Sing Us A Song, You're Cthulhu, Man
January 23, 2018 8:35 PM Subscribe
The H.P. Lovecraft poem Nemesis has the same poetic meter as Billy Joel's Piano Man. So naturally, somebody had to take the poem and properly set it to music. Multiple someones. The most merciful thing in the Internet, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.
This is very great. Thanks.
Counting down until someone proposes a full musical/Broadway show...
“Come From R’yleh” perhaps?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:16 PM on January 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
Counting down until someone proposes a full musical/Broadway show...
“Come From R’yleh” perhaps?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:16 PM on January 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
(I do heartily approve this trend, BTW.)
posted by Samizdata at 9:17 PM on January 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Samizdata at 9:17 PM on January 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Ooh! Ooh! Do "Scenes from an Eldritch Restaurant" next!
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:30 PM on January 23, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:30 PM on January 23, 2018 [7 favorites]
Yeah, I tried to start something with "We didn't start the fire" and quickly realized there is a perfectly good reason I am not a lyricist.
posted by Samizdata at 9:38 PM on January 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Samizdata at 9:38 PM on January 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Does "squamous" rhyme with "famous"? Asking for a fiend..
posted by Nerd of the North at 9:45 PM on January 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by Nerd of the North at 9:45 PM on January 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
Yeah, I tried to start something with "We didn't start the fire"
You didn't get anywhere because that is already the madness inducing sounds of the elder gods, and you couldn't possibly improve upon that.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 10:00 PM on January 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
You didn't get anywhere because that is already the madness inducing sounds of the elder gods, and you couldn't possibly improve upon that.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 10:00 PM on January 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
Lovecraftian Broadway musical? Is A Shoggoth on the Roof now something that we cannot (nay, must not) recall?
posted by Parasite Unseen at 10:06 PM on January 23, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by Parasite Unseen at 10:06 PM on January 23, 2018 [9 favorites]
This Lovecraft kid shows some potential as a lyricist, but IMO this one falls short of inducing gibbering madness, due to the lack of a really catchy chorus.
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 10:26 PM on January 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 10:26 PM on January 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
It’s no full performance of The King in Yellow.
posted by Artw at 10:28 PM on January 23, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by Artw at 10:28 PM on January 23, 2018 [13 favorites]
Only the Old Ones Die Never
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:37 PM on January 23, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:37 PM on January 23, 2018 [7 favorites]
You didn't get anywhere because that is already the madness inducing sounds of the elder gods, and you couldn't possibly improve upon that.
It doesn't all work, but some bits of Jabberwocky work surprisingly well.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 11:00 PM on January 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
It doesn't all work, but some bits of Jabberwocky work surprisingly well.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 11:00 PM on January 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
You may be right,
I̬ ̴̟m̝a̖̘̠̻̦y͍̪̱͕ ̟b҉̬e ͓͔̯c̜͙̺̙͔̝̺͜r͈̰̤͉̫̲a̪z͎̝̟̤͍͖̘y
posted by quinndexter at 12:41 AM on January 24, 2018 [22 favorites]
I̬ ̴̟m̝a̖̘̠̻̦y͍̪̱͕ ̟b҉̬e ͓͔̯c̜͙̺̙͔̝̺͜r͈̰̤͉̫̲a̪z͎̝̟̤͍͖̘y
posted by quinndexter at 12:41 AM on January 24, 2018 [22 favorites]
We might even say H.P. Lovecraft was a surreal estate novelist.
posted by chavenet at 1:27 AM on January 24, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 1:27 AM on January 24, 2018 [9 favorites]
Whoah-oh-oh-oh, Ph'nglui mglw'nafh
Whoah-oh-oh, Ph'nglui mglw'nafh
If you said goodbye to me tonight
There would still be cultists left to fight
What else could I do
I'm driven crazy by you,
That hasn't happened for the longest time
Once I thought my sanity was gone
Now I know that happiness goes on
That's where you found me
Put your tentacles around me
I haven't been there for the longest time
Whoah-oh-oh-oh, Ph'nglui mglw'nafh
Whoah-oh-oh, Ph'nglui mglw'nafh
posted by Omission at 2:16 AM on January 24, 2018 [16 favorites]
Whoah-oh-oh, Ph'nglui mglw'nafh
If you said goodbye to me tonight
There would still be cultists left to fight
What else could I do
I'm driven crazy by you,
That hasn't happened for the longest time
Once I thought my sanity was gone
Now I know that happiness goes on
That's where you found me
Put your tentacles around me
I haven't been there for the longest time
Whoah-oh-oh-oh, Ph'nglui mglw'nafh
Whoah-oh-oh, Ph'nglui mglw'nafh
posted by Omission at 2:16 AM on January 24, 2018 [16 favorites]
Still less harmful to my psyche than an actual Billy Joel song.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:36 AM on January 24, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:36 AM on January 24, 2018 [6 favorites]
As Wilde might say, this is ”the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible.”
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:43 AM on January 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:43 AM on January 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
Unsurprisingly, I love this!
Counting down until someone proposes a full musical/Broadway show...
Well, there are plenty of Lovecraft musical numbers out there to choose from.
posted by absalom at 5:51 AM on January 24, 2018
Counting down until someone proposes a full musical/Broadway show...
Well, there are plenty of Lovecraft musical numbers out there to choose from.
posted by absalom at 5:51 AM on January 24, 2018
The verses of "Piano Man" are structured with the rhythm of a limerick.
John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
He's quick with a joke
or to light up your smoke
but there's someplace that he'd rather be
Try it; it's fun!
posted by Servo5678 at 6:10 AM on January 24, 2018 [7 favorites]
John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
He's quick with a joke
or to light up your smoke
but there's someplace that he'd rather be
Try it; it's fun!
posted by Servo5678 at 6:10 AM on January 24, 2018 [7 favorites]
just putting a stake down as that guy in every Lovecraft thread who likes to point out Lovecraft's 'too-racist-for-even-the-early-20th-century' racism just in case folks are blissfully unaware
posted by runt at 6:32 AM on January 24, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by runt at 6:32 AM on January 24, 2018 [11 favorites]
Wouldn't it be funny if it turned out that The Air That I Breathe was also a Lovecraft poem
posted by gyusan at 6:46 AM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by gyusan at 6:46 AM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
[Chorus]
Yog-Sothoth will get you high tonight
And take you to your special planet
Yog-Sothoth will eat your mind tonight
Just a little push, and you'll be gib'ring
posted by octobersurprise at 7:36 AM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yog-Sothoth will get you high tonight
And take you to your special planet
Yog-Sothoth will eat your mind tonight
Just a little push, and you'll be gib'ring
posted by octobersurprise at 7:36 AM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
just putting a stake down as that guy in every Lovecraft thread who likes to point out Lovecraft's 'too-racist-for-even-the-early-20th-century' racism just in case folks are blissfully unaware
I actually was, so.
posted by holborne at 7:59 AM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
I actually was, so.
posted by holborne at 7:59 AM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
(To the tune of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah")
The sailor said that he'd been, he swore
on a distant isle of some fetid shore
where the angles all are wrong, and they'll fool you
A nightmare city that's called R'lyeh
Where folks go mad even as they pray
And the voices all chanting Iä Cthulhu
Iä Cthulhu
Iä Cthulhu
Iä Cthulhu
Iä Cthulhu
posted by fings at 8:24 AM on January 24, 2018 [18 favorites]
The sailor said that he'd been, he swore
on a distant isle of some fetid shore
where the angles all are wrong, and they'll fool you
A nightmare city that's called R'lyeh
Where folks go mad even as they pray
And the voices all chanting Iä Cthulhu
Iä Cthulhu
Iä Cthulhu
Iä Cthulhu
Iä Cthulhu
posted by fings at 8:24 AM on January 24, 2018 [18 favorites]
I actually was, so.
evidence enough to persist in this practice :3
posted by runt at 8:36 AM on January 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
evidence enough to persist in this practice :3
posted by runt at 8:36 AM on January 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
If you'd enjoy reading some recent Cthulhu mythos fiction that would make H.P. Lovecraft scream in impotent bigoted rage, I recommend Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff (soon to be an HBO series by Jordan Peele), The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe (ebook on sale for $2), and Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys (also on sale for $3, and my Lovecraft-bothering favorite for its sympathetic and heroic depictions of intelligent women, interracial relationships, Japanese Americans, black women, and gay Jews). The Litany of Earth by Emrys is a free novella set before Winter Tide.
posted by nicebookrack at 9:40 AM on January 24, 2018 [16 favorites]
posted by nicebookrack at 9:40 AM on January 24, 2018 [16 favorites]
And The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle! Soooo good, and Lovecraft would be soooo mad.
posted by nicebookrack at 9:48 AM on January 24, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by nicebookrack at 9:48 AM on January 24, 2018 [8 favorites]
And The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle! Soooo good
Yes! I read it on the strength of some Mefite recommendations here and there and really liked it.
Lovecraft-bothering
Heh heh heh.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:57 AM on January 24, 2018 [5 favorites]
Yes! I read it on the strength of some Mefite recommendations here and there and really liked it.
Lovecraft-bothering
Heh heh heh.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:57 AM on January 24, 2018 [5 favorites]
You can also sing "The Chivalrous Man-Eating Shark" to "Piano Man."
posted by The otter lady at 12:05 PM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by The otter lady at 12:05 PM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
The last one is the best, because you've got to have the release of a real chorus, and "Sing Us A Song, You're Cthulhu, Man" is genius.
posted by languagehat at 12:17 PM on January 24, 2018
posted by languagehat at 12:17 PM on January 24, 2018
runt: "just putting a stake down as that guy in every Lovecraft thread who likes to point out Lovecraft's 'too-racist-for-even-the-early-20th-century' racism just in case folks are blissfully unaware"
I like to think on some level he'd be horrified that his words were put to the music of A JEW!!! which makes this all that much better.
posted by capricorn at 3:16 PM on January 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
I like to think on some level he'd be horrified that his words were put to the music of A JEW!!! which makes this all that much better.
posted by capricorn at 3:16 PM on January 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
I’m morbidly curious now if Lovecraft has ever been translated into Hebrew or if attempts to do so cause the text to burst into burbling black flame as the Hebrew alphabet fights back
posted by nicebookrack at 4:22 PM on January 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by nicebookrack at 4:22 PM on January 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
Yes! I read it on the strength of some Mefite recommendations here and there and really liked it.
I did the same for all of the books nicebookrack mentioned and they were all excellent! Hurray Metafilter!
posted by Ashwagandha at 4:32 PM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
I did the same for all of the books nicebookrack mentioned and they were all excellent! Hurray Metafilter!
posted by Ashwagandha at 4:32 PM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Play them all at once. Thanks to YouTube's auto play feature, when a video ends, another version of the song will start playing and you end up in a sea of Joeled-out Nemesis goodness that just goes and goes... except for the metal cover of Toto's Africa that crept into the mix.
posted by Trinity-Gehenna at 7:25 PM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Trinity-Gehenna at 7:25 PM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Needs more atonal piping of bone flutes
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 9:13 PM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 9:13 PM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
As does the rest of Billy Joel's catalog
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 9:13 PM on January 24, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 9:13 PM on January 24, 2018 [4 favorites]
To include the album he recorded under the band name Attila.
posted by radwolf76 at 12:56 AM on January 25, 2018
posted by radwolf76 at 12:56 AM on January 25, 2018
If you're in the mood for something more atmospheric, epic, and tailored to the content, I Monster's recent A Dollop of HP, masterfully narrated by David Yates (of a different, though some might say related, HP fame), might sit (un)well with you.
While weaving Piano Man's melody into their closing Nemesis may have better served a nefarious end, their electro-pop take opts instead to disperse the darkness.
posted by angelplasma at 11:43 AM on January 25, 2018
While weaving Piano Man's melody into their closing Nemesis may have better served a nefarious end, their electro-pop take opts instead to disperse the darkness.
posted by angelplasma at 11:43 AM on January 25, 2018
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posted by Samizdata at 9:10 PM on January 23, 2018 [2 favorites]