"A Festivus for the rest of us." (Song contest)
 

This thread idea was born in the shoutbox this evening and it appears i have been nominated to make it. As i have no musical ability at all (unless you count a mean spoon solo!) then don't blame me if no one contributes and it all goes to hell :D

Festivus, for those who don't know is a holiday celebrated as an alternative to Christmas and was popularised in an episode of Seinfeld. In place of the usual joyous sentiment surrounding Christmas, Festivus focuses more on the airing of grievances and letting your loved ones know all the ways in which they have disappointed you and let you down over the last 12 months of the calendar year. It was used as a story line but was actually invented and celebrated by the father of a writer on the show. It is now actively practiced by many, i can only assume delusional, people all over the world.

Anyway, after some google searching this evening an actual festivus song has been uncovered and the point of this thread is to see if we can get some of our more talented members to record and post their own take on it in a special Festivus MB song contest. Conan and Lateralus have put their names forward already and theres no turning back now. We want to see results!

This is the song and also below is a brief Festivus history.

Again, blame the members i mentioned above if this idea goes to hell and mods, if this is better suited to the songwriting board or something then please move it. I wasn't sure where to put it.

http://www.festivusbook.com/static_i...-music_lrg.gif



GO!

Ya'll best get ready :D

BTown said he'd record one tomorrow ... I guess it's 3 contestants now.

Hahaha I can't believe this actually happened. And I so did not put my name forward! I'm very busy practicing this week for some gigs and stuff but I'll see how I go :)

Look forward to hearing yours, Conan.

Thats the way i remember it Lateralus, so as far as im concerned it's now gospel.

EDIT:
Today 01:57 AM Lateralus
I'm so going to play it.

That's good enough for me! :D

Wow. Such beauty has never before been heard by my ears. The composition is just... breathtaking. The melody, unmatched by any!

Masterpiece.

lol I didn't say I was going to make a version I could put on here, I said, play... which could mean at any time in any point in history... nah, like I said I'll see what I can do :D

This is your one in the key that only dogs can hear right? Amazing.

Well played, Conan.

I might actually make a song since I love Festivus.

I completely forgot until I went to school today I lent my camera to my friend so he could record something for school so i'll have to hold for a couple days, my bad.

I didn't have time to put any production into but here it is :D

Haha that is AWESOME. Serious win.

I still haven't had time to do one, I've pretty much been busy at work for the past few days (at work right now), but I'll see hopefully I'll have time. Sorry guys!

Hehe good job Conan. Very inventive, i like it.

interesting i may try this

for those of you who don't know "4'33" was a 3 song album by John Cage, (all songs were blank unless you amplified by about 1000%, then it was noise with a small beat at a tempo of like 10bpm) the album last i checked made John Cage over $200. (the title 4'33 was because the length was exactly 4 minutes and 33 seconds)

Uh.... actually it wasn't an album by John Cage. it was a piece written by John Cage who A) Hated recordings and B) Wouldn't have a small beat when amplified by 1000% because that completely goes against the meaning of the piece.

The whole point is to experience the natural world of sounds around you istead of being fixated on what we call music.

"Recordings" of the piece have been made but none were commissioned by Cage himself. Most people when they want to experiment with 4 minutes 33 either set a timer, site down at a piano and follow the bars or see it performed in concert.

From Cage's biggest fanboy :)

Bump.... c'mon guys don't tell me I'm the only one :o:

Still waiting for BTown's and Kate's

I'm too busy, got a lot of stuff on this week :/

Hey, Conan, I like your rap piece! It described the materialism of the holiday season well.

I'm in, but I probably can't record my Festivus song until the weekend, especially since I want to put some final touches on the lyrics. This morning around 1 AM I woke up because I had to go to the bathroom, but you know how it is when you lie there, debating if you can hold off until morning and then your mind starts to wander and you get thinking about things? Well, the first line of a Festivus song popped into my head, so then I *did* get up and go to the bathroom, where I scrawled most of the rest of the song on a piece of paper while sitting on the can. I thought that was a perfect place for writing a Festivus song. Of course, I write most of my lyrics while in the bathroom, so this morning's experience was pretty standard for me. Odd, but true.

Sounds like inspiration has struck Vegangelica :)

!BUMP!

C'mon people! Festivus is 6 days away!

I know! I'm working, I'm working! I will record some more of my song today (Sunday). Unfortunately, end-of-the-year festivities correspond with the semester end, which is a busy time. Cute koala, by the way, NumberNineDream!

Thanks!
I'm trying to make it the official Festivus Koala Mascott.

I would seriously do this if I had proper recording equipment and a good voice.

^ Ditto, yeah I don't think I'm gonna do one. But Festivus is two days away I'd love to see some more!

The Festivus Pole Dance Song
 

Happy Festivus 2009!

I just finished my Festivus song and video:

LOL!!! I made a rap song and it hadn't near the amount of sexual explicitness. Great work Vegangelica! :rofl:

Haha that is awesome! Well done. Am happy to see another entry at least.

So, festivus is official over here and sadly I didn't make a contribution. Sorry guys.

Would I be too late? I think I might try

Of course not. Festivus is the season of second chances after all!

Thanks, Conan. I was using the "Fake Argument Thread" for inspiration, so although my mind may be devious I doubt I would have thought of this song if it weren't for MB.

I'm glad you liked it, Lateralus! I was hoping someone else would find the song amusing besides just myself.

It was also... very... like... wow... uh...:love:

yeah just do it... you have like 2 more days, till we have digested our Festivus dinner.

Pretty psyched there's a contribution by Erica... I really liked her previous "I'm in love with your avatar", it just haunted me for days.
... and now, let's buffer the youtube video.

Edit: Just brilliant! Loved it!

Here's a great Festivus song.
 

So.... I can't post links since I just signed up but paste this in Google and one will come up...

A Festivus holiday jam Brett Houston

Memories :D

Heh heh...I was thinking about this thread several months ago, Conan, and while investigating Festivus songs online I discovered a Festivus expert, Allen Salkin (http://www.allensalkin.com/), who made the following amusing (to me) video about Festivus traditions:

Allen Salkin's video "How to Celebrate Festivus"
Remember, NO TINSEL on your Festivus Pole!! And beware of those strippers. ;)



After watching this video based on his Festivus book, I decided Allen Salkin may be one of the few people who would appreciate this thread. So I e-mailed him back in October to tell him about MusicBanter's 2009 Festivus Song Contest and our Festivus songs.

He replied back, which was cool. :)

I was semi-thinking of doing a 2011 Festivus Song contest, but I just haven't had much time to work on songs this fall. Maybe next year, Conan, we can again experience the thrill of Festivus Competition while making new Festivus songs.

Here's the e-mail reply I sent to Allen in response to his. He is thinking of compiling Festivus songs and so I wanted to tell him of the ones I know that are available online:

HAPPY FESTIVUS, MUSICBANTER!!

Haha, that's brilliant! Hopefully we'll have a contest again next year and get some more participants.

Happy festivus to all!