“There are many things for which I am not too cool. I am, however, too cool for karaoke.”
I was fond of saying that once. I could still be fond of saying it, actually, though it loses its punch when you learn that I’ve sung karaoke.
At work.
Sober.
A former colleague signed me up for it at a meeting, and “let me know” afterward. It kind of pissed me off, honestly, but I thought “no, I’ll be a good sport. It’ll be fine.”
So, karaoke. There are two broad approaches. You can pick a silly song and ham it, or you can pick a good song and try to sing it well. I chose the latter path, and after a perusal of the offerings I settled pretty quickly on Del Shannon’s “Runaway,” a longtime favorite.
I practiced. I sang it two or three times a day in the car for a week. And then when I got there, the track the karaoke guy had was in a different key.
And that little witch who signed me up didn’t even come to the meeting.
So I didn’t even get to lose my karaoke cherry with a flourish. I face-planted, ruining one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll songs of all time. It was like a vegetarian deciding not to be one anymore and celebrating with a can of potted meat.
The other guy who sang chose David Allan Coe’s “You Never Even Called Me By My Name.” Well-played, sir.
You might also like:
- Bo mostly sings Del Shannon’s “Runaway” #karaoke
The first time I ever sang karaoke, a colleague signed me up for it at a work meeting. I am not a ve… - Pass It On
We sang “Pass It On” (aka “It Only Takes a Spark”) in church today. It’s such a beautiful song, and … - Five evenings
Worked a little on my thoroughly slobbed out garage Monday night. More of that on deck for the weeke… - BoWilliams.com On Marriage, Part VI: Go To Bed Mad. Or, How To Fight
Chances are excellent that the most intense fight you’ll ever have will be with your spouse. S/he kn… - Thursday miscellanea #325
It’s finally IndyCar race week! Thanks to my friend Paul for planting the intermittent fasting seed…
I’m trying to figure out who thought Karaoke at the office was a good idea anyway. Everyone knows karaoke requires alcohol, dim lighting, a room full of mostly strangers, and a group of friends singing with you to be fun.
was there a point to the work-karaoke? What was it?
Related: I have never karaoke-ed or performed the macarana.
It’s been quite some time ago now, which are generally the only kind of work stories I tell. I’m sure the aim was team-building, camaraderie, &c. Like I said, I’d have never raised my own hand, but decided to high-road it out instead of cancel. I should have canceled. 🙂
It was a contract win party, as I recall. Maybe when SAIC got SCRS?
A fellow ASMS alumnus played the violin. Seems like Klaus may have played his guitar. I went on after a sign–language interpretation of some somber number and pleaded with Steve Hettinger to warm the crowd back up.
Being thrust into the limelight was an aspect of the story I had forgotten. Good times.
Heh! I had forgotten Steve was emceeing.
You played the whole thing much better than I did. Like I said, I’d bail today.
Or maybe I’d bring my trombone.