# Why didn't anyone tell me about Jonathan Coulton? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-anyone-tell-me-about-jonathan-coulton/481559 "2009-01-16T05:06:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![UTejas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UTejas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UTejas)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-anyone-tell-me-about-jonathan-coulton/481559/21 "2009-01-18T03:19:54Z")
Here’s a cool interview Coulton did with the Onion AV Club: [Random Rules](http://www.avclub.com/articles/random-rules-jonathan-coulton,2352/) The premise is that Coulton hits shuffle on his iPod and they talk about the various songs that pop up. He seems like a funny, down-to-earth guy in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-anyone-tell-me-about-jonathan-coulton/481559/22 "2009-01-18T03:41:26Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > It’s a little odd, because the singer is addressing an office coworker who’s locked up in a mall. The idea is that his douchebag colleagues, who have become zombies, are now douchebag-zombies and bugging him just as much as they ever did. It’s kind of a joke of business lingo and zombies at the same time. BTW, he’s definitely locked in a mall (I don’t think he’s in a room, I think he’s got the whole mall. There are lines suggesting he could last years in there). \*I don’t want to nitpick, Tom, but is this really your plan? To spend your whole life locked inside a mall? Maybe that’s OK for now but someday you’ll be out of food and guns And then you’ll have to make the call \* For those who have wondered, Soterios Johnson is the morning NPR newscaster in NYC. I love that song. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-anyone-tell-me-about-jonathan-coulton/481559/23 "2009-01-18T03:48:13Z")
If you get a chance, go to see him in concert. Especially if he’s playing with Paul and Storm. I’ve seen them together in shows about a half a dozen times, and even though the set doesn’t change that much, all the shows are different due to the audience. At one I went to P&S broke into Sweet Caroline because someone threw a note about them playing at a weddidng - and then did it again at the next show. Fun stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-anyone-tell-me-about-jonathan-coulton/481559/24 "2009-01-18T03:59:04Z")
[My favorite fan-made video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lLRBiEBRAc): a girl does an interpretive dance to “Code Monkey.” It’s absolutely perfect. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-anyone-tell-me-about-jonathan-coulton/481559/25 "2009-01-18T07:05:57Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Code Monkey > [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > Code Monkey > [@schnuckiputzi](#): > > Code Monkey > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Code Monkey Think we can get “sweater look nice” to replace “how _you_ doin’”? Next time I want to flirt around here, I’m gonna try it. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-anyone-tell-me-about-jonathan-coulton/481559/26 "2009-01-18T16:56:20Z")
The first time I became aware of him was when his Mix-a-lot cover was something of a meme a few years ago: > **[Baby Got Back — Jonathan Coulton | Last.fm](https://www.last.fm/music/Jonathan+Coulton/_/Baby+Got+Back)** > > Watch the video for Baby Got Back from Jonathan Coulton's JoCo Looks Back for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-anyone-tell-me-about-jonathan-coulton/481559/27 "2009-01-18T19:47:21Z")
I leaned about JoCo through the brilliance that is _Portal_ and “Still Alive,” and I’ve fallen in love with his amazing gift for creating lyrics and melodies that are so simple and catchy yet there’s always a clever twist to where you think they’re gonna go. And his voice is so pleasant, kinda has a Dan Fogelberg vibe to it. The “Baby Got Back” revamp is positively lovely. Speaking of DragonCon (as **melodyharmonius** did up there), my favorite fan-made video is [this version of Re: Your Brains](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOlznuyPOeM), which I think really captures the song’s spirit – the setting’s creepy banality and the lyrics’ cheerful, twisted humor. The lead guy’s evil glint as he grins through “when I bash your head” plus his almost indignant expression during “we’re not unreasonable; I mean, no one’s gonna eat your eyes” crack me up every freakin’ time. The WoW “Code Monkey” and “Skullcrusher Mountain” are terrific too. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-anyone-tell-me-about-jonathan-coulton/481559/28 "2009-01-18T21:04:34Z")
I had actually discovered JoCo through a friend who had found the Spiffworld videos; my friend is a WoW player and thought they were neat because they are made in WoW. So I had some exposure to him, and then Portal came out and I discovered Still Alive, which is an awesome song (and the best ending to a video game in the past few years). Then I went to his site ([www.jonathancoulton.com](http://www.jonathancoulton.com)) and bought his entire catalog in mp3 for something like $70. Lots of great stuff there. Sorry for not bringing this up before, I guess. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-anyone-tell-me-about-jonathan-coulton/481559/29 "2009-01-18T21:28:28Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > [My favorite fan-made video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lLRBiEBRAc): a girl does an interpretive dance to “Code Monkey.” It’s absolutely perfect. > > Daniel Weird how context is everything. I thought it was a really cute video when I thought she was in high school. When I found out she is 22 I found it vaguely sad. She seems like a \*very \*young 22… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-anyone-tell-me-about-jonathan-coulton/481559.md?page=1)