AND I SAID WHAT ABOUT THE BOURNE IDENTITY June 14, 2018 12:57 AM   Subscribe

I nailed Breakfast at Tiffany's at karaoke tonight and I have MetaFilter to thank for it.

I just wanna say that I did exactly what I said I'd do.

Signed up for Breakfast at Tiffany's. Waited a good 90 minutes and got super nervous. Got up on stage and rattled off my five alternate song titles: The Bourne Identity, Bridget Jones Diary, Jaws 1 2 3 and 4, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Police Academy. Also, I added "One thing we've got.....IN COMMON" which threw everyone for a loop the first two times but then the audience started participating and it became A THING and they knew what to do after that and were singing along. Beautiful.

The karaoke host was visibly annoyed.

Nailed it. Rockstar. God's gift to karaoke. Might be exaggerating a bit but it's nearly 3am and I'm back in my hotel room and I'm going with the version that's in my head for now.

Thanks, MetaFilter. Thank you so much.

Going the Distance by Cake is a really, really hard song to do right. And Friends in Low Places goes on longer than you really want to be on stage for.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints to MetaFilter-Related at 12:57 AM (48 comments total) 75 users marked this as a favorite

Did anyone record this for posterity?
posted by arcticseal at 1:11 AM on June 14, 2018


I hope not.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 1:18 AM on June 14, 2018 [22 favorites]


This makes me ridiculously happy, especially the part about annoying the karaoke host.
posted by cooker girl at 5:45 AM on June 14, 2018 [13 favorites]


Wonderful!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:08 AM on June 14, 2018


needs the Hero tag.
posted by theora55 at 6:17 AM on June 14, 2018 [3 favorites]


I had somehow forgotten the original thread and now it is cheering me up.

Well done, you!
posted by Frowner at 7:02 AM on June 14, 2018 [3 favorites]


Oh man, that's fantastic.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:06 AM on June 14, 2018


And Friends in Low Places goes on longer than you really want to be on stage for.

But that's how you make more friends in low places!
posted by asperity at 8:14 AM on June 14, 2018 [2 favorites]


Awesome!
posted by Iridic at 8:47 AM on June 14, 2018


Do you feel comfortable sharing where you perpetrated this brilliance? I now have a vision of members of the Chicago Cabal (TINCC) periodically showing up there and reprising your feat, thus baffling and annoying the karaoke DJ *even more.*
posted by merriment at 8:56 AM on June 14, 2018 [11 favorites]


Going the Distance by Cake is a really, really hard song to do right.

The karaoke version I've encountered (via @eamondaly) is a little faster than the original, which threw me for a loop when I attempted it.
posted by me3dia at 9:20 AM on June 14, 2018


Wait, what, huh, this took quite a bit of link following and googling, yes had never heard of the band Deep Blue Something (nothing to do with IBM, fyi) well good on you spike.

Don't do karaoke but did consider learning the LITERAL total eclipse of the heart just in case forced into it one night.
posted by sammyo at 10:44 AM on June 14, 2018 [4 favorites]


Yeah this is a delightful idea.

(Actually the original is a pretty solid karaoke jam all by itself if you've got a crowd already doing 90s stuff and want to make them think "oh yeah, that was a song" when it starts out but then it turns out they know all the words and will sing along because yeah, they remember that song and they kinda liked it. Basically the song "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Deep Blue Something has turned into the Breakfast at Tiffany's referenced in said song. Which is something incredibly neat to me, surprising probably no one who has ever met me.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:59 AM on June 14, 2018 [11 favorites]


I don't know how I missed the original thread, but that was charming and I love that you went for it!!

Semi-relatedly:

I have got a dear friend who (doo-dah) catches every phrase in conversation that scans to "Camptown Races". He'll just yell out DOO-DAH with perfect timing and carry on as usual.

It's hilarious until you want to kill him and happens way more often than you'd think.

He says it's a curse and I kind of believe it.
posted by Space Kitty at 12:30 PM on June 14, 2018 [21 favorites]


He says it's a curse and I kind of believe it.

Like having pearls drop from your lips when you try to speak.
posted by asperity at 12:36 PM on June 14, 2018 [2 favorites]


IN COMMON

OMG You made my day!!! So glad it went well for you!
posted by frecklefaerie at 1:24 PM on June 14, 2018


The karaoke host was visibly annoyed.

And all was well. That, surely, is far more important than nailing a song. Pissing the guy off running it. Well done.
posted by Brockles at 3:00 PM on June 14, 2018


I mean, he was nice otherwise. But people said he was scowling in the corner the whole time.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 3:40 PM on June 14, 2018 [1 favorite]


arcticseal: "Did anyone record this for posterity?"

And I said, did anyone record for posterity?
And he said, don't think so, I really I hope not
As I recall I think the bar kind of liked it
And he said, well, we were all kind of drunk
posted by capricorn at 4:29 PM on June 14, 2018 [28 favorites]


I have got a dear friend who (doo-dah) catches every phrase in conversation that scans to "Camptown Races".

You know Colin?
posted by maryr at 4:34 PM on June 14, 2018 [2 favorites]


And I said, what about "Breakfast at Tiffany's"
And she said I think you're singing it now
And if I recall I think we're breaking the fourth wall
And I said well that's collapsing the narrative constraints that keep one world from the next and ushering us into the collective madness of cosmic horror as text becomes subtext help help
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:07 PM on June 14, 2018 [39 favorites]


You are an inspiration.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 6:31 AM on June 15, 2018 [3 favorites]


...Colin?
posted by Space Kitty at 7:16 AM on June 15, 2018


Metafilter: we were all kind of drunk.
posted by theora55 at 7:35 AM on June 15, 2018


Awesome!

So how do you sing the IN COMMON part?
posted by ODiV at 7:39 AM on June 15, 2018 [2 favorites]


This is fantastic.

I also missed the original thread, so thank you for showing me the light.
posted by blurker at 8:17 AM on June 15, 2018


I have got a dear friend who (doo-dah) catches every phrase in conversation that scans to "Camptown Races". He'll just yell out DOO-DAH with perfect timing and carry on as usual.

I've been known to do that. I don't catch everything, but when it's there....

I also have been extremely annoying around the at-bats of a certain meh major leaguer who came up with the Mets.
posted by stevis23 at 8:20 AM on June 15, 2018 [3 favorites]


The karaoke host was visibly annoyed.

And all was well. That, surely, is far more important than nailing a song. Pissing the guy off running it. Well done.


It is literally his job to listen to mangled renditions of songs sung poorly by drunks for four straight hours. I think he'll be ok.
posted by Atom Eyes at 8:53 AM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]


So how do you sing the IN COMMON part?

Purposefully awkward. Awkwardly purposeful. But also with gusto, like that's how the song is supposed to go.

On the last one I pointed the mic at the audience and they all shouted it.

Probably shoulda stage dived and crowd surfed. On Amazon for leather pants now.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 9:58 AM on June 15, 2018 [8 favorites]


catches every phrase in conversation that scans to "Camptown Races". He'll just yell out DOO-DAH with perfect timing and carry on as usual.

Me and my guy do this to anything that scans to "Buffalo Soldier" and follow with

IN THE HEART OF ___________
FIGHTING FOR ___________
HOP'TA MOP'TA
OY YOY YO

(with something that scans to America/Survival)
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 10:33 AM on June 15, 2018 [2 favorites]


And I said, what about MCMikeNamara?
She said, I think he replied to that post, and
As I recall, I clicked Add to activity
And I said, well that's one MetaTalk
posted by mbrubeck at 11:33 AM on June 15, 2018 [5 favorites]


SO MANY doodah-ers.

oh no.

(...Space Kitty, you don't know Colin, I guess. He and another friend spent ALL WEEKEND repeating everything I said to Campton Races, Everybody Dance Now, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.)
posted by maryr at 6:51 PM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]


But...but Double Indemnity, though...

Ugh, someday I am going to karaoke this, aren't I.
posted by potrzebie at 10:21 PM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]


Purposefully awkward. Awkwardly purposeful. But also with gusto, like that's how the song is supposed to go.


Right, but to the same notes as the other “in common”s in the song, or matched closer to “the one thing we’ve got”? And inflected up, or down?

I don’t know music theory words but this question has been bugging me too.
posted by deludingmyself at 7:40 AM on June 16, 2018


I mean, if you want to call me and have me sing that part for you I'll be down for it. MeMail me.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 11:39 AM on June 16, 2018 [4 favorites]


I mean, if you want to call me and have me sing that part for you I'll be down for it.

We could add it as an option for everyone in the next podcast call-in!
posted by cynical pinnacle at 5:25 AM on June 17, 2018 [4 favorites]


We could add it as an option for everyone in the next podcast call-in!

Oh please God make this happen.
posted by johannsebastianbachpuppet at 7:54 AM on June 17, 2018 [5 favorites]


The "Green Acres" theme is another great one for Camptown Races-style hijinks. Listen for a phrase that matches "green acres", then repeat it followed by a terse description of the thing.

[looks around the kitchen]

Caaaaaaanned peaches are the fuzzy fruits...
Faaaaaarfalle are the pasta ties...
posted by equalpants at 10:21 PM on June 17, 2018 [2 favorites]


Just have your people call my people.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:12 AM on June 18, 2018


The karaoke host was visibly annoyed.

Um they should be fired because this is amazing
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:42 AM on June 18, 2018


A fun karaoke innovation someone introduced me to last week: you know how sometimes you'll accidentally pick a song with a massively long break in it, and you're just standing there like a moron? Tell a joke. The cornier the better. See if you can time the punchline for right before the lyrics start up again. So fun.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:46 AM on June 18, 2018 [4 favorites]


That's better than me. I shouted "instrumentaaaaaaaal!!!!"
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:51 AM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]


I missed the original thread-- this sounds like awesome fun. Thanks for making the world a better place!
posted by mixedmetaphors at 8:58 AM on June 18, 2018


The "Green Acres" theme is another great one for Camptown Races-style hijinks.

My personal template in this vein, ever since my brother and I got into a days-long riffing session on it years ago, is the three-syllable start to the chorus stanzas of the Perfect Strangers theme song. Instead of "standing tall" it's, y'know, "steeping tea" or "changing shirts" or "there's a cloud", just any goddam thing at any time.

Just feeding the cats and it's all "FEEEEEED-iiiiing CAAATTS / on the WIIIIINGS of our DREEEEAMS / BIIIIIRD paaaaa-TEEEEEE / on the WIIIIIINGS of our DREAAAAAAM".
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:16 AM on June 18, 2018 [4 favorites]


You'd be amazed how many common phrases can be sung to the tune of "Al-ex-AND-er HAM-il-ton."
posted by webmutant at 11:27 PM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]


I bow at your feet, sir.
posted by bologna on wry at 6:28 PM on June 26, 2018


I'm somehow super-attuned to any spoken phrase that scans to "Mahna Mahna" and am constitutionally incapable of not singing "Doo-doo--doo-doo-doo" after they're spoken.

(I have the "Camptown Races" sensors as well)
posted by tzikeh at 11:36 PM on June 26, 2018 [4 favorites]


(My guy does that whenever anyone says 'phenomena' - send help plz)
posted by Space Kitty at 10:05 AM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


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