Be careful how you sing "My Way"

February 19, 2002 8:20 AM

Be careful how you sing "My Way" After being ridiculed for an off-key version of My Way, the irate singer kills one heckler and wounds another. Philippine karaoke bars have begun to remove the song from their playlists as this was the climax of several violent incidents when this song was played.
posted by Lanternjmk (8 comments total)

Had this gone down in 1979, Sid Vicious would have been Pol Pot.
posted by dong_resin at 8:27 AM on February 19, 2002

I've never heard of karaoke-related violence before. Do you think this is a cultural thing? Would the "irate singer" have reacted with violence if he'd been heckled for singing another song, or is there some sort of violence-inducing magic involved in "My Way"?
posted by croutonsupafreak at 8:27 AM on February 19, 2002

Karaoke Mind-Control....sounds like an X-File.
posted by mariko at 8:35 AM on February 19, 2002

No one can sing "My Way" without deserving to be shot.
posted by anapestic at 8:50 AM on February 19, 2002

i have it on pretty good authority that the filipinos are 'da bomb' when it comes to karaoke.
somebody singing off-key is probably tantamount to sacrelidge to some filipinos.
unfortunately, the link wasn't working for me...
posted by asok at 10:34 AM on February 19, 2002

Do you think this is a cultural thing?

The temptation to get all sudama on you is strong, but I'm going to let it pass.

Yes, pretty much everyone in the damn country can at least carry a tune; yes, if you can't sing you'll spend the rest of your life very insecure about that; and yes, we love our karaoke machines (which were supposedly invented by a Filipino and "stolen" by the Japanese, but whatever). You can't go for a ten minute drive in Metro Manila without passing at least one karaoke bar.

I'm guessing the reason people get shot over "My Way" is because a) people tend to be drunk in karaoke bars, b) it's a popular song among the sort of macho idiots who go around with guns and knives (like, say, policemen), and c) it's a really really simple song to sing, so there isn't any excuse to not hit the notes.

As for me, I'm with pesty: I just think it's a horrible song.
posted by lia at 11:59 PM on February 19, 2002

I'm embarrassed I find this post and thread very funny.

By the WAY, the music for this song is French. The original words were French.

I am looking for the words to the song "My Post," also known to some as "My (Front Page) Post."
posted by ParisParamus at 1:35 AM on February 20, 2002

umm.. from what i remember, most of the filipinos loved karaoke, but weren't exactly the most skilled at it... karaoke was often associated with alcohol time. fun..

i've been to two karaoke bars in the phillipines. one was also a part strip-club run by a distant half-chinese relative mafia boss who went by the name of big ramos. the other was a part-whorehouse. fun fun.
posted by lotsofno at 1:18 PM on February 20, 2002