Loren
09-28-2006, 03:10 PM
I'm rather a fan of list songs. I've had Yakko's World (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/clamen/misc/tv/Animaniacs/Nations.html) and Tom Lehrer's The Elements (http://www.privatehand.com/flash/elements.html) memorized for years, though I'm still struggling with Wakko's America (can't keep the verses in order) and Weird Al's Hardware Store (http://www.weirdal.com/legohardwarestore/index.html).
So in the spirit of the Animaniacs numbers in particular, I took the geographic list song down one more level. I've toyed with this idea for years, but I finally put some serious work into it recently, and it came together pretty quickly. A big part of my motivation was thinking that I might be able to use this as something of a viral campaigning tool; certainly, no other candidate has attempted it. They rarely even employ jingles anymore.
So what is it? All the counties of Georgia (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/maps/stout13.gif), set to music. Specifically, the music of "Oh, Susannah." And in approximate geographical order, going from north to south.
Unfortunately, a decent sounding copy will require music, as I've found that an a cappella version (at least as sung by me) sounds pretty hollow. But while I'm working on a more polished version, there's no reason not to share the rough draft.
So last night I recorded the full version of me singing the song. You can listen to it here (http://lorencollins.net/GeorgiaCounties.mp3) (and follow along with the map linked above; it starts in the northwest).
Thoughts? Am I crazy to think that this might spur any interest outside the geek contingent?
So in the spirit of the Animaniacs numbers in particular, I took the geographic list song down one more level. I've toyed with this idea for years, but I finally put some serious work into it recently, and it came together pretty quickly. A big part of my motivation was thinking that I might be able to use this as something of a viral campaigning tool; certainly, no other candidate has attempted it. They rarely even employ jingles anymore.
So what is it? All the counties of Georgia (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/maps/stout13.gif), set to music. Specifically, the music of "Oh, Susannah." And in approximate geographical order, going from north to south.
Unfortunately, a decent sounding copy will require music, as I've found that an a cappella version (at least as sung by me) sounds pretty hollow. But while I'm working on a more polished version, there's no reason not to share the rough draft.
So last night I recorded the full version of me singing the song. You can listen to it here (http://lorencollins.net/GeorgiaCounties.mp3) (and follow along with the map linked above; it starts in the northwest).
Thoughts? Am I crazy to think that this might spur any interest outside the geek contingent?