Music
The Parody OD: "Somebody That I Used To Know"
by Dave Hodgson
April 25, 2012
Welcome back to my slow, painful unraveling... I mean, The Parody OD, a monthly roundup of YouTube's burgeoning pop parodists! This time around, we see what the "Weird" Als of the digital generation have on one of the most popular singles in recent memory, "Somebody That I Used To Know," by Gotye, who really should be going by his real name Wally De Backer. It's just fun to say! Wally De Backer.
Welcome back to my slow, painful unraveling… I mean, The Parody OD, a monthly roundup of YouTube’s burgeoning pop parodists! This time around, we see what the “Weird” Als of the digital generation have on one of the most popular singles in recent memory, “Somebody That I Used To Know,” by Gotye, who really should be going by his real name Wally De Backer. It’s just fun to say! Wally De Backer.
“The Key of Awesome: Somebody That I Used To Know”
Views: 4,844,620
Why My Head Hurts: I usually lead these things off by landing some blows on the Key of Awesome for a little bit, but I don’t even mind this. This is actually a parody of the cover of the Gotye song by Walk Off The Earth, the Canadian folks who humbly crowded around a single acoustic guitar and now have 95 million views to their name and are selling “Beard Guy undies!!!” Well, Beard Guy gets his in this parody, as the song’s lyrics are altered to make it about how he has a drug problem so destructive that he sold all of the band’s other gear to pay for it. They also make fun of the guy who plays the body of the guitar “like he’s f***ing Tito Puente,” which I like. This was half-dece! Are you happy now, Key of Awesome? You finally broke me down.
Definitive Lyric: “Tony is addicted to a wide array of narcotics / He claims they help him write but we’re a cover band”
Rating: 7/10
“Canucks Playoff Song”
Views: 381,638
Why My Head Hurts: This one was created by Vancouver Canucks fans to spur their team on to glory in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it’s well-produced, that’s for sure. Just one problem: there’s no jokes! It’s really just listing off the players’ names and repeating “Go Canucks Go.” The real injustice is that they didn’t wait until the team was bounced out of the playoffs in the first round to make this, because now their former starting goalie is on the outs and has been effectively “cut off”. What a perfect subject for a parody of Gotye’s song! Maybe I should write one of these parodies. Nahhhh, it’s more fun to take dumps on them.
Definitive Lyric: “Alex Edler and Alex Burrows, Bieksa, Hamhuis, Ebbet, Kassian, Malhotra, Kesler”
Rating: 4/10
“Somebody Who Used To Be My Bro”
Views: 7,211
Why My Head Hurts: I had high hopes for this one, as the premise is somewhat solid: guy passes out at a party and gets drawn all over. Then comedy’s moron friend from back home rears its goateed head: homophobia! Bro #2 enters the scene and the two recoil at the fact that they had sex. WOKKA WOKKA NO HOMO. This video faced stiff competition from the eerily-similar “Somebody Who Is Not A Bro.” I guess great minds think alike! Or the most unoriginal minds. Haven’t decided yet.
Rating: 3/10
Definitive Lyric: “Oh, my throat feels rough / Ha ha, that’s ’cause you just sucked my dick”
“Somebody That I Used To Know (PARODIE)”
Views: 8,062,857
Why My Head Hurts: Sung by German YouTube sensation Y-Titty, this one seems almost the same as the last one, but I like it way more. For one, it’s in German, which automatically makes it twenty times funnier, and for the love of Christ, the man’s name is Y-Titty! I don’t understand the language but given how many views it has, I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Millions of Germans can’t be wrong! … oh, right. That.
Definitive Lyric: “Und ich hab wirklich nichts geschnallt / Stehe hier wie Gott mich schuf und mir ist kalt” (classic!)
Rating: 8/10
“Somebody That I Used To Blow”
Views: 5,359
Why My Head Hurts: I don’t know what endears me to this YouTuber most: that he didn’t bother to make a music video, that he at no point tries to sound like Gotye, or that he flips off the camera at the end. In fact, I’m led to the conclusion that nothing endears me to this YouTuber. But at least “therobba321” feels he put together a good performance… wait, nope. “I didnt put any effort in the performance, but that is part of the comedy, hopefully… but most importantly its making me money with advertising so I am happy with it! I WANT MONEY!!!!” Ah, YouTube. Never change.
Definitive Lyric: “I didn’t have to cut you off / But now I don’t work as a gay gigalo (sic)”
Rating: 0/10
Next time: I get into the bathtub with some wine and sleeping pills, because nothing means anything anymore!
