Sunday, March 17, 2013

"JOYCE Around"


For a direct link to the video, click here: "JOYCE Around"
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 

As a redhead with pale skin, I often get mistaken for being Irish.  I’m not, but I sure love a lot of things that are.  U2. Liam Neeson.  Lucky Charms.  So instead of doing another long-winded blog post about my passion for all things Irish or Irish-inspired (I seriously doubt Lucky Charms are made in Ireland), I decided to put all of those things into a comical song honoring one of our best Irish authors…James Joyce.

Joyce is another one of those classic authors that I have a hard time reading.  I got Ulysses from the library about two months ago with the intention to get through it by today but I am still on page 35 “I am a struggler now at the end of my days.  But I will fight for the right till the end.”  I admit to having no idea what this character is fighting for because my creative mind got distracted by a song that kept playing over and over at the Irish pub I was having lunch at.  It’s like every Irish pub has a contract with the 90’s Irish rap group House of Pain to play “Jump Around” on the hour every hour for the tourists in the joint.  Jeez, how about some Celtic music or at least some bagpipes?  Why does everybody have to “Jump up jump up and get down?”  Wait a minute.  What if I could pass JOYCE around by using an already catchy hook that people will not be able to get out of their heads?

Hence how “JOYCE Around” was born.  Well, that and I had made another cool hat and needed a place to wear it.  Unlike my other parody songs, I rewrote the entire song with my own lyrics honoring several of my favorite Irish actors and musicians.  Sadly, I could not include Sinead O’Connor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Pierce Brosnan or Cillian Murphy because I couldn’t find words that rhymed!

I want to thank my brother for giving me the heads up that there was a James Joyce Irish Pub in Ybor City, which is where we shot the video.  The staff there was awesome (especially Johnny who played the tattooed bartender reading James Patterson – his reaction was hilarious and we did that in one take.)  I wanted to incorporate the tough-guy theme that House of Pain used in their video so while Johnny’s tattoos were real, my librarian & book-related tattoos were just temporary.  I also want to point out that the “library” I am dancing in front of is real.  The pub encourages people to donate their old books so patrons of the bar can “enjoy a Guinness while they unwind with a good book.”

So this St. Patrick’s Day, don’t drink and drive, drink and READ…preferably James Joyce.  “So get out your books and JOYCE Around!”

Still trying to finish reading Ulysses on the set.
Trying to be tough with my librarian/book tattoos.
Once again, I made everything I am wearing in the video.
Thanks to the staff at the James Joyce Irish Pub in Ybor!