Karaoke

I'm supposed to do karaoke tomorrow night. Well, I will be at the place for sure, because I organized it. The "supposed to" part is that I am just not sure how the turnout will be, and if the environment does not seem supportive enough I may not sing. Anyway, it seems like a good time for my theory of karaoke.

I am not an expert at all, but I have overanalyzed it in the same way that I overanalyze everything else, and I have some thoughts.

My main thought is that it kind of doesn't matter whether you sing well or not--you just need to own the song. This should involve you liking the song. My first karaoke experience was not great because I could not find any good songs. The book we were looking at was listed by song titles, and that's a horrible way to try and find something. Having done this a few times since, I now know that there was quite possibly another book there with them listed by artist, but I ended up just settling on "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" which is my favorite Smiths song (for what that's worth), but I feel like the meter is a little weird, and it's not very melodic.

It helps when there is a strong melody to the song. With songs that are more spoken than sung, it's hard to sound right. This is why, even though I do like Dashboard Confessional's "Hands Down", I never choose it, and I think I would regret it.

I have done "Vindicated" which is also Dashboard Confessional, and it was not horrible, but it was not great. I tend to gravitate toward male singers because my voice is low, but somehow when I am singing louder, my voice starts getting higher, so what works when I am singing to myself may not work when I am singing to people. The last time I went, I kind of surprised myself by singing "Never Forget You" by the Noisettes, and it worked. Someone sang Cee-Lo Greene's (well, really Gwyneth Paltrow's version) "Forget You", and it put me in mind of the song, and I just felt like I could go for it, and it worked out.

Of course, a lot may vary depending on venue. That time, I was at Voicebox with coworkers, so there were just seven of us in the room, and it was pretty casual. This may help shy singers feel more comfortable, and more daring. The downside is that we would have some pauses in between while people were deciding what to do.

On the other hand, the time before that was at Galaxy, and man, they take it seriously there. Everyone seemed to have a really good voice, or choreography, or boundless energy. The DJ was great, and you could hear some good stuff, but it was also a bit intimidating, and I wouldn't go there as a first-timer. I did sing, but I felt kind of lame. The crowd was supportive, but that’s typical.

Ultimately, I don't know that I am really a musical performer. I do stand-up every now and then, and I like entertaining people with words, but I tend to be better at appreciating music than doing it. And yet, I really like to sing. And it feels better when you sing loud, and karaoke is a chance to do that where it is totally socially acceptable. I will sometimes sing at the bus stop when there is nothing around but speeding cars, or walking down the road, but most of the time there is someone around, and singing loud makes you a bit of a fruitcake. In karaoke, this is endorsed.

I’m not sure what I will do tomorrow night. I have been wanting to try Counting Crows "Accidentally in Love", or maybe Barenaked Ladies "Falling for the First Time".

Actually, I do very much want to do My Chemical Romance "I'm Not Okay" (Old School Version, no F-word), but I have a funny feeling that when I do finally go for it, I won't have any voice for three days. Do you know how hard it is to mime smart-aleck remarks? It completely throws off the timing. Torture!

Jacob 5 – 7
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