I refuse to die!

[imomus]

I thought I'd give you a little reminder today that not only am I one of the world's most confusing philosophers, but that my original claim to fame is as one of the world's silliest songwriters. Here's an out-take from my forthcoming (January 25th) album Otto Spooky:

I Refuse To Die (mp3, 2.68 MB)



Since Otto is in the tradition of British pop music that draws on late Beatles -- that odd mixture of psychedelia and vaudeville, eastern philosophy and comedy -- I was planning to place 'I Refuse To Die' right at the end of the record, where it would sit, a little novelty number about death played on the ukelele, rather like 'Her Majesty', the funny little song that sits at the end of 'Abbey Road' proclaiming the Beatles' desire to shag the queen. But once John Talaga's morphs were added Otto got too long. What's more, 'I Refuse To Die' seemed a bit lightweight, even as a joke. It mixes British references (the Morecambe Sands, Blackpool) with an American accent. It samples George Formby's ukelele too outrageously. And the tap dancing is terribly, terribly out of time. (I only had a few hours to practise.)

So here it is free, gratis and for nothing. Think of it as 'buy-Momus'-new-album-when-it-comes-out'-ware.

Comments

[freddster.livejournal.com]

hey really cool song! cute ukelele...

bodily functions

[qscrisp.livejournal.com]

Hello Momus.

Have just listened to I Refuse to Die and like it very much. It seems to me a very successful pastiche. It reminds me immediately of songs such as Bowie's Did You Ever Have a Dream?.

I was planning to buy Otto Spooky anyway, but if this is an out-take then that makes me all the more eager.

I actually bought Oskar Tennis Champion recently, and have been enjoyng it very much. I particularly like the whole last section of the album from I am Beowulf on. Palm Death-Top is especially haunting and moving. So I've just been reading about the formation of the album and your visit to the Edinburgh Festival, in another article to which there was a link. There were some interesting references in there. You say something about a performance with no music and about music that might be made with more natural sounds (I'm paraphrasing, so that might be wrong), and it made me think of Matthew Herbert's Bodily Functions. I imagine you're familiar with it. I wondered what you thought of his use of body noise sample percussion.

It was also nice to see Nakata Hideo's films mentioned.

Well, that's all. Ta for the free track.

[mistersleepless.livejournal.com]

Lightweight, perhaps, but glorious in its own mad little way. Thanks, man.

-- W

Oh, I like it light and playful, you know that.

[ratz.livejournal.com]

I'm always a sucker for a uke. Although I'm also a sucker for handclaps and "oh ah ohs."

[33mhz.livejournal.com]

Excellent. Next time you're in Japan, you should make a point of it to start rubbing elbows with the local computer geeks. I bet you could produce some genius scores for eccentric little games like Katamari Damacy (http://home.comcast.net/~lynngarnett/katamari.mov)

[substantiv.livejournal.com]

Loveee it!! Can't wait to hear Otto Spooky.

[happylantern.livejournal.com]

Oh you.

[violaine8.livejournal.com]

It's an excellent soundtrack for this grey rainy Sunday morning.
Thanks !

*clap* *clap* clap* *clap*

[aristoprat.livejournal.com]

it's funny and good at the same time. Country type-o. Nice.

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

Long live the lightweight. More such bagatelles, please.

W

[piratehead.livejournal.com]

"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying." -- Woody Allen

Lightweight? This is an anthem!

[jainabee.livejournal.com]

And hooray for bringing a bit of George Formby into the 21st Century! It's turned out nice again!

[mini-snape.livejournal.com]

Gosh, I didn't know there was a link between George Formby and Dutch. And I am terrifically confused now.

[(Anonymous)]

http://www.engelfriet.net/Alie/Gastenboek/grandtheater.htm

[imomus.livejournal.com]

It's from a page about a Formby appearance in Utrecht (http://www.engelfriet.net/Alie/Gastenboek/grandtheater.htm)!

[yanatonage.livejournal.com]

oh I love it. You should have just put it on the album...The Penis Song was ridiculous as well but had its own place on Folktronic...in any case I want to burn this and play it in my car so that should my cd-deck survive a carcrash it blasts obnoxiously loud and is noted in the coroner's report, "Subject Refused to Die."

[(Anonymous)]

Why do you think you are a confusing philosopher?

Anon

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Because if you ask me which is more real, real or fake, I'll unhesitatingly reply 'fake'! But then if you ask me which is more fake, real or fake, I'll answer 'Real... no, fake...' and get confused.

[(Anonymous)]

also sebstverwirrend??

[gillen.livejournal.com]

Wunderbar! That just leapt onto my playlist for the 5-disc Kubler-Ross Pentology mix that I've been working on as a Christmas gift for an ex - the same woman who initiated me into the First Church of Momus by dragging me up to her dorm room back in '88 to play me What Will Death Be Like?.

super mario!

[(Anonymous)]

the ukulele reminds me of one of the themes from super mario brothers!

have you found the magic star?

-tomas

[rumpelstiltskin.livejournal.com]

Beautiful song! It alone makes your new album worth buying.

Thank you!

[(Anonymous)]

How do you actually feel about the prospect of dying?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

I think death is probably going to be excruciatingly boring. God, I thought it would never end!

[(Anonymous)]

What, the state of being dead is going to be boring?

[buckminster.livejournal.com]

the state of death would be pretty boring if there were some sort of persistant conciousness that was compelled for some reason to hang around the body. i think the comment was about the act of dying though, which if you're lucky ought to be pretty dull.

[(Anonymous)]

So you mean the state of death would be x if it was x? And why, for goodness sake, should dying be "dull"? If you mean the charge sheet on the other side, then I would agree...

[buckminster.livejournal.com]

a: yes. the state of being dead is boring. nobody was talking about an afterlife, i'm being overly literal on purpose.

b: no le entiendo. but what i meant is that the "exciting" ways to die are mostly terribly painful or tragic. i'll take the stroke in my sleep, please.

[sgulp-cadet-54.livejournal.com]

if its the STATE of being dead that's to be boring,
well then that just means hell...
eternal boredom, anyone?

[buckminster.livejournal.com]

i like the voice, very rock-ish ;) i could imagine that working in more intentionally serious songs, even. are you joking, or did you actually record yourself dancing? i would have paid to be there!

[(Anonymous)]

*sniff*

That's lovely, Nick.

[(Anonymous)]

i just wanted to say hello.
seems sort of quaint these days.
and i just remembered that 'don't leave' made me cry more than any other song. i dare not listen to it now.
hello. i hope you are well.

http://www.fotolog.net/stringbeanjean

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Hello back, Stringbean! Liked your photolog!

[usual-channels.livejournal.com]

I was too lazy to shut off Syd Barrett, which made it even better. Tomorrow, if I have more energy, I'll try to cakewalk to it. That's the real test.

[sgulp-cadet-54.livejournal.com]

AH!

awesome!
i'm so dancing in my libraryseat

[sylvia101.livejournal.com]

damn if that's not catchy as hell. i sang it all afternoon.

Otto Spooky Tracklisting?

[(Anonymous)]

Wow, "I Refuse To Die" is fantastic. I listened to it several times on my commute from Brooklyn this morning and it just keeps getting better!

Since we know what isn't on the album, is there any chance of finding out what is on the album? I'm dying for a tracklisting for Otto Spooky. I'm particularly hoping that "Your Fat Friend" will be appearing on the album.

Any chance?

Dominik