Have you heard about Michelle Shephard?

November 8, 2006 10:01 PM

One Bank. Snarks aside, the guy does have quite a lovely singing voice. (vimeo)
posted by hypocritical ross (17 comments total)

I wanted to hate that, but the guy's earnestness won me over. It's like a Corporate D.

*raises lighter*
posted by ColdChef at 10:10 PM on November 8, 2006

As a former BofA employee (excuse me, that's associate in the company parlance), that song made me throw up a little bit in my mouth.
posted by emelenjr at 10:20 PM on November 8, 2006

I have managed to keep U2 at more than arm's length these last few years, so I don't know the song this is based on (and in fact, I'm only assuming it's from a U2 song because of one of the comments at the Vimeo site). But I can just imagine Bono's heartfelt (or should I say heart-on-his-sleeve-felt) voice agonizingly spewing this kind of melody out. As for the guy in the vid, I reckon he's putting his banker soul into it. That kind of American Idol soul. Which is, of course, fucking weird.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:31 PM on November 8, 2006

Oh my gosh.
posted by ludwig_van at 11:00 PM on November 8, 2006

Free love on the free love freeway,
The love is free and the freeway's long.

Oh yeah, baby.
posted by lovecrafty at 11:15 PM on November 8, 2006

That guy needs a tremendously hard slap.
posted by pracowity at 11:29 PM on November 8, 2006

At the end while the camera was panning out over the crowd I couldn't help but wonder how many of those in the audience had no idea this was a "cover" and just thought it was a really strange song the guy just wrote...
posted by pwb503 at 11:43 PM on November 8, 2006

flapjax at midnite: dude, really? Well, that's your right.

I was terrifically thrilled by the homogeneity of the men's dress in the video. To a man, pale blue/blue/French blue/ecru/buff shirt, tie. I mean, I love me some button-down dress attire, but damn.
posted by mistermoore at 12:31 AM on November 9, 2006

A great voice indeed. But they're so stodgy and earnest about the whole thing. It's 100% irony-free, which is a little bit pathetic. I've worked in the corporate world where folks like this take The Company more seriously than their own religion. *shudder*
posted by zardoz at 1:46 AM on November 9, 2006

I hear his cover of "Hot Shot City" is particularly good.
posted by erskelyne at 2:17 AM on November 9, 2006

You see pretty music, I see problems.
posted by Deathalicious at 2:37 AM on November 9, 2006

I think he's reading the lyrics. He can't be bothered to memorize them? I question his dedication. Fire his ass.
posted by veggieboy at 4:47 AM on November 9, 2006 [1 favorite]

Hey flapjax, I can't stand 15 seconds straight of U2, but that song is good, actually. There is a good version of it by Johnny Cash, a little bit less dramatic.

Now, if it was my song they used for that, I'd be really pissed.
posted by micayetoca at 5:59 AM on November 9, 2006

There is a good version of it by Johnny Cash

Well... alright then, goddammit, if Johnny Cash thought the tune was good enough to cover, then I'm gonna check it out, cause Johnny Cash was THE MAN!! And from mistermoore's links (jeez, its own Wiki-fucking-pedia page!) I see that it's like the biggest, fattest, all-out holy bejeezus of a mega-hit icon of pop rock, and I've never heard it, and I guess I really shouldn't be that out of touch with these sorts of things.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:35 AM on November 9, 2006

There is a good version of it by Johnny Cash

One Bank prefers that you prefer credit. The deeper you're in debt, the more money they get.

(Johnny Cash... Eddie Money... Johnny Paycheck... Is there a Johnny Creditcard? Johnny Bankloan? Johnny Mortgage?)
posted by pracowity at 7:28 AM on November 9, 2006

Thank you for this.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.
posted by nathancaswell at 9:29 AM on November 9, 2006

Now, if it was my song they used for that, I'd be really pissed.

Oh, I'm sure they must have licensed it. That's not fair use.

I'm sure U2 sold it to them. They're a bank. They wouldn't make that mistake.
posted by mrgrimm at 1:01 PM on November 10, 2006