Foux Da Fa Fa

By Shamus Posted Friday Aug 17, 2007

Filed under: Movies 28 comments

I found this Dork Tower strip to be pretty relevant: It shows one of the characters complaining about getting the Chocolate Rain song stuck in his head. Two weeks ago our DM was singing that every time there was a break in the dialog. I listened to the song. It didn’t do anything for me. It didn’t get stuck in my head. For contrast, the other meme mentioned in the Dork Tower strip is the Badger song, and that thing got into my system such that I very nearly needed antibiotics to get rid of it. When AYBABTU was big I got a near lethal dose. I’m pretty sure I could go into anaphalctic shock if I were ever exposed to it again.

So I don’t know what the deal is with Chocolate Rain. I must be immune to this strain for some reason. On the other hand, maybe my immunity is due to the fact that a different, more virulent song, has gotten below my skin and attached itself to my central nervous system, much like a case of the shingles. Maybe you can’t be afflicted by more than one meme at a time. I’m not sure how it works. In any case, my bloodstream is now roughly 0.05% Foux Da Fa Fa:

I that one doesn’t infect you, I also suggest Hip-Hopopotamus vs. The Rhymenocerous, available on this page.

These guys have a show on HBO, but since I don’t watch television this is the first I’ve heard of them. They’re from New Zealand. I already held New Zealanders in high regard. (Peter Jackson being another example, a man whose work is somewhat familiar to me now.) It’s a small, sparsely populated country, but they seem to be making more than their share of the kind of cultural output I treasure. Plus their accents are cool.

Thanks (if you can call my current state “thankful”, which I don’t think would be accurate) goes to John Cox for the link.

 


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28 thoughts on “Foux Da Fa Fa

  1. CJG says:

    I had heard relatively good reviews of the show, but I don’t get HBO so I didn’t check it out.

    They’re actually quite funny.

  2. Roy says:

    Flight of the Conchords is pretty awesome. I’m a big fan of “The Humans Are Dead” myself. Any song about robots is alright by me.

  3. Dan Morrison says:

    The totally fecking annoying thing is the only way we Kiwis are getting Flight of the Conchords right now is through bootlegs and pirate clips … and that’s just so wrong because they deserve our govt funding so much more than most stuff we have to put up with on our whole 4 (yes, 4 most towns) TV channels at the moment…

    Anyway. Thanks heaps for sending me the new meme. v. good. The Conchords excell themselves each time I see them.
    And yes, I totally agree that the Chocolate rain does nothing for me. Who thought that was worthy of linkage? I mean really?! It’s come in on 3 different feeds to me now… and, just, NO.

  4. Jeremiah says:

    Yeah, I have to say Chocolate Rain didn’t do anything for me, either. But the Badger Song is definitely one to get stuck in your head, along with “The Hobbits are Going to Isengard!” And there’s always the “Numa Numa” song…

  5. Rhykker says:

    I completely agree with Jeremiah.

    “No” to Choco,
    “Yes” to Badger, Hobbits, Numa Numa (an extra big YES to Numa Numa – hell I even learned the words and I don’t speak Romanian).

    Also, “Yes” to AYBABTU.

    Lastly, “No” to anything from Flight of the Conchords. I saw them before they were “big” at Just for Laughs, where they sang the hippo song. They got paltry laughs and applause. I felt a little bad for them. They were good, but not great.

  6. Shamus says:

    Rhykker: I checked out some of their older acoustic stuff on YouTube and I can see what you’re saying. They were amusing, but not that special. The higher production values at their new show has enabled them to really capture the sound of the thing they’re trying to parody, which makes it far funnier. The acoustic version of Hip-Hopopotamus is just cringe inducing.

  7. Hwan says:

    Trivia — Bret McKenzie, the thinner of the Conchords, played a background role in the LotR films. He became popular enough that he got a speaking bit in TRotK. There’s even a website dedicated to him (or perhaps is responsible for his popularity): http://www.figwitlives.net/

    Love your site and am also a fan of the Conchords!

  8. Downtym says:

    I recently discovered Flight of the Conchords as well – I don’t have cable television. Another singer I found out about is Jonathan Coulton. If you haven’t had a chance to hear any of his music (It’s all available on iTunes), you should definitely check him out as well.

    One of my personal favorites is the song behind the video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=5W_wd9Qf0IE

    He also does an amazing version of “Baby Got Back”. There’s a number of videos on YouTube of him playing in LA and they’re worth looking over to see if you like it.

    But, yeah, Flight of the Conchords is genius. Albi the Racist Dragon put me on the floor.

  9. Marty says:

    IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CODE MONKEY!

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=v4Wy7gRGgeA

    Seriously, Jonathan Coulton rocks. And it’s a COOL song to get stuck in your head. I was singing it for weeks.

  10. wintersweet says:

    I’m afraid to go to any of these sites and get anything new stuck in my head.

    But good call, Downtym–my whole apartment had Coulton’s zombie song stuck in our heads for DAYS after we saw the video for the first time. It still pops up at the least opportune moments.

  11. roxysteve says:

    You could always innoculate yourself with Bucky Katt’s* “chicken” poem:

    Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken
    Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken
    Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken
    Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Die.

    Steve

    *Get Fuzzy

  12. Dan Morrison says:

    OMG, yes I totally forgot to mention the FIGWIT connection between LOTR and Conchords.
    That makes this mentionage all that much more special.

    As per most home-grown talent from the blessed isles here, it has to spread its wings before it actually gets (worthy of) appreciation. Although the early steps were indeed cringe-worthy – and I still can’t imagine what spawned the FIGWIT documentary (do NOT see it!) – I think the stuff that they are doing with a megre, yet EXISTANT budget is very special. If you like dry humor rather than laugh tracks, anyway.

    (Sorry, cannot be bothered to screenshot the magic moment where Conchords first crosses over with LOTR. It’s at the coucil of Elrond if you want to find it. Then later (by popular demand) in Arwen’s aborted journey to the West.)
    Wierd when memes collide.
    … Desperately trying to amigine a DMOTR cameo line for Figwit …

  13. Dan Morrison says:

    (Apologies for the typos, I had a half bottle of vodka before typing tonight)

  14. Eric J says:

    Good news – Flight of the Conchords has been renewed for a second season by HBO.

  15. Namfoodle says:

    I’ve only seen it once, when I stayed at a hotel with free HBO (and fleas, but that’s a different rant…)

    The episode I saw was pretty funny. The poor Kiwis, who live in New York City, get seriously looked down on by this condescending Aussie ass-hat. Do you guys have to put up with that shit in real life too?

  16. Namfoodle says:

    And as long as we’re talking about songs, we must not forget the Unicorn Song. If you haven’t seen it, you should. I’m too lazy to find the link, look it up your damn self. But be warned, it is soooo NOT work appropriate.

  17. Ian says:

    I’d like to extend an extra-special thank you to Shamus and everyone else who agrees that Chocolate Rain isn’t noteworthy. About the only part I chuckled at was the “I step away from the microphone to breathe” thing and even then it was more of a “lol what” chuckle so it doesn’t count.

  18. Huckleberry says:

    The most viral song (for me) I ever heard (although BadgerBadger and Isengard did come close) is “So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish”.

    Can be found here: http://www.jengajam.com/r/dolphins-so-long-thank

  19. John says:

    @namfoodle No the hatred between our countries is generally pretty friendly. But I must say I’m glad to see their famous, and pretty sad that I didn’t have the cash to see them when they were touring round here. And thanks for the accent compliments Shamus, I found when we went to LA and thereabouts last summer most people couldn’t understand us at all without a couple of tries.

  20. I would just like to curse shamus for putting the Badger song back in head.

    Chocolate Rain did nothing for me but i know the badger likes it up there…mushroom mushroom…

  21. Rhykker says:

    Okay, this is quite odd. I posted, yesterday, that Chocolate Rain did nothing to me.

    However, tonight, I find myself inexplicably singing the song.

    Very strange.

    I don’t find it funny, like the other memes previously listed – I just find it’s a catchy tune and a pretty decent song.

  22. Hellion2 says:

    Most Aussies will tell you they dislike New Zealanders. Well maybe a little. These guys used to be on an aussie show called Stand Up. (It featured lots of little known aussie talent, and a few non-aussie talent)

    I bought there old CD years ago. At that stage we had to order it from NZ because you couldn’t get it anywhere else… Personally I find their old stuff better then their show.

  23. Miral says:

    Pfft, we don’t have an accent. It’s the rest of you weirdos who speak funny. ;D

  24. Takkelmaggot says:

    Yeah, that Chocolate Rain embedded itself in my head for all of a day. Foux da fa fa, OTOH, is still with me after several days.
    Badgerbadgerbadger infected dozens of people for months on end when I worked in Germany- it was horrible, and ended up affecting the readiness of an entire contingency communications unit. (Had to disband the regiment in the end. Productivity completely destroyed- by badgers!)

  25. Eltanin says:

    Well, my immune system is usually pretty strong with these things. Chocolate Rain was uninteresting to me and didn’t seem to be too deadly. Goshdarn Foux da fa fa though. I have no TV so I’d never heard of these guys. “Cute,” I thought. “That’s nice. What’s next?”

    Days later, and I’m still returning to the blog entry so that I can play the video just…one…more…time.

    Drat. Hooked.

    It’s a funny one though, thanks.

  26. Adam says:

    I got my wife with the Badger Song…. oh and my little 3 year old goes around singing it as well. Funniest thing on earth.

  27. pablo says:

    One of the characters in the savage tide campaign I’m in now has a badger tattoo that grants him special combat bonuses when activated, and every time he activates it everyone else in the game starts singing badger, badger, badger, badger.

    What fun.

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