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November 28, 2010 3:01 PM   Subscribe

History For Music Lovers is a Youtube channel that rewrites pop songs to be about history. Highlights include Constantine (Come on Eileen), Empress Theodora (Norwegian Wood), Gutenberg (Sunday Girl) and The French Revolution (Bad Romance). More videos. [MLYT]
posted by NoraReed (24 comments total) 21 users marked this as a favorite
 


Double
posted by shazzam at 3:19 PM on November 28, 2010


Props to them for putting so much work into these, but all I can think is "I'm not like a regular mom history teacher; I'm a cool mom history teacher."
posted by oinopaponton at 3:23 PM on November 28, 2010


The Decemberists should get in on this! Except they kind of already are.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 4:32 PM on November 28, 2010 [1 favorite]


I'm utterly charmed by these. I think they're hilarious and rather well done.

Of course, I'm 38 so what the hell do I know?
posted by DarlingBri at 5:07 PM on November 28, 2010


Their version of Rapture has better rap lyrics than the original.
posted by cazoo at 5:10 PM on November 28, 2010


COME ON EYE-LEEN = CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP
CON-STAN-TEEN = CLAP CLAP CLAP
posted by DU at 5:45 PM on November 28, 2010


They had similar videos when I was in school and they were both embarrassing to watch as a student and embarrassing for the teacher to show. But I guess it was easier than, you now, teaching shit.
posted by alex_skazat at 6:20 PM on November 28, 2010


I am inordinately excited by this. You've just made a group of history grad students very happy, NoraReed.
posted by lilac girl at 6:29 PM on November 28, 2010


Could someone who actually is age 20 or under adjust my lameness radar and tell me if these are good or bad? I realise it's a meaningless straw poll but I'm curious.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:32 PM on November 28, 2010


Worth it for "La-la-liberte / E-e-galite / Fra-fra-ternite / French Revolution"
posted by danb at 6:41 PM on November 28, 2010 [3 favorites]


> Could someone who actually is age 20 or under adjust my lameness radar and tell me if these are good or bad? I realise it's a meaningless straw poll but I'm curious.

Under 20 and I vote AWESOME.
posted by estlin at 6:47 PM on November 28, 2010


CON-STAN-TEEN = CLAP CLAP CLAP

Ah, but they add an 'Oh' to get around that. "Oh, Constantine!"
posted by kmz at 7:43 PM on November 28, 2010




These are absolutely fantastic! "Mrs. B's" singing is a bit off in places, but the lyrics more than make up for it. Love 'em.
posted by TheMidnightHobo at 8:27 PM on November 28, 2010


A clever idea, well-executed and visually interesting, and hopefully educational to those who check these videos out. Bravo.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 8:28 PM on November 28, 2010


This is great! I like the Chinese Dynasties one, which is pretty informative. (very minor quibble, they didn't include the Jin, Yuan or Qing dynasties, cos I suppose technically they're foreign rulers, although they did mention that the Song dynasty was taken down by Kublai Khan)
posted by Alnedra at 12:16 AM on November 29, 2010


Phil Eqaulity and Lady Gaga.
posted by clavdivs at 12:23 AM on November 29, 2010


I missed this the first time, so I'm very glad that it's a (substantially expanded and more clearly presented) double.
posted by jb at 2:19 AM on November 29, 2010


Haven't watched yet, but reading the comments is encouraging. Learning through music is an awesome way to go. I myself still sing the old "Schoolhouse Rock" tunes when I need to dredge up some factoid or math problem. After all these years, I still use them. If only my 12-year old would embrace it as well.
posted by sundrop at 5:46 AM on November 29, 2010


Very nice (and I agree with jb). Some of the lines are rushed or otherwise forced, but "Her father trained bears/ The Hippodrome/ It was her home" (in "Empress Theodora") is perfect. Thanks for the post!
posted by languagehat at 10:46 AM on November 29, 2010


However, attributing "September Gurls" to the Bangles is pretty lame.
posted by languagehat at 10:49 AM on November 29, 2010


This is really awesome. It has that perfect blend of inept unhipness, knowing tongue-in-cheekness, earnest effort, and sense of humor. These videos cracked me up frequently. It makes me so happy that there are people out there making these awesome dorky videos.
posted by threeants at 11:52 AM on November 29, 2010


Also, I'm actually damn impressed at the visuals for the Joan of Arc Seven Nation Army-- it's pretty much just like the White Stripes video.
posted by threeants at 11:56 AM on November 29, 2010


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