“Flutigator" - Jesse Johnson
“Flutigator” lyrics
One more time for the followers
I don’t have much time though to rehearse
Let me just grab my flute, we’ll shoot at 2
This time we’re going big
Meet me at the zoo
So I started playing, now just waiting
Please take the bait or YouTube won’t pay me
Eureka, only seconds later
Came dozens of hungry alligators
Chorus:
Now everybody knows my name
And things will never be the same again
At first it seemed a great idea
Solid as cheese on a tortilla
Until instincts overrode my charms
Maybe I should have played “Open Arms” instead
They started to wake from their trance
And I only had my flute for defense
Maybe I failed to play on key
But I couldn’t outrun the chompy chompies (chorus)
I played my flute to make some cash
But the gators won
I was no match
Now I’m in the ICU
A bachelors in jazz flute
Minoring in hypnotherapy, wasted
I should’ve just done that
Conservation internship Down Under
Now everybody knows my name
And that stupid flute is to blame
And just my luck
When the surgeon reattached my head
He put it on backwards
Notes:
The lyrics to this song are a little crazy, so let me explain: writing ska punk takes my brain to a certain place of ease, where ideas tend to come out quicker and grow more freely with a sense of nonjudgmental “anything-goes”ness. It’s a beautiful thing.
So I had this idea: what if the Pied Piper was a modern YouTuber? How would he use his special skill to attract new subscribers? That’s pretty much the premise I built on for this song. It rabbit-trails into him “upping” the stakes by having his camera person document him leading a flock (herd, murder, clergy?) of alligators out of the zoo with his flute, shortly before they bite his head off and land him in the ICU for reattachment surgery (it’s a song, roll with it).
*I attribute all my attempts at writing ska punk songs to my friend Nay who brought that element into our old band, Heck Veckling. Over time, I grew to love ska punk and started working it into my projects more.
**Huge shout out to my friend Alex Nguyen for the amazing album artwork which was inspired by this song.
Software: Logic Pro X
Microphone: Apogee MiC
Drums: GetGood Drums (Invasion pack)
Guitar: Charvel DK24
Bass: YAMAHA RBX460
Plugins: Waves CLA everything (fyi, bass tone is CLA bass’s default setting), Toontrack EZmix, FabFilter Pro-L 2 (for mastering), and numerous Waves plugins for random things.
“Flutigator” by Jesse Johnson
From the album Tomorrow (2022)
Album artwork by the talented Alex Nguyen.
DM Alex on IG for commissions:
/ alleggsendher