Trabia Garden

Before I get into the traditional talking too much about karaoke, I should mention that the annual Three-Sentence Ficathon is underway! Here's the current post, if you want to prompt or write anything.


Here is a very belated post about our karaoke-focused New Year's celebrations! Part of the reason this post was taking so long was because it's a pain to link to all the songs on YouTube, so I eventually abandoned the effort; I apologise for how spotty the linking is as a consequence.

It will surprise no one to learn that our household celebrated the turn of the year with karaoke on New Year's Eve. Here are the songs I performed!

- The Glee version of 'Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah', because New Year's Eve coincided with the seventh night of Hanukkah. A carefully calculated song choice; it's a Hanukkah song, so it was a way of saying 'happy Hanukkah!' to Rei, but it's a Glee song, so it was also a way of saying 'I want to affectionately inflict psychological damage upon you.' Rei responded by singing 'How Do You Spell Channukkahh' by the LeeVees.

- 'You and Me (But Mostly Me)', from The Book of Mormon. I modified the lyrics slightly to make this a solo, which frankly I think is in the spirit of the song. There was a lot of laughter at this one, and my housemates broke into applause at the end. 'Yes!' I declared, opening my arms to the sky. 'I deserve this!'

- At Rei's suggestion, the two of us duetted on 'Guy Love' from the Scrubs musical episode. Tem had not seen Scrubs and probably found the experience slightly puzzling.

- I was concerned that 'Dylan' by Emmy the Great might be too fast, but it turned out to be really fun to sing! This is a song I picked up from my time living with th_esaurus; she used to listen to it a lot.

- 'Last Surprise -Scramble-' from Persona 5 Strikers was also fast and fun! Everyone joined in on the too many 'oooooh's at the end.

- Rise Against songs are always both extremely intimidating and an absolute blast to sing, and 'Help Is On the Way' is no exception. I struggled with the 'RIGHT HERE' screams but had an earnest crack at them.

- Singing Gackt's 'Last Song' with Rei was a very nostalgic experience. I was nervous about singing in Japanese, but I think it went okay. It's amazing how the songs you listened to as a teenager stick with you, even if they're in a language you don't speak.

- Tem and I like to wait until everyone's let their guard down and then throw a duet from Death Note: The Musical into proceedings. On this occasion, the duet in question was 'The Way It Ends', so I got to play smug Light, one of my favourite Light Yagami modes (all of Light's modes are my favourite Light modes).

- I ran out of songs I was confident in, so I had to venture into my 'this is probably a bad idea' picks, which is how I ended up singing 'Big Enough' by Kirin J Callinan. There were incredible reactions from the room when the screaming cowboy kicked in. The fun thing about doing this song for karaoke is that, although it's a meme, only a very specific part of it is well known, so the audience may not suspect you're singing a meme song until you throw your head back and go AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH.

- Rei joined me for RichaadEB's metal cover of Touhou's 'Bad Apple', which is fortunate, because I don't think I would have been capable alone! That song really doesn't give you any breathing room.

- I enjoyed singing 'Body' by Marah! I'm always surprised by the vanishingly low viewcount on Marah's songs on YouTube; for a long time I struggled to find their songs on there at all. My brother listened to them a lot when we were teenagers, and I always assumed they were well known, but apparently not; he'd just got into an incredibly niche band, and landed me with a fondness for their songs as a consequence!

And a few others I don't have much commentary on: 'Burning in the Skies' by Linkin Park, 'This Old Sin' by Koethe, a repeat of the sea shanty version of 'Rockstar' by Nickelback.

My favourite performances by Rei included 'Don't Be a Lawyer' from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the unfortunately named 'JAP' by the perplexingly named abingdon boys school, 'Fight Club' by Fitzy, and a couple of Tom Lehrer songs: 'Smut' (with relish) and 'The Masochism Tango' (Rei and Tem briefly tangoed together during this one, although fortunately they didn't follow the song's instructions to the letter).

Rei also performed 'Mother Mary' by Tom Auton, and the lyrics made me suspicious. 'Is this on your Billcifer playlist?' I asked, and Rei hastily shushed me. (Billcifer is Rei's Lucifer-inspired Bill/Dipper Gravity Falls AU; it's here, and I can strongly recommend it if that sounds like your thing! It's been great to see Rei's enthusiasm for working on it.)

My favourite of Tem's performances included 'Gettin' Bi' from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, 'Hurricane' from Death Note: The Musical (always a delight; Tem always puts such passion into 'I AM THE GOD OF A BRAVE NEW WORLD'), 'Godless, Lawless & Non-Monogamous' by New Here, and 'Monochrome' by BABYMETAL (with me and Ginger singing backup vocals).

I'm noting my favourite performances down in part so I can look up the original songs at some point, for those I wasn't familiar with already. One of the fun aspects of karaoke is getting to discover cool new music! However, there's always the risk that I'll seek out the original and go '...actually, I prefer this song when my friends are singing it.'

Rei, Tem and I did a couple of songs as a trio towards the end: 'Wait for It' from Hamilton and 'Six Feet' by Patent Pending. I was afraid that the Hamilton song would be too ambitious, but I think it worked out!

Tem and Rei did a magnificent duet of Sarah and the Safe Word's 'Something Is Afoot on Old Man McGrady's River', and wrapped up with the occasion-appropriate 'This Year' by the Mountain Goats. A great way to see 2024 out!

We had a home karaoke evening on Saturday!

This karaoke session was very loosely Hallowe'en themed. Sometimes we stuck to the theme; Rei opened with a magnificent rendition of 'Margaret Thatcher, Blood Snatcher' by THWACK!, and Tem's 'Hell Is Forever' from Hazbin Hotel and 'Rest in Peace' from Buffy were great fun. Sometimes we came up with loose excuses; 'What's scarier than capitalism?' Rei asked, before launching into 'Six Feet' by Patent Pending.

My songs, which, I'll be honest, made very little effort to stick to the theme:

- 'Want You Bad' by The Offspring. This is a song I find hilarious, and I always try to do something I won't have to take too seriously first; it takes some of the pressure off!

- 'Empire' by Of Monsters and Men. I was listening to this a couple of days earlier when Tem wandered in and went 'wait, what were those lyrics??' The lyrics in question were 'an empire for you, an empire for two' and not, as Tem had heard, 'I wanna fuck you; you wanna fuck too.'

- 'Feeling Kinda Naughty' from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. In my experience, if you have a karaoke evening, one of the songs will end up stuck in your head for days afterwards. On this occasion, the lingering earworm is 'Feeling Kinda Naughty'. I keep catching myself singing 'I wanna lock you in a basement with soundproof walls and take over your identity,' which, let's be honest, is probably something I should avoid saying too loudly in company. Tem also did a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend song, 'You Stupid Bitch', which was quite an event.

- 'The Numbers' by Rise Against. This is, by some distance, the most intense song I have ever attempted at karaoke; I was shaking by the end of it. I'm famously incapable of breaking rules or hurting anyone, but my housemates very considerately did not laugh in my face for singing a song about violent revolution.

- 'My Shiny Teeth and Me' by Chip Skylark, from The Fairly OddParents; I needed something silly to calm myself down after the violent revolution song!

- 'Wonderful' by Everclear. I was not originally planning on this and did not practise in advance, and I startled myself by getting slightly choked up in the chorus! Very embarrassing. It's not even a song applicable to my own childhood; I just got emotional!

- 'Hurricane' from the Death Note musical. It is a joy and a privilege to inhabit my terrible boy Light Yagami. Great fun to slowly build up the intensity until eventually bellowing 'I AM THE GOD OF A BRAVE NEW WORLD.' Tem handed me a notebook to hold throughout the song for greater authenticity.

- 'Falling After Me' by Koethe, with Rei. I'm so pleased I managed to get Rei into Koethe's music through previous karaoke sessions! This was a lot of fun to sing together. We danced enthusiastically in the breaks.

- 'The Emptiness Machine' by Linkin Park, also with Rei. I'm thrilled that Linkin Park are making music again! I took Shinoda's part and left Armstrong's part to Rei; I am not confident in my metal screaming skills.

- 'Ghosts' by Mike Shinoda. Well, I had to do something appropriate for Hallowe'en. There are videos with lyrics out there, which might have been more useful for karaoke, but I was compelled to play the original music video because it's so cute.

- 'Secrets and Lies' from the Death Note musical. Tem attempted to sit like L at the start of this and fell off the sofa, which, in retrospect, we should probably have foreseen. Why does L sit like that?? It's not stable!

- The Jenn Fiorentino cover of 'Voices Off Camera' by Rise Against. People were really nice about my attempt at this one!

- 'Wolves Without Teeth' by Of Monsters and Men. I wasn't originally planning to do this one - I usually try to avoid doing two songs by the same artist in one karaoke session - but I'm glad I ran out of other ideas and went with this, because I really enjoyed singing it!

A few other notes from the evening:

- Rei's performance of 'Psycho Killer' by Talking Heads was fun; the whole room joined in on the chorus! I'd only heard the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain's cover and was confused by the lack of ukuleles in gaps in the singing.

- J did 'Everywhere I Go' by Hollywood Undead. I enjoyed watching Tem desperately trying not to lose it laughing at the lyric 'I'll beat my meat like I'm a fucking butcher'.

- Tem sang 'Rondo of Nightmare' by BABYMETAL. It's always fun when Tem does BABYMETAL songs and, even if I've never technically listened to them before, I instantly recognise them from hearing them float through the house; Tem and Ginger both listen to them a lot! I also really enjoyed Tem's performance of 'Bubblegum Bitch' by Marina and the Diamonds, even if it might technically not be as appropriate for Hallowe'en.

- J did 'Bring Me to Life' by Evanescence, so the whole room got to belt out 'SAVE ME' in the choruses, which was good fun!

We all did a group performance of 'In the End' by Linkin Park towards the end, and, to be honest, we all sang with such volume and passion that the microphones were completely unnecessary.

Had a home karaoke evening with my housemates to celebrate my birthday!

As I knew everyone who was present very well, I thought it would be a good opportunity to perform some tricky songs, secure in the knowledge that nobody there would judge me if I fell flat on my face. However, this meant I forgot until the last moment that I'd need something easier for the first song, to warm up my voice. I cast desperately around and eventually, perhaps regrettably, decided that my opening performance would be the Ass Crack Bandit song from Community. It's a pretty fun song to sing with a completely straight face.

Rei was also struggling to come up with a first song. As a joke, I suggested 'Dance Around with Pokémon'. Rei actually performed it. I'm so sorry, everyone.

Once we'd warmed up, I launched into the songs I'd been nervous about: 'Haunt Me' by Koethe, 'The Violence' by Rise Against, 'It's Only Money, Tyrone' by Marah.

They didn't go as badly as I feared they might! In fact, Rei asked who 'Haunt Me' was by, and the next day I overheard them listening to it as they worked. I'm delighted I managed to perform it well enough for someone to conclude they liked the song! (I also enjoyed Rei's 'Tragic Symphony' by Hanson enough to check out the actual song, but, to be honest, I think I like Rei's version better.)

The trickiest song I performed was actually chosen at random. YouTube's 'My Mix' function autogenerates a playlist of songs you've been listening to on the site. I thought it might be fun to generate a mix and attempt the first song with lyrics it suggested.

The first song was 'Emu ~for my dear~' by Gackt.

'Emu ~for my dear~' is in Japanese.

I decided I'd give it a go. I don't speak Japanese, but I'd listened to the song so much as a teenager that I at least had a good idea of how it sounded, which would help me to follow along with the lyrics. I roped Rei in to help out, though, as they do speak Japanese. (Rei performed the Neon Genesis Evangelion theme song 'The Cruel Angel's Thesis' just before we launched into Gackt, and singing along with that in the background was a good warmup.)

Singing Gackt with Rei was, it turned out, an intensely nostalgic experience! Suddenly we were teenagers again, swapping Japanese songs on burned CDs.

Tem and I, wearing matching Death Note shirts, also performed a duet: 'Playing His Game' from Death Note: The Musical. We'd done this one before, but it's always fun to hear the room's reactions to the intense homoeroticism between Light and L.

Tem and Rei, incidentally, are both half a foot shorter than me, so sharing the microphone is a real challenge! The easiest way to keep my balance while singing together is if we put our arms across each other's shoulders, which of course only improves any depiction of Light and L's rivalry.

To wind down the evening, I sang 'I Found a Way' by First Aid Kit, a song I first heard in Life Is Strange 2, and then Tem, Rei and I all sang Hikaru Utada's 'Simple and Clean' from Kingdom Hearts. We belted it out in a thrilling variety of octaves with our arms around each other's shoulders. We probably sounded terrible. It was amazing.

Yesterday, we hosted an informal karaoke afternoon at our house to celebrate Tem's birthday. It was a lot of fun!

The great thing about holding your own karaoke session is that you can sing all the weird, obscure songs that you wouldn't find at an actual karaoke place. In this post, I will be linking to some of the songs mentioned and not linking to others, with no apparent rhyme or reason.

Tem and I kicked off the event with 'Where Is the Justice?' from Death Note: The Musical, which is a very intense first song for an afternoon of karaoke. I was shaking the whole time I sang Light's part (with the outrage and injustice of it all, naturally), which, I'll admit, probably did not improve my singing voice. There were mildly horrified exclamations from the room at the lyrics, and then laughter when I got too warm halfway through and shrugged off my hoodie, revealing the Death Note T-shirt beneath.

Tem and I performed so many songs from Death Note: The Musical, in fact, that we started having to introduce them with a brief 'previously on Death Note' rundown. After we collaborated on 'Where Is the Justice', Tem performed 'Hurricane' and 'Kira', I sang 'The Way Things Are', and then we both gave our all for 'Playing His Game'.

'Playing His Game' is a fantastically homoerotic duet, and I don't think the room was entirely prepared for it. At the line 'what does he do late at night when the world is sleeping?', people gasped. As Light and L, we got closer and closer over the course of the song and ended up belting out our determination to defeat each other with our arms around each other's shoulders.

I was Light, naturally. When Tem and I sing Death Note duets, I have to be Light and Tem has to be L; it's the law.

'I feel like we should make out,' Tem said at the end of 'Playing His Game', and frankly I'd also found myself thinking 'it feels like, for the performance, we should kiss, but for the sake of our relationship we probably shouldn't'. Seems very apt to be internally going 'what's the correct course of action here??' while singing as Light and L.

'I've been dating you for six years, and that's the gayest thing I've ever seen you do,' Rei informed Tem as we sat back down.

One of the most delightful aspects of the afternoon, in fact, was watching Tem have sexual tension with everyone in the room in turn: 'Playing His Game' with me, 'My Dead Gay Son' from Heathers with Rei, 'Barbie Girl' with one of our guests (who had done a surprise costume change in the bathroom and emerged dressed fully as Ken, wig and all).

My other song choices were 'Something's Always Wrong' by Toad the Wet Sprocket, 'How You Remind Me' by Nickelback, and 'Chop Away at My Heart' by lumberjack boyband the Lumberzacks from Milo Murphy's Law. I sang the last of these with Rei, and the room cracked up every time Rei called 'Timber!'

I also hugely enjoyed Rei and Tem's passionate duet of 'The Ballad of Sara Berry' from 35MM: A Musical Exhibition, Tem's intense BABYMETAL performances ('Headbanger' in particular looked exhausting), and a guest's troublingly dedicated version of 'Tubthumping' by Chumbawamba, in which she actually threw herself onto the floor at every occurrence of the line 'I get knocked down'.

A great time! Sorry to everyone we forcibly introduced to the concept of Death Note. (I am not actually sorry.)

Went to karaoke again, so I was finally able to belt out the chorus of 'Stacy's Mom', which had been trapped inside me since the song got cut off last time!

My housemate's boss was present for this particular karaoke session and had never heard 'Stacy's Mom' before, so I got to watch his expression of dawning delighted horror as he realised what the song is about.

My other song choices were 'The Call' by the Backstreet Boys, 'Whenever, Wherever' by Shakira and 'Baby One More Time' by Britney Spears, but my favourite was actually someone else's pick that I joined in on: 'Complicated' by Avril Lavigne. I hadn't thought about that song in so long, but it's so much fun to sing!

One member of our party sang 'Memory' from Cats so powerfully I nearly cried, but it was hard to be too intimidated when we were all having so much fun. It also helped to ease the intimidation that we had two microphones, so, unless you picked a song nobody else knew (or, as in the case of that 'Memory' performance, you stunned everyone else into silence), you weren't going to be singing solo.

A person I'd first met at the last karaoke session greeted me with 'Hey! Have you been writing any fanfiction lately?' I explained that I'd got really into Lost and mentioned that my favourite character was Jack. She physically recoiled in horror, then said, consolingly, 'I get it; we're getting to the age where, the grosser the middle-aged man, the more appealing they are.' I had to confess that I'd been this way since I was sixteen.

Am I going to make a habit of this? It's definitely a lot of fun to sing for a couple of hours, then have a meal and chat about fandom with all of the delightful nerds who came along to karaoke. There were multiple people with Pokémon tattoos present. My housemate's boss listened, patient but confused, while the table tried to explain why 5 November is Bonfire Night in the UK and DestielPutinElection Day everywhere else. It was a good day.

(EDIT: Just realised that, during the karaoke, I was the same age to the day as Jack Shephard at the start of Lost. I had a much better day than he did.)