I know a bot
March 8, 2008 6:08 AM Subscribe
I love the original. The new one... what's the point? It drops the best parts... the high-geekery, the way it's so utterly, utterly silly that it becomes cool.
posted by alexei at 6:28 AM on March 8, 2008
posted by alexei at 6:28 AM on March 8, 2008
The swedish shon has been all over the place on the european continent in 2006.
Apparently his album is called LOL <> and he has Tourettes syndrom. (thank you wikipedia)
posted by jouke at 6:30 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
Apparently his album is called LOL <> and he has Tourettes syndrom. (thank you wikipedia)
posted by jouke at 6:30 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
What alexei said.
I guess neither of these vocalists are basshunter? And I guess that the models they use in the videos aren't the vocalists either? That said, I can see that you'd need to drop the IRC references to get much airplay in the UK. You could have substituted some other kind of IM system instead though -- Microsofts, or AIM, or something. I mean, my kids are pretty damn geeky, but even they don't use IRC. Shit, I'm pretty damn geeky, but I've used it maybe twice or three times. The interface sucked. The lack of immediate feedback sucked. Everything about it sucked.
You still can't beat ntalk to my mind.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:32 AM on March 8, 2008
I guess neither of these vocalists are basshunter? And I guess that the models they use in the videos aren't the vocalists either? That said, I can see that you'd need to drop the IRC references to get much airplay in the UK. You could have substituted some other kind of IM system instead though -- Microsofts, or AIM, or something. I mean, my kids are pretty damn geeky, but even they don't use IRC. Shit, I'm pretty damn geeky, but I've used it maybe twice or three times. The interface sucked. The lack of immediate feedback sucked. Everything about it sucked.
You still can't beat ntalk to my mind.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:32 AM on March 8, 2008
Here's my favorite song/video about IM geekery.
posted by haunted by Leonard Cohen at 6:36 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by haunted by Leonard Cohen at 6:36 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
Just be thankful I can't find Nikki Cleary's breakout hit IM Me on YouTube. Released at 14 under her real name - Brittney Cleary, at least she had the sense to change her stage name to distance herself from that Spears girl when she released her first album. (Oh, the song was crap... That's why you should be thankful. The rest is just background for the sake of completeness.)
posted by benzo8 at 6:48 AM on March 8, 2008
posted by benzo8 at 6:48 AM on March 8, 2008
Apparently his album is called LOL <> and he has Tourettes syndrom. (thank you wikipedia)
Then his songs need more "Fuck! FUCK! Cocksuckercockcockfuck yooou! ASS!" or whatever the Swedish equivalent is in order to be considered truly awesome.
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:50 AM on March 8, 2008
Then his songs need more "Fuck! FUCK! Cocksuckercockcockfuck yooou! ASS!" or whatever the Swedish equivalent is in order to be considered truly awesome.
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:50 AM on March 8, 2008
So someone made a shitty song. Then another one Ripped that shit off. Then the second hand shit got number one.
OK, I'm way finished with the music industry.
posted by zouhair at 6:52 AM on March 8, 2008
OK, I'm way finished with the music industry.
posted by zouhair at 6:52 AM on March 8, 2008
They've stripped it of all its ridiculous charms. :-(
I shudder to think of what will become of the even geekier and more sillywonderful Vi Sitter här i Venten och Spelar Lite Dota
posted by fleetmouse at 6:52 AM on March 8, 2008
I shudder to think of what will become of the even geekier and more sillywonderful Vi Sitter här i Venten och Spelar Lite Dota
posted by fleetmouse at 6:52 AM on March 8, 2008
> So someone made a shitty song. Then another one Ripped that shit off. Then the second hand shit got number one.
Same artist did both versions, the first in Swedish, the second in English, with changed meaning as well as language.
Watch the videos before snarking unprepared and looking like a fool.
posted by benzo8 at 6:56 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
Same artist did both versions, the first in Swedish, the second in English, with changed meaning as well as language.
Watch the videos before snarking unprepared and looking like a fool.
posted by benzo8 at 6:56 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
Fool.
posted by cillit bang at 6:58 AM on March 8, 2008
posted by cillit bang at 6:58 AM on March 8, 2008
As opposed to snarking prepared and removing all doubt.
posted by Optamystic at 6:58 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Optamystic at 6:58 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
It's better than a song about blogging.
posted by blue_beetle at 7:03 AM on March 8, 2008 [11 favorites]
posted by blue_beetle at 7:03 AM on March 8, 2008 [11 favorites]
I wonder if the preponderance of YouTube links these days means that RTFA should become WTFV? ITFI? DSUALLAF?
posted by benzo8 at 7:04 AM on March 8, 2008
posted by benzo8 at 7:04 AM on March 8, 2008
They didn't so much strip it of its charms as tear its heart out and leap up and down on it again and again with army boots screaming NNNNNNGGGGGRH.
I mean, really. No spammon? Really? No pedalboats in the canal?
This is like redoing "Still Alive" so it's in French and about picking up chicks.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:07 AM on March 8, 2008 [4 favorites]
I mean, really. No spammon? Really? No pedalboats in the canal?
This is like redoing "Still Alive" so it's in French and about picking up chicks.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:07 AM on March 8, 2008 [4 favorites]
It was a great, cheesy song in the original. Now, after they've dialed up the autotuner and stripped its geekiness in favor of the cliche Song About Loss Of [Boy/Girl]friend, it's just bad.
posted by flatluigi at 7:19 AM on March 8, 2008
posted by flatluigi at 7:19 AM on March 8, 2008
Totally superfluous rewrite - Basshunter's whole charm is his geekspeak.
I have a HUGE soft spot for this kind of trashy, trance-y dance-pop. Anyone who likes Basshunter
should also give a listen to Special D or Sven-R-G.
posted by tantrumthecat at 8:04 AM on March 8, 2008
I have a HUGE soft spot for this kind of trashy, trance-y dance-pop. Anyone who likes Basshunter
should also give a listen to Special D or Sven-R-G.
posted by tantrumthecat at 8:04 AM on March 8, 2008
No pedalboats = Crap
posted by camcgee at 8:13 AM on March 8, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by camcgee at 8:13 AM on March 8, 2008 [3 favorites]
I think you'll find they're called 'pedalos'.
posted by chrismear at 8:27 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by chrismear at 8:27 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
I love how the Swedish video has the guy singing "She cleans up our channel" while gesturing towards the (water) channel.
posted by Xere at 8:33 AM on March 8, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by Xere at 8:33 AM on March 8, 2008 [2 favorites]
I guess neither of these vocalists are basshunter? And I guess that the models they use in the videos aren't the vocalists either?
Welcome to Swedish pop.
*sound of dentist's drill*
You may spit now.
posted by three blind mice at 9:30 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
Welcome to Swedish pop.
*sound of dentist's drill*
You may spit now.
posted by three blind mice at 9:30 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
I'm going to be pissed if there's no Anna^ in #basshunter.
posted by wordsmith at 9:36 AM on March 8, 2008
posted by wordsmith at 9:36 AM on March 8, 2008
Wow, a techno paean to an IRC bot? why is it that I can love foreign pop songs that would make me nauseous in english? this is delightful.
And of course it reminds me of being 13, and having irc channel politics being such a *critical* part of life. so funny.
thanks for sharing, this is almost better than Günther.
posted by EricGjerde at 9:42 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
And of course it reminds me of being 13, and having irc channel politics being such a *critical* part of life. so funny.
thanks for sharing, this is almost better than Günther.
posted by EricGjerde at 9:42 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
"In my eyes you're still a bot" is just begging for memedom.
posted by VulcanMike at 10:09 AM on March 8, 2008
posted by VulcanMike at 10:09 AM on March 8, 2008
"Someone," ahem, needs to escalate this arms race with a song about a teenage boy chatting one-on-one with a somewhat creepy, but ultimately friendly and inspirational 60-year-old sysop on a single-line BBS at 2:00AM in a time before affordable internet access and insular online interaction with one's friend's and "peers." I remember him telling me I'd have a Porsche by the time I was 21, but I still drive a Ford :(
Since someone mentioned Mentos, I must provide a link to the Ultimate Mentos Commercial.
posted by lordaych at 10:13 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
Since someone mentioned Mentos, I must provide a link to the Ultimate Mentos Commercial.
posted by lordaych at 10:13 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
That Swedish guy has an odd commute to work.
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:13 AM on March 8, 2008
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:13 AM on March 8, 2008
The first one, great; elevates a silly tune to something more. Pedalboat; refusing to give up on his bot dreams for a mere faceless hot girl. The second one, what generic crap.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:17 AM on March 8, 2008
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:17 AM on March 8, 2008
Gah. 6 years of mandatory swedish and still I had never noticed that "In my eyes you're still a bot" -storyline before now, reading english subtitles. This song is so much better now.
posted by Free word order! at 10:18 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Free word order! at 10:18 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
I couldn't sit through more than a minute of either version. The repetitiverepetitive almostmonotone musical structure of the song was so mindnumblingly boring that either version could've been about nuclear war, menage a trois sex or macaroni and cheese and I wouldn't have listened to it for three minutes without permanent brain damage. Which appears to be what happened to some of the commenters in this thread.
posted by wendell at 10:19 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by wendell at 10:19 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
Wow, a techno paean to an IRC bot?
wasn't the story behind this that the tourette guy *thought* that the "anna" nick was a bot, but that it was in fact his friend's girlfriend? (which turned out to be a bit embarrassing when he replied to a message from the "bot" with a rather naughty message).
why is it that I can love foreign pop songs that would make me nauseous in english?
I can assure you that this song makes most native speakers nauseous (in fact, some recent research indicates that the original may *cause* tourette's syndrome, at least in people with some sense for good music).
posted by effbot at 10:23 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
wasn't the story behind this that the tourette guy *thought* that the "anna" nick was a bot, but that it was in fact his friend's girlfriend? (which turned out to be a bit embarrassing when he replied to a message from the "bot" with a rather naughty message).
why is it that I can love foreign pop songs that would make me nauseous in english?
I can assure you that this song makes most native speakers nauseous (in fact, some recent research indicates that the original may *cause* tourette's syndrome, at least in people with some sense for good music).
posted by effbot at 10:23 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
The repetitiverepetitive almostmonotone musical structure of the song was so mindnumblingly boring ... I wouldn't have listened to it for three minutes without permanent brain damage.
We're obviously on different drugs.
posted by VulcanMike at 10:23 AM on March 8, 2008
We're obviously on different drugs.
posted by VulcanMike at 10:23 AM on March 8, 2008
wendell: he brags about how great his channel's bot is (comedy in itself) and then when she's revealed not to be a bot, but to be a real hot person in a minidress, he is distraught and says "in my mind, you're still a bot". The hot Anna comes and rides in his dunebuggy or whatever, but he doesn't look at her.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:32 AM on March 8, 2008
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:32 AM on March 8, 2008
The fact that the video features a Sandra Bullock clone and two of her buds stripped to their skivs and slinking into little dresses wouldn't have anything to do with that, would it?
(Oh... _I_ only watched it for the lyrics.)
posted by Mike D at 10:36 AM on March 8, 2008
(Oh... _I_ only watched it for the lyrics.)
posted by Mike D at 10:36 AM on March 8, 2008
Terrible, terrible, terrible music. Just terrible.
Did I mention that it was terrible?
It's terrible.
posted by papakwanz at 10:55 AM on March 8, 2008
Did I mention that it was terrible?
It's terrible.
posted by papakwanz at 10:55 AM on March 8, 2008
Then his songs need more "Fuck! FUCK! Cocksuckercockcockfuck yooou! ASS!" or whatever the Swedish equivalent is in order to be considered truly awesome
How original.
posted by katillathehun at 11:08 AM on March 8, 2008
How original.
posted by katillathehun at 11:08 AM on March 8, 2008
How are you all missing the subtleties that this is a song about pubescence, and the average Catholic's struggle between spiritual pursuits and the fleshy domain?
Look, I shouldn't need to spell it out for you, but obviously the anna character is initially seen as a mother figure, and the song expresses the difficulty in growing up and beginning to be interested in the opposite sex: the desire for a mother figure that will "watch everyone" and "clean up our channel" conflicting with more... lusty pursuits that are rife with complication and peril. Yes, she looks hot in a mini-skirt, but there are times he wants the "Anna-bot" that will nurture him safely like his mother did- or like God might, where Anna is a Virgin Mary figure watching over and keeping us safe, yet with the earthy pleasures of the flesh a perpetual temptation from the path of Catholic purity.
My guess is that this is an autobiographical song about a young Catholic man who has always wanted to enter the seminary, and a chaste life of service to God, who at the cusp of adulthood suddenly finds himself tempted away by the love- and lust- of a woman. He is intrigued, yet also fears the unknown and longs for the simplicity of his youth and his unquestioned spiritual faith- and here, the song expresses the "real" Anna as the miasma of compromises and concessions we make when we enter the pace of the real world, unable to stay in an ivory tower and forced to become the impure, imperfect beings we always thought we would never be in the folly of our youth.
His struggle, really, is our struggle. And how you simpletons didn't pick up on this is, quite frankly, beyond me...
posted by hincandenza at 11:13 AM on March 8, 2008 [8 favorites]
Look, I shouldn't need to spell it out for you, but obviously the anna character is initially seen as a mother figure, and the song expresses the difficulty in growing up and beginning to be interested in the opposite sex: the desire for a mother figure that will "watch everyone" and "clean up our channel" conflicting with more... lusty pursuits that are rife with complication and peril. Yes, she looks hot in a mini-skirt, but there are times he wants the "Anna-bot" that will nurture him safely like his mother did- or like God might, where Anna is a Virgin Mary figure watching over and keeping us safe, yet with the earthy pleasures of the flesh a perpetual temptation from the path of Catholic purity.
My guess is that this is an autobiographical song about a young Catholic man who has always wanted to enter the seminary, and a chaste life of service to God, who at the cusp of adulthood suddenly finds himself tempted away by the love- and lust- of a woman. He is intrigued, yet also fears the unknown and longs for the simplicity of his youth and his unquestioned spiritual faith- and here, the song expresses the "real" Anna as the miasma of compromises and concessions we make when we enter the pace of the real world, unable to stay in an ivory tower and forced to become the impure, imperfect beings we always thought we would never be in the folly of our youth.
His struggle, really, is our struggle. And how you simpletons didn't pick up on this is, quite frankly, beyond me...
posted by hincandenza at 11:13 AM on March 8, 2008 [8 favorites]
eurodisco stars are always too busy driving to make hits.
posted by sgt.serenity at 11:41 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by sgt.serenity at 11:41 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
The crappy music in the original was part of its spoofy charm. Now that it's not a spoof, it's just crappy music.
Can anyone think of an example where a singer took a novelty song like the original and tried to remake it as something more serious? Not that the new version is that serious, but it certainly fits into the genre rather than being a parody of it.
posted by grouse at 2:52 PM on March 8, 2008
Can anyone think of an example where a singer took a novelty song like the original and tried to remake it as something more serious? Not that the new version is that serious, but it certainly fits into the genre rather than being a parody of it.
posted by grouse at 2:52 PM on March 8, 2008
The singer and the girl are both porn stars, according to MTV.
Which brings us to the Norwegian hit, "My Boobs Are Okay."
posted by Frank Grimes at 3:06 PM on March 8, 2008
Which brings us to the Norwegian hit, "My Boobs Are Okay."
posted by Frank Grimes at 3:06 PM on March 8, 2008
Basshunter interview: "my girlfriend and friends had been partying and drinking beforehand. We decided to take some pictures and have a little sex orgy at my place ... I like very much to use my penis for what I was born to do and I'm not really the shy guy. I want to show the world"
posted by cillit bang at 3:14 PM on March 8, 2008
posted by cillit bang at 3:14 PM on March 8, 2008
That Swedish guy has an odd commute to work.
The Swedish word "båt" sounds like "bot" and means "boat", and boats typically have girl names such as "Anna".
posted by flif at 8:09 PM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
The Swedish word "båt" sounds like "bot" and means "boat", and boats typically have girl names such as "Anna".
posted by flif at 8:09 PM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]
AND boten means 'boats' in dutch, which led to a dutch parody with the same title that I think mostly featured scantily clad dutch girls on boats.
posted by thedaniel at 8:28 PM on March 8, 2008
posted by thedaniel at 8:28 PM on March 8, 2008
For an IRC song, I am partial to Less Than Three.
posted by madamjujujive at 8:32 PM on March 8, 2008
posted by madamjujujive at 8:32 PM on March 8, 2008
Did anyone else feel Jessamyn's presence throughout that song?
posted by hadjiboy at 9:17 PM on March 8, 2008
posted by hadjiboy at 9:17 PM on March 8, 2008
I love the fact that you pronounce 'channel' as 'kanaal' in Swedish, and am mesmerized by the notion that you could rhyme 'Anna' and 'Ban' together. This opens a world of musical possibilities that I never knew existed.
posted by the cydonian at 1:41 AM on March 9, 2008
posted by the cydonian at 1:41 AM on March 9, 2008
The greatest part of that song, madamjujujive, is meeting on IM and making an arrangement to have a date on IRC. LOLOL.
posted by grouse at 1:51 AM on March 9, 2008
posted by grouse at 1:51 AM on March 9, 2008
While DOTA wasn't as great as Boten Anna, in the video they're all wearing the same headphones... which are the very headphones I am currently wearing.
I have never felt cooler.
posted by alexei at 3:12 AM on March 9, 2008
I have never felt cooler.
posted by alexei at 3:12 AM on March 9, 2008
The dutch parody of which thedaniel speaks.
posted by howling fantods at 8:45 AM on March 9, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by howling fantods at 8:45 AM on March 9, 2008 [1 favorite]
The greatest part of that song, madamjujujive, is meeting on IM and making an arrangement to have a date on IRC.
What's wrong with that??
posted by ubiquity at 2:25 PM on March 9, 2008
What's wrong with that??
posted by ubiquity at 2:25 PM on March 9, 2008
AND boten means 'boats' in dutch, which led to a dutch parody with the same title that I think mostly featured scantily clad dutch girls on boats.
And the pedalboat is in a channel!
posted by mendel at 10:02 AM on March 10, 2008
And the pedalboat is in a channel!
posted by mendel at 10:02 AM on March 10, 2008
the words terrible and horrendous needed to be posted again. the first one is passable b/c it is funny. the second one is not funny, and thus not passable.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:13 AM on March 10, 2008
posted by mrgrimm at 11:13 AM on March 10, 2008
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posted by chrismear at 6:13 AM on March 8, 2008