Comments on: Jefferson's Clockwork

Jefferson's Clockwork

umbú — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 09:41:57 -0800

Lost chapters in American history, episode one: a rivalry between two founding fathers takes a shocking and scandalous turn.

In reaction to the incident in which a remote-controlled dildocopter disrupted a political meeting of Russian opposition leader/chess champion Gary Kasparov, bunnytricks argued that this sort of tactic had a little-known historical precedent in one of my all-time favorite comments on metafilter: "This reminds me of that story from the second continental congress where Jefferson's skittering clockwork vagina snagged Ben Franklin's shoe buckle." This song fills in some of the backstory. Ok, so I admit it wasn't a random selection. I just liked this comment to much to pass it up.

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 10:59:59 -0800

I actually heard the song as the background while I saw that Kasparodildocopter clip, and it worked great. You could sample a congressional hearing with lots of discussion and use it in this song and it would give it a great effect.

I really like the harpsichord as well. And the thing that comes in at :28...is that a melodica?

By: umbú

umbú — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:42:03 -0800

It's two patches doubled together: a vintage organ, and, placed lower in the mix, a synth lead that sounds a lot like the solo in ELP's 'lucky man' (YTlink: listen around 3:25).

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:19:11 -0800

Nice tune, umbú, very ambitious, very creative. Kudos! For me this is quite reminiscent of Andy Partridge/XTC. And I mean that as a high compliment. Would've been right at home on their Nonsuch release, for example. (With, say, about another 6 months of tinkering with the production).

And definitely, "Jefferson's skittish clockwork vagina" is one seriously inspiring phrase. How could you not write a song around that?

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:24:21 -0800

This whole song is very nicely constructed, but the chorus turn with the I V vi III just kills me. "Sec-ond Cont-i-nen-tal Con-gress". So sweet.

And the turn at the end to the insistent bridge!

Just, man. This is a great piece of work, umbu.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:34:05 -0800

Aside from the fact that you've produced a really delightful melody with a great, hilarious arrangement, the lyrics are just fantastic. You should post them.

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:52:43 -0800

Oh, I see. It kinda sounded like a melodica, but different. And funny, the one in the youtube link sounds completely 70s. Good call putting it lower in the mix.

By: umbú

umbú — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:53:09 -0800

Thanks all! Here are the lyrics:

When I saw that
Whimsical invention
Da Vincis id extension
Aimed right at the chessman and his henchmen
I couldnt help but think then
About what happened back when
Between a couple great men
Jefferson and Franklin

It reminds of a story
From the Second Continental Congress
When Jeffersons skittering clockwork vagina
Snagged Ben Franklins shoe buckle

[clockwork snagging shoe buckle sound]

It confounded him how
Benjamin Franklin
Attracted such attention
With his ideas and inventions
It sparked an intervention
That escalated tensions
Between a couple great men
Jefferson and Franklin

So he went to Monticella
And he holed up in the cellar
Til Jeffersons scandalous mechanical contraption
Was fully assembled

The thing about the stunt
At the time pre-Allen Funt
Was that the tale didnt spread like wildfire right away
It took an excellent engraving
To ignite the publics craving
And the caption told the gossip-mongers
What they had to say

Did you hear about
Jefferson's meticulous clockwork?
Never seen a mechanism that worked finer
Jefferson's complicated clockwork?
It was quite sophisticated for the time
Jefferson's scandalous clockwork?
There were rumors about who inspired the design
Jefferson's skittering clockwork vagina
Wowed the original signers

By: cachondeo45

cachondeo45 — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:09:18 -0800

Absolutely...phenomenologically wonderful. :)

By: Sir Mildred Pierce

Sir Mildred Pierce — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:54:18 -0800

Yay, my two favourite founding fathers and a clockwork vagina, how can you go wrong?

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:01:19 -0800

Reminds me of a dirty They Might Be Giants song! There should be more of those.