfu0&list=OLAK5uy\_kRm98lFfzul\_dj8XeLXreUqIN6FHOX0K8&index=2&t=0s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oTRBRQrfu0&list=OLAK5uy_kRm98lFfzul_dj8XeLXreUqIN6FHOX0K8&index=2&t=0s) - Playlist for the Buckwheat Zydeco album “On A Night Like This” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/42 "2020-04-08T04:55:37Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > [Pressure Drop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dL2z_6PisI) Actually, that version of “Pressure Drop” is more reggae than ska. Here is a [ska version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGwHgg7hjMw). Basically, take reggae and speed it up a bit. Or at least that’s what I hear in terms of ska vs reggae. I’m sure there are nuances I’m missing, but that’s what my white Western ear hears. ---
**Author:** ![Mrdeals](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Mrdeals](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrdeals)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/43 "2020-04-08T04:59:34Z")
> [@Mrdeals](#): > > I’m kind of confused by the different waves of Ska, if anyone can enlighten me. > > I looked up the different waves, and according to Wikipedia, the third wave happened in the late 80s or early 1990s. > > However i remember being really into the “Ska” wave that happened from 2003-2008 or so. I would have been 13-18 years old when this happened, was this a 4th wave, or a continuation of the 3rd or something completely different. > > Bands i remember were anything from the Tony Hawk Games/Xgames…one band who i still enjoy to this day is Eleventeen. Answered my own question, apparently that was the latest wave of “Skate Punk” which doesn’t have anything to do with Ska (according to Wiki) ignorance fought ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/44 "2020-04-08T08:00:55Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Basically, take reggae and speed it up a bit. Or at least that’s what I hear in terms of ska vs reggae. I’m sure there are nuances I’m missing, but that’s what my white Western ear hears. When Frank Zappa was touring he used a number of visual clues for his bands if he wanted them to change style and tempo mid-stream. To quote: _Then there are cues used on stage like twirling my fingers as if I’m piddling with a Rasta braid on the right side of my head - that means: “Play reggae.” If I pretend to twirl braids on both sides of my head, it means: “Play ska” ( as if it were double-time reggae )._ So not just you ;). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125.md?page=2)