Thing a Week 50 – Pull the String
This appears to be about a famous person with a terrible secret. It’s not about anyone in particular as far as I know. Maybe it’s about you – Tom Cruise! Or you – John Hodgman! It kind of reminds me of Big Bad World One, mostly because of the A/E ambiguity in the verse. Believe it or not, that acoustic riff in the verse is an idea that’s been floating around in my head since I was about 17 – it’s a relief to finally get that one out the door. Who’s next!
Buy the song
Send a Donation
Hear more music
Subscribe to Thing a Week
Comments
Matt says
How did you know I have a secret? All right! Fine! I admit it! I'm the one who broke up Leonard Nimoy and Bigfoot! I'm also responsible for the haunting of the creepy doll and I AM THE BIG BAD WORLD! HAPPY NOW?
On another note (mild pun intended), the song seems to end mid note. Was that intentional?
Dave says
So this is what my Friday nights are reduced to: Checking your site every 10 minutes until the TAW is released.
I hear a little bit of Townshend in the verse, too, with the droning on the D string.
Hippobabe says
This is the ante-penultimate Thing a Week. That is a horrible thought.
Did you notice how deftly he directed attention away from himself? Pure sleight of hand. We all know, really, who "the famous person with a terrible secret" is. Don't we, JC?
Ben says
Just love it! Another awesome one, JC. What key are you playing in? I can't quite figure it out... You know what would rock my world? A song about Pi. Not that I really expect one, and, god knows, I don't deserve one, but hey, next time you're out of ideas, maybe it'll be a good fallback.
Thanks again for the great song!
Gle3nn says
The melancholy feeling of this fantastic song just reinforces the sadness I feel knowing thing a week will be coming to an end soon.
cecil vortex says
I'm 50 weeks late to this party -- just discovered JC/TAW this weekend and have been rolling around in the goodness pretty much non-stop the last few days. Even my 8 year old is singing "I mean no one's gonna eat your eyes." What's this about it coming to an end? Was it a one-year adventure? Is there still time to unleash a don't-cease-nor-desist order?
-Cecil
Keith says
Another great song. It seems like the end of the track is kind of clipped off. Is that a feature or a bug?
Kerrin says
So after producing a song a week for 50 weeks, you still have ideas from when you were 17 that are haunting you? Sounds like you shouldn't stop writing TAW........please don't stop.
Mattie says
Parachutes? Thats what I'm getting from this song.
Lovely and enigmatic, I'm really going to miss TAW.
Just promise you'll keep releasing songs, even if it's on a more reasonable schedule. :)
Stevie Skowron says
Hey, Ben, if you want a song vaguely about pi, there's one on Songs To Wear Pants To...
http://www.archivestowearpantsto.com/0034_0066/
Look at 11th May... "a song extolling the virtues of his Web site in which the lengths of the words can also be used as a mnemonic for at least the first 50 digits of pi. In other words, the first word has three letters, the second word one letter, the third word four letters, and so on."
Unless you meant pie...
Anyway... Another great song... nice one... been listening to TAW for a while now since I found a link to Skullcrusher Mountain... Are you planning on doing another similar thing after your well deserved break?
Thing a day has a certain ring to it... ;D
matt says
How about a Thing An Every Now And Then Whenever I Feel Like It? It has a good ring to it.
JY says
Maybe release a "thing" when a target amount of donations are collected. Maybe put up a 30 second sample of the next "thing" and then when you've collected, say, $500 dollars worth of donations, you release the entire "thing". If, after, say a month, the donations don't reach the target, then only those who donated get an .MP3 of a song. Not sure if this would really work any better than just charging for an .MP3 download, just a wild idea.
JY
Brandy says
JY is brilliant! AND a capitalist.
Plaid Phantom says
I'm with Keith on this. Was it supposed to end like that? I gotthe end with Mr. FancyPants, but with this, not only the song but the track as well just stops suddenly. Was that intentional?
glych says
The sudden ned to the song is a bit wonky. If intentional then I applaud your bold and unique choice. If not...wheres my lost seconds of entertainment!?? LOST!
*rocks in corner*
-glych
JoCo says
Yep, that's the intentional ending of that song. You wanted "shave and a haircut"?
Randbot says
Ben, here's another great Pi song for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDu351QNoZE
The video is by Keith Schofield, and the song is by Hard 'n Phirm. The whole album is really quite good and hilarious, especially "Rodeohead," a country-style medley of Radiohead songs.