creepy banjo

November 12, 2007 2:48 PM

Creep on a banjo

When you were here before,
Couldn't look you in your eye
You're just like an angel,
Your skin makes me cry

You float like a feather
In a beautiful world
I wish I was special
You're so fucking special

But I'm a creep,
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here

I don't care if it hurts,
I wanna have control
I want a perfect body
I want a perfect soul

I want you to notice
when I'm not around
You're so fucking special
I wish I was special

But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here, ohhhh, ohhhh

posted by vronsky (38 comments total)

Banjo, french horn, kazoo, hammered dulcimer, I don't care what you play it on, this song is boring.
posted by baphomet at 2:51 PM on November 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

I like it better here: Rodeohead.
posted by hermitosis at 2:54 PM on November 12, 2007

I'm afraid all banjo treatments of Radiohead pale in comparison to Rodeohead by Hard N Phirm.
posted by minervous at 2:54 PM on November 12, 2007

I once saw some guy "covering" Lucy in the Sky, accented with a rusted can of beats being smacked against a subway platform in some attempt to keep a rhythm. It was as interesting as this.
posted by xmutex at 2:55 PM on November 12, 2007

I like that the "about this video" describes the musician as a "bum/street performer."
posted by dismas at 3:00 PM on November 12, 2007

(Not this.)
posted by pracowity at 3:01 PM on November 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

And here I was thinking that playing a banjo just made anyone creepy.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 3:04 PM on November 12, 2007

You know, Johnny Greenwood loves the banjo, but Nigel Godrich won't let him play it on a Radiohead album. I always thought the song Gagging Order would sound good accompanied by a banjo, though. Here's a clip of Thom & Johnny playing Gagging Order live, and I can't tell what Johnny is playing, exactly; it sounds like a guitar, but it is very small. I just pretend it's a banjo to satisfy my imagination.
posted by synaesthetichaze at 3:07 PM on November 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

This backs up Steve Martin's observation that no matter what you play on a banjo, it just sounds cheerful.
posted by adamrice at 3:19 PM on November 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

*thinks to self before opening link: has to be in SF*

Yup, it's a busker in Haight. Go figure.

*doubletakes*

Damn, I think I've met that guy. If it's who I think it is, "bum/street performer" is a term he'd happily use to describe himself.
posted by loquacious at 3:25 PM on November 12, 2007

Cool lo - drop some ducats in his case for me next time you see him :)
posted by vronsky at 3:34 PM on November 12, 2007

"rusted can of beats" - love it.
posted by vronsky at 3:39 PM on November 12, 2007

A single link to whatever happens to be on the youtube frontpage does not a post make.

I'm usually agianst people coming into threads just to say meh, but this is meh with a capital M. Meh!
posted by tehloki at 3:54 PM on November 12, 2007 [3 favorites]

fandango_matt writes "He's about as interesting as the guy who plays Take Five on the saxophone in the Civic Center Muni station or the guy playing Für Elise on the tin drums at Fisherman's Wharf. Whoop dee fucking doo."

Busker slam!!!
posted by mr_roboto at 3:54 PM on November 12, 2007

Man I got mehed by tehloki of all people! (and actually it was from robotwisdom)
posted by vronsky at 3:57 PM on November 12, 2007

I don't know why but banjo playing fills me with rage. I think it was used too much as the background music for the villains in 70's movies.
posted by tkchrist at 3:59 PM on November 12, 2007

I'm disappointed. I was expecting to watch a video of somebody sneaking up on a banjo. False advertising, dude.
posted by jonmc at 4:03 PM on November 12, 2007

I liked it ok enough, but now I'm worried that I'm a goof for wearing my banjo "geetar" style-over the neck not shoulder.
posted by snsranch at 4:03 PM on November 12, 2007

tehloki likes everything. This must suck.
posted by found missing at 4:04 PM on November 12, 2007 [3 favorites]

Banjo makes me think, "Squeal like a pig". Seriously.
posted by wafaa at 4:05 PM on November 12, 2007

that guy isn't creepy at all. FALSE ADVERTISING!

double meh.
posted by mrgrimm at 4:08 PM on November 12, 2007

It fills you with rage probably because the notes are just out of your reach.
posted by nola at 4:08 PM on November 12, 2007

Too happy.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:13 PM on November 12, 2007

What really upsets me about this post is that now I have "Creep on a Banjo" running in my head to the tune of "Walk on the Ocean."

Worse, looking up at previous comments immediately gives me lyrics:

Creep on a banjo
Squeal like a pig
Yup it's a busker
In Haight, go fig.

This is how my brain works.
posted by darksasami at 4:24 PM on November 12, 2007

Creep on a banjo

So it would appear.
posted by quin at 4:24 PM on November 12, 2007

Okay, so:

1. Yep, the original version sucks.
2. Yep, this version is generally pretty damn meh.
3. Yep, Rodeohead (as linked a couple of times above) is way cooler.

But more maddeningly:

4. DUDE, THERE ARE FOUR CHORDS IN THAT ENTIRE SONG...AND HE'S FUCKING ONE OF THEM UP! The last chord in the progression is supposed to be the minor of the one before it! He's playing, like, a 7th or something--I'm not sure because I refuse to watch it to watch it again. But yeah: 25% wrong.

He deserves to be homeless.
posted by 2or3whiskeysodas at 4:34 PM on November 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

I absolutely, positively LOVE Radiohead.

But this FPP, with a single link, is junk. Seriously.
posted by dbiedny at 4:48 PM on November 12, 2007

Well sometimes a slight imperfection can add to the beauty of a thing whiskeysoda. Like a beautiful model with a gap in her front teeth. Or an old master painting that has darkened with age. he's a busker for heaven's sake. If you want perfection, buy a drum machine.

You deserve to be homeless!
posted by vronsky at 4:48 PM on November 12, 2007

Man, that is pretty meh. Guys got some nice roll/frail stuff going on on the right hand, and a couple nicely showy bits of fingerwork, but it doesn't sell the damn thing, and his vocals are phoned in.

Internet failure!
posted by cortex at 4:49 PM on November 12, 2007

DUDE? WHAT THE FUCK? HE DOESN'T PLAY THE FUCKING CH-CHUNK PART? WTF?
posted by dersins at 4:50 PM on November 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

I mean, that's the GOOD part of the song, for fuck's sake.
posted by dersins at 4:56 PM on November 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

Next time I suggest also linking to one of the fine bluegrass tribute albums that tackle modern artists, e.g. Modest Mouse. It's actually better than just ironic.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 4:58 PM on November 12, 2007

2or3whiskeysodas, dersins: I thought the same thing. It is the major to minor chord change, and the ch-chunk that make Creep great.
posted by Benjamin Nushmutt at 5:06 PM on November 12, 2007

I dunno about great, but the ch-chunk prevents it from completely sucking, anyway.
posted by dersins at 5:08 PM on November 12, 2007

But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here, ohhhh, ohhhh


the post - IT SPEAKS!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 5:12 PM on November 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

You did not just post song lyrics to MetaFilter.
posted by rxrfrx at 5:21 PM on November 12, 2007

Hey thanks cap'n obvious, I mean ambrosia voyeur, for chiming in with one of your witticisms. I can't get enough of them. (and trust me, you were the last person on my mind when I posted those lyrics) You're boring.
posted by vronsky at 5:32 PM on November 12, 2007

I paid NOTHING to watch this video.
posted by Tube at 5:41 PM on November 12, 2007 [2 favorites]