Too soon?

November 17, 2011 12:09 AM

Help me rock a Zombie Amy Winehouse karaoke number!

I'm in a karaoke contest. The contest is all about the performance, humor, costuming, etc and not so much about the singing.

I've been practicing Rehab. It's not that hard to sing. I've got the wig, and the costume is no problem.

I want to rewrite Rehab with some zombie lyrics and you guys are good at that shit. You know you are!

Please?

Bonus: props?

posted by dchrssyr to media & arts (14 answers total)

"They tried to make me go to rehab, and I said brains, brains, brains"?

But yeah maybe too soon.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:28 AM on November 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

Okay. Not gonna threadsit. But this is not a politically correct event. My boyfriend's got 9 years clean and I used to run a homeless shelter, so I don't really need the lecture. Thanks, though.
posted by dchrssyr at 12:33 AM on November 17, 2011

[Some comments removed; Ask Metafilter is for answering the question, if you don't like the question, just pass it by.]
posted by taz at 1:03 AM on November 17, 2011

Why wouldn't the original lyrics work? "They tried to make me go to rehab, and I said, no, no, no" sung in a monotone by an Amy Winehouse zombie would get the point across, surely.

And another vote for too soon.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 1:54 AM on November 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

It's darker if you don't change the words, seeing as how they're about why she's dead and all. It's a pretty dark costume already, given that she's only been dead for five months or something, so if you want to go for serious black humor, don't change them to something less on-the-nose. Besides which: nothing ruins an act like too many jokes. Let the lyrics be your straight man.

This is going to be pretty tough to pull off. I know you know your audience better than we do, but if you don't literally know them all, I wouldn't count on nobody being fond of her. I admit that I am very curious as to how this will go over. I think for most audiences you'd have to be a pretty gifted comedian.

Or just substitute "brains" whenever she says "friend" or whatever. But don't load it down with a ton of zombie-specific jokes about how funny zombies are when you're dressed as a dead alcoholic singing her famous song about not wanting to stop drinking alcohol.
posted by Adventurer at 3:42 AM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Maybe start off with the original lyrics, second verse or chorus replace like one or two words with "brains", then each subsequent verse increase the brainses until the last verse where you're just singing "brains brains brains brains brains brains, brains, brains, brains". Kind of simulating the gradual progress of zombification.

That's more of a straight zombie-humour idea which would work for basically any singer, alive or dead. Alternatively I agree that the best black-humour approach is to sing the original lyrics completely dead-pan.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:50 AM on November 17, 2011 [7 favorites]

PS I realise now that you were not asking "is this appropriate?", but you should remember that the title of your question was "Too soon?". AskMe question titles should be an accurate summary of your question rather than an off-hand joke, so as not to derail the answers. It also helps people who read the RSS feed, as they see the question title in the feed right above the question, so it is visually a much more integral part of the whole thing.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:54 AM on November 17, 2011 [12 favorites]

I would also like to endorse the gradual zombification plan as an alternative to the straight plan.
posted by Adventurer at 3:59 AM on November 17, 2011

This might be a bit too expensive for a one-time prop, but there's a vodka brand that comes in a skull-shaped bottle. It's both boozy and spooky.

Whether the spirit (ha-ha) is any good or not, I have no idea.
posted by Ted Maul at 3:59 AM on November 17, 2011

Bonus: props?

Check and see if you can rent one of those walkable I.V. stands from a medical supply store. Except instead of a I.V. bag, you hang a bottle of vodka there and run a tube to your arm.
posted by 23skidoo at 7:56 AM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Maybe change it to being a song about refusing to die?

They tried to put me six feet under, I said no, no, no.
Yes, I turned blue, but still I ain't through, you know, know, know.
I ain't got a pulse, but I can still lurch and convulse.
Just try to put me in a coffin, I won't go, go, go.
posted by Help, I can't stop talking! at 8:03 AM on November 17, 2011 [3 favorites]

No lyrical suggestions, but do check out some live footage of her performances. She was a very slight girl and she did this thing where she rubbed her thighs together while she sang that was unmistakeable. Can't pull off an impersonation without that thigh rub.
posted by Gilbert at 8:19 AM on November 17, 2011

I don't think the gradual zombification plan as envisioned by EndsOfInvention would work out. Generic zombie humour is fine, but in this case I think it would get overshadowed by the context of the song and performer.

If you're going to go dark, go really dark and sing the original words in a slow monotone. If you're going for humour, then make sure it's obviously OTT. I think Help, I can't stop talking!'s has the right idea.
posted by Urtylug at 9:04 AM on November 17, 2011

The key to good comedy covers is to change the tempo of the music. Fast songs get turned into slow nightclub crooners. Slow songs get turned into punk.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:19 AM on November 17, 2011