So i just discovered...

[Zhil]

You're welcome, internet.

[Foxy Boxes]

And in my studies of Japanese, there is not a single onomatopoeic word I could figure out without having to look up (though that's an exceptional case; Japanese has sounds for things that don't even make noise!)

It's ironic because the only one I know of is Kitsune, which is the sound a fox makes (apparently). See the irony?

[ExpHP]

When you take this kind of work and brand it to the "lowest common denominator" or "the less intelligent of the nations people" does it make you any better than them? No, in fact I would say it makes you worse, since you criticize those who you already established as inferior with your own confirmation bias.

What did I say about the audience? Keep in mind I enjoyed the song. Yes, the phrase "lowest common denominator" has negative connotations, but they're normally directed towards the media in question (for grabbing low-hanging fruit), not towards the audience (since, you know, the lowest common denominator includes everyone).

It's ironic because the only one I know of is Kitsune, which is the sound a fox makes (apparently).

Erm. Kitsune is fox.

I'm talking stuff like "tsuru tsuru" (slippery), "bara bara" (scattered, in pieces), or "mura mura" (horny as fuck).

[Foxy Boxes]

Wikipedia quote time:

According to Nozaki, the word kitsune was originally onomatopoetic.[3] Kitsu represented a fox's yelp and came to be the general word for fox. -Ne signifies an affectionate mood, which Nozaki presents as further evidence of an established, non-imported tradition of benevolent foxes in Japanese folklore.[2] Kitsu is now archaic; in modern Japanese, a fox's cry is transcribed as kon kon or gon gon.

[Rawny]

My daughter says that the kids at school keep saying "what the fuck sakes", GJ parents though am I any better... I laughed.

Whatever... I hear that whatever Fox says is BS anyways.

Spoiler

Show

http://www.foxnews.com/

[FlowerChild]

Now, now: politics man :)

[Xeo]

When I first heard people talking about the song I demonstrated my finest fox call impression. I got some strange looks but it was worth it to educate the people on this pressing issue.

[thekyz]

Some explanation by the authors:

Spoiler

Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjVT5lCIBiI

[Gormador]

Some explanation by the authors:

Spoiler

Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjVT5lCIBiI

Thank you for this! I can laugh with no shame now! :p

[Rianaru]

Just to add my own little blurb about popular American music-I think the recent stuff(past 5-10 years) has revolved around one 'artist' doing something crazy and then every other popular artist tries to one-up them with how crazy and weird they can get. I think it has something to do with the recent trend of American culture revolving around refuting and insulting American culture(yes, it still confuses the rest of us too), and trying to get away from it(a lot of people call these people hipsters). In fact, I've never heard 'popular' music outside of people playing it as a joke in the last few years, or on the radio, but the vast majority of radio stations on the west coast(can't speak for other places) play the same dozen or two dozen songs over and over again until something new comes out, so they don't count. If you want examples of this crazy kind of stuff, search Miley Cyrus' wrecking ball video, anything by Lady Gaga in the past few years, if you haven't seen/heard it already, amongst other things. Another explanation of popular music is there are a lot of modern artists who can sing well, but have no idea how to write a song. IMO, there's quite a few popular artists who can technically sing well, but fall short of being good artists because they write music poorly, but it could be one or both of the reasons I listed.

This has nothing to do with the video in the OP, it's just my two cents on popular American music. Also, take this with a grain of salt, because this is coming from the viewpoint of a university student(we tend to be very liberal and cynical) and semi-professional musician(I'm very picky with my music theory), so it could be different from other peoples' opinion. I don't claim to have the right answer, nor do I think that there really is a 'right answer' when it comes to music. Hope this helps!

[Zhil]

Another explanation of popular music is there are a lot of modern artists who can sing well, but have no idea how to write a song.

You mean like any Motown artist? Nothing new there. People think that modern artists are shit because they are over-managed and don't write their own work, while most of their "good old" music was probably made in exactly the same fashion. There's certainly an issue with modern popular music, but it's not over-management :)

[devak]

Another explanation of popular music is there are a lot of modern artists who can sing well, but have no idea how to write a song.

You mean like any Motown artist? Nothing new there. People think that modern artists are shit because they are over-managed and don't write their own work, while most of their "good old" music was probably made in exactly the same fashion. There's certainly an issue with modern popular music, but it's not over-management :)

It's not that weird. I consider music writing and singing to be two completely different skillsets. It's cool if someone has both, but there are plenty of people who make money just writing songs and there are people who make money singing songs.


Anyway i watched that youtube video about ellen and i STILL don't get what it's about. So it's about being high? what?

[MoRmEnGiL]

I think you can compare Ylvis with bands like lonely island. They just do things for fun, and people who take things too seriously miss the point ;]

[jkievlan]

Lol I enjoyed the song :) And my IQ is quite impressive, thank you. Like others said, you just can't take it too seriously. And come on...you gotta admit that fox at the end has some moves.

[Rianaru]

I don't mean that to be true for all modern music, just what's considered popular music. I think there's plenty of great groups who can write really well, and it's easy to find them if you're interested in music, they just don't happen to get played on the radio every 10 minutes :P