- I Started a Joke
Infobox Single
Name = I Started a Joke
Artist =Bee Gees
from Album = Idea
B-side = "Kilburn Towers"
Released =1968
Format = Vinyl record 45RPM
Recorded =IBC Studios , London 1968
Genre = Rock
Length =
Label =Polydor (UK)Atco Records (U.S.)
Writer =Barry Gibb Robin Gibb Maurice Gibb
Producer =Robert Stigwood
Reviews =
Last single = "I've Gotta Get a Message to You "
(1968 )
This single = "I Started A Joke"
(1968 )
Next single = "First of May"
(1969 )"I Started a Joke" is a 1968song by theBee Gees from their album "Idea", which was released in September of that year. The song is mainly written and sung byRobin Gibb . "I Started a Joke" is supposedly about someone who has done or said something horribly wrong, which results insocial alienation . Another interpretation, related to the previous one, is that the song is sung from the point of view of theDevil . [VH1 Storytellers. Perf. Bee Gees. VH1, 1996. Prior to performing the song onstage, Barry Gibb remarks that one interpretation of the song is regarding the Devil.]Musical content
According to Robin Gibb, the melancholic melody of the song was inspired by the sounds on board an airplane: cquote|The melody to this one was heard aboard a
British Airways Vickers Viscount about a hundred miles fromEssen . It was one of those old four engine 'prop' jobs, that seemed to drone the passenger into a sort of hypnotic trance, only with this it was different. The droning, after a while, appeared to take the form of a tune, which mysteriously sounded like a church choir. So it was decided! We accosted the pilot, forced him to land in the nearest village and there; in a small pub, we finished the lyrics. Actually, it wasn't a village, it was the city, and it wasn't a pub, it was a hotel, and we didn't force the pilot to land in a field... but why ruin a perfectly good story?" [p.188, Bee Gees Anthology, Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1991.]Parodies, appearances in other media, etc.
* The song was parodied by a "
Radio Free Vestibule " sketch in which a voiced-over commentary takes the lyrics completely literally.
* The song is featured in the film "Penn & Teller Get Killed ".Cover versions
* Skibby did a
reggae cover which has been released as part of the sampler CD set "It's Reggae" in 1996.
* In1998 it was covered byRobbie Williams withThe Orb (for a Bee Geestribute album ).
* In2001 , a cover byThe Wallflowers was featured in the "Zoolander " moviesoundtrack .
*Richie Havens ,The Beautiful South ,The Dirtbombs , indie pop bandsThe Lucksmiths and Low, British singer Kathryn Williams and folkster James William Hindle have also recorded covers of the song.
*In 1995Faith No More released a cover version ofI Started a Joke as a single. It's also on certain versions of the album "King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime " as a bonus track.
* There are several instrumental versions withFrancis Goya on guitar in his album "Romantic Guitar" [ [http://houbi.com/belpop/groups/goya.htm Francis Goya - The Belgian Pop & Rock Archives ] ] andJames Galway onflute in his 1988 "Greatest Hits" album. [ [http://www.thegalwaynetwork.com/newdisk.htm Sir James Galway-Discography ] ]Faith No More cover
Infobox Single
Name = I Started a Joke
Cover size =
Border =
Caption =
Artist =Faith No More
Album =Who Cares a Lot?
Released =September 21 ,1998
Format = CD
Recorded = Early 1995
Genre =Alternative rock
Length = 3:03
Label = Slash
Writer =
Producer =Billy Gould Dean Menta
Audio sample? =
Certification =
Last single = "Stripsearch"
(1997)
This single = "I Started a Joke"
(1998)
Next single =
Misc = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Alternate cover
Type = single
Cover size =
Lower caption =Faith No More originally covered "I Started a Joke" as abonus track on some versions of their fifth studio album "King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime " but following the bands dissolution in 1998 it was released as their final single with theirgreatest hits album Who Cares a Lot? .Music video
The music video for it was filmed on
September 8 ,1998 , [http://www.mvdbase.com/video.php?id=10323 Faith No More – "I Started a Joke"] . mvdbase.com. Retrieved on Date|2008-06-01] after Faith No More had split up, and featured none of the band members. It was directed by Vito Rocco, filmed by Nick Sawyer with make-up by Julie Nightingale and Dani Richardson and had Gabi Norland as the clapper-loader.Martin Freeman features in the clip.Track listing
;Disc one
#"I Started a Joke" – 3:03
#"The World Is Yours" – 5:52
#"Midnight Cowboy " (Live) – 1:01;Disc two
#"I Started a Joke" – 3:03
#"This Guy's in Love with You " (Live) – 4:20
#"We Care a Lot" (Live) – 3:55Live tracks recorded on
October 21 ,1997 at the Horden Pavilion,Sydney, Australia by MTV Australia.Charts
Charts
References
External links
* [http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1039823 A short "I Started A Joke" background and song themes]
* [http://www.napathon.net/IStartedAJoke.php "I Started A Joke" interpretive study]
* [http://www.amiright.com/parody/performers/b/beegees.shtml List of Bee Gees song parodies, including "I Started a Joke"]
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