Frat-based zeitgeist

December 20, 2005 11:55 AM

"More cowbell!" is the new "Freebird."
posted by mrgrimm (55 comments total)

What the fuck, is it 2002 again?
posted by SweetJesus at 12:00 PM on December 20, 2005

Thank you, Professor Obvious.
posted by jonmc at 12:03 PM on December 20, 2005

And they're still not that funny.

That Will Farrell "cowbell" skit has to be the most overrated Internet trinket of 2005.
posted by drstein at 12:05 PM on December 20, 2005

Despite the fact it's been around since 2000....
posted by SweetJesus at 12:06 PM on December 20, 2005

Ah, the "Freebird" thread! *sniff*
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:06 PM on December 20, 2005

It was a question for AskMeFi, maybe...

I know the skit is old, but I've only heard it popping up at shows and recordings recently ...
posted by mrgrimm at 12:07 PM on December 20, 2005

“That’s what the redneck said/ ‘if you want us to stick around, You gotta play some Skynyrd.’” John Eddie
posted by fixedgear at 12:09 PM on December 20, 2005

This post needs more -- ah, forget it.
posted by brain_drain at 12:10 PM on December 20, 2005

Kids who were born after Skynyrd crashed used to shout "Freebird" at music shows ... will kids born after Christopher Walken's performance be shouting "More cowbell!" in 2020? *spinning wheels in vain*
posted by mrgrimm at 12:11 PM on December 20, 2005

I heartily approve of the concise wording of this post and the effort that went into it. But, dude, why now? Whyyyyyyy???????
posted by soyjoy at 12:14 PM on December 20, 2005

SNL's Best of Christopher Walken DVD is worth the price of admission for the cowbell sketch alone. All you indier-than-thou hatas can suck it.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:15 PM on December 20, 2005

It's been around that long? Oh. I didn't know that. I've only been seeing it this past year. It made me chuckle the first time I saw but, but every time afterwards, it just started to become annoying. At least Mahir the "I KISS YOU" guy was amusing.
posted by drstein at 12:15 PM on December 20, 2005

Maybe it's time we all admit that metafilter is just another dumping ground for regurgitated everythings, no longer any more cutting edge or relevant than more cowbell.

It's been a good ride, mefi, but it's time to put you down.

/hunting for new homepage.
posted by phylum sinter at 12:21 PM on December 20, 2005

SNL's Best of Christopher Walken DVD is worth the price of admission for the cowbell sketch alone. All you indier-than-thou hatas can suck it.

Heyyy, do you work for VH1?
posted by SweetJesus at 12:23 PM on December 20, 2005

is christopher walken an actor or something?
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 12:31 PM on December 20, 2005

Heyyy, do you work for VH1?

Naw. If I did, I wouldn't be posting on MetaFilter, on account of the self-inflicted bullet through my skull. Anyway, I also bought the disc for the census-taker sketch, so I'm not a complete shill for just the one bit.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:32 PM on December 20, 2005

It was back in May 2005 when Gene Frenkle treated us to more cowbell during Queens of the Stone Age's "Little Sister".
Ferrell's dad played keyboards for the Righteous Brothers?
posted by badger_flammable at 12:32 PM on December 20, 2005

It only takes one person and one keyboard to summon a thousand horses, all dead.
posted by The Jesse Helms at 12:39 PM on December 20, 2005

No it's not!
posted by freebird at 12:52 PM on December 20, 2005

"Needs more byzantine pre-futurist analysis and coffee-fueled ranting!"
posted by freebird at 12:53 PM on December 20, 2005

is christopher walken an actor or something?

Nah. He's just running for president.

And, uh, I welcome our new more cowbell overlords.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 12:54 PM on December 20, 2005

I think the post title kind of says it all -- both what this thread is about, and why I couldn't bring myself to give a shit if my life depended on it...
posted by lodurr at 12:55 PM on December 20, 2005

is christopher walken an actor or something?

Dude, fucking shut up. Seriously.
posted by NationalKato at 12:55 PM on December 20, 2005

Play some exegesis!
posted by freebird at 12:56 PM on December 20, 2005

Dude, fucking shut up. Seriously.


I can't. I'm too busy portraying myself as a watered down parody of my former glory .
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 1:02 PM on December 20, 2005

posted by caddis at 1:20 PM on December 20, 2005

It was funny the first time, pretty much every time since then has been less and less funny. Pretty soon someone's going to have to get punched in the face for saying "More cowbell".
posted by fenriq at 1:22 PM on December 20, 2005

It's a Facebook group for every single school, it seems like.
posted by SisterHavana at 1:26 PM on December 20, 2005

Where's the beef?
posted by alumshubby at 1:32 PM on December 20, 2005

Wuzzle woosle?
posted by Smedleyman at 1:34 PM on December 20, 2005

If I ever meet you in person, I'll smash your brains in with a fucking bat. Then we'll see who doesn't like hot dogs.
posted by Robot Johnny at 1:36 PM on December 20, 2005

"Heckuva job, Brownie" is the new "More cowbell".
posted by fenriq at 2:07 PM on December 20, 2005

I loves me some Freebird and cowbell. All you hipsters can suck it.
posted by keswick at 2:27 PM on December 20, 2005

"It really pulled the track together."

A Chinaman peed on my cowbell.
posted by dhartung at 2:36 PM on December 20, 2005

You know, bush still tells people they're doing "a heck of a job". He's totaly oblivious that this has become a catch-phrase for "total fuckup about to lose their job".
posted by delmoi at 2:39 PM on December 20, 2005

oooh... POINT: smileychewtrain...
posted by cusack at 2:40 PM on December 20, 2005

.
posted by Wolof at 2:41 PM on December 20, 2005

He's totaly oblivious.

Delmoi, I tightened up your reply. I think it's a little more concise.
posted by keswick at 3:15 PM on December 20, 2005

I heartily approve of the concise wording of this post and the effort that went into it. But, dude, why now?

Effort? You misjudge me.
posted by mrgrimm at 4:23 PM on December 20, 2005

Now that was a funny skit (unlike that insipid video linked earlier today from a recent SNL).
posted by ParisParamus at 4:31 PM on December 20, 2005

delmoi, that's part of what makes it so damned excellent, the coiner is utterly clueless as to what it means. In fact, he said Rummy was doing a "heckuva job" just last week.
posted by fenriq at 4:35 PM on December 20, 2005

Just flag it and move on. No use flogging everyone about... hey.... wait a minute....

WHIPPING POST!
posted by hal9k at 4:38 PM on December 20, 2005

fenriq wins. can't wait to yell it out at a concert...
posted by twsf at 4:46 PM on December 20, 2005

"Cowbell" is like "Freebird" in that its not funny but people keep shouting it.
posted by maxsparber at 5:08 PM on December 20, 2005

NERDS MERE CABAL!
posted by parallax7d at 5:17 PM on December 20, 2005

more cowbell. just for the memories.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 5:39 PM on December 20, 2005

"Cowbell" is like "Freebird"

No! It's not!
posted by freebird at 6:06 PM on December 20, 2005

Effort? You misjudge me.

Well, I meant that in a six-word post you had four separate, properly-coded links. Believe me, on Mefi these days that counts as effort. But dude, what about that "Whyyyyyyyy???????" question...?
posted by soyjoy at 8:25 PM on December 20, 2005

I am going to eat your soul, and make festive holiday earmuffs out of your testicles.

That'll show you.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:07 PM on December 20, 2005

but... its just comedy.... just funny... thats all... thats really all. and it is funny.
posted by shimmer at 10:25 PM on December 20, 2005

I have to agree with kafkaesque when this was discussed previously. The census sketch in that episode was truly hilarious. Shame it's not as easily quoted as "More cowbell". That was only funny because of Walken's delivery.
posted by team lowkey at 1:48 AM on December 21, 2005

To paraphrase The Yogi, "The only reason that joke was funny is because everybody laughed."

It's hard for me to put my finger on what bothers me about stuff like the cowbell sketch beyond "it's just not that funny." After chasing it around for a while, I usually come back to this point:

It's funny because it's funny. Which is to say, it's funny because everyone thinks it's funny.

A lot of humor works that way. People laugh because other people are laughing. A lot of comedians get mileage out of that, sometimes in unexpected ways -- Lenny Bruce, Hicks, Carlin, Chris Rock are all people i can think of off the top of my head who will inevitably drop a change-up on their audiences for laughing at them. ("You really thought that was funny? What a jerk.")

There's nothing inherently wrong with it. It's a feature of being human: We pick up on cues from our fellow herd-mates. We're herd animals; it's a fact of life, it's nothing shameful; and that means that we have a certain behavioral heritage.

Stuff like this is humorless without the context. And the context in which it's humorous is often a bunch of guys (and I know precious few women who think Christopher Walken is funny when he does the tough guy schtick) sitting around watching SNL together.

Which is to say, a frat-based zeitgeist.

It's the same reason so many young guys laugh at Conan O'Brien: Because they all laugh at him. Fortunately for Conan's career, he's smart enough not to be satisfied with that, and selects/writes material that works outside the frat-based zeitgeist.

How's that for a downer?
posted by lodurr at 4:46 AM on December 21, 2005

Afroblanco, you put too much thought into it. That's why you missed teh funny.
posted by NationalKato at 7:28 AM on December 21, 2005

dude, what about that "Whyyyyyyyy???????" question...?

mind queef.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:44 AM on December 21, 2005

want to make fun of the song for having too much cowbell?

Too much cowbell? No such thing.
posted by jonp72 at 6:34 AM on December 22, 2005