This is only for Mormons (if anyone)
Back in the days of the Garrens Comedy Troupe at BYU, I wrote a song in which I sang the names of all of the LDS Church’s current general authorities, all 100 or so of them. ‘Twas a big hit, back in the day. (The first performance of it was in early 1996.) But as Mormons are well aware, twice a year, at general conference, there are usually a few G.A.’s released and new ones called to replace them. So the song was always being updated.
The last update was for my second CD, in 2005. I’ve had no incentive to update “The General Authorities Song” since then because I haven’t been performing at all, much less for a mostly Mormon audience. But then I got word from some friends of mine that their children had been listening to the most recent recording, and were delighted by it, and have even memorized a lot of it (which, believe me, is no picnic). And they were greatly desirous that I should update it, particularly since several of the important names in the song have, um, died since the last revision.
So … I did it. Here’s the new version, accurate as of the most recent changes at the April 2009 General Conference. I slapped together a recording to send to my friends and their children, and you can listen to it too. Non-Mormons probably won’t recognize any of the names (well, except for Gary Coleman and Anthony Perkins, since those are also the names of famous actors), but even Mormons wouldn’t recognize a lot of them. Many of the men were called recently and haven’t done anything yet to gain notoriety in the LDS world. So I guess to the extent that the song is fun, it is fun because, well, there are a lot of names, and I sing them really fast. I guess.
June 1st, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Wow! Nice Spanish portion! Did you ever take classes?
June 1st, 2009 at 5:14 pm
wow! Well done. Out of curiosity, how many takes did you need to record that?
June 1st, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Awesome. My kids loved the 2005 version and have been dying for an update. Thanks so much for doing it. I can’t imagine how much work it takes to make the changes.
June 1st, 2009 at 7:14 pm
I think it’s about time you perform again in Utah.
June 1st, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Ah, Spanish. Such a fine mission language . . .
June 1st, 2009 at 8:46 pm
heeyyy, were you the genius behind Mormon Rap?
June 1st, 2009 at 9:01 pm
You just blew my mind with Anthony Perkins. I had no idea. I wonder if he has/had a good relationship with his mother…
June 1st, 2009 at 11:14 pm
This is all sorts of amazing. I’m pretty sure this should replace the Latter-Day Prophets song in the Primary songbook.
June 2nd, 2009 at 4:00 am
“Charles Didier’s hair is slick.”
I love it!
June 2nd, 2009 at 7:40 am
Ah yes, the days of Garrens. Many a fond night spent laughing my patootie off in the Law Library.
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:32 am
That was brilliant. I was especially impressed that you had the correct pronunciation of James J. Hamula.
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:36 am
Amazing!
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:38 pm
I have the late-90′s recording from your first CD. I almost think the older one is funner to listen to – it has more energy, anyway. This new version just starts out too slow. I like the piano embellishments around Yoshihiko Kikuchi and others, though.
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:17 pm
David Manning: Yes, plenty of Spanish in high school and college, but it doesn’t take much to be able to say “nosotros amigo Francisco Viņas; Benjamin de Hoyos es un genius,” especially since “genius” isn’t really Spanish.
Mommy (not mine): Mostly one take, with a few lines re-dubbed in editing. (Sharp-eared listeners can probably spot them, since I didn’t do a very good job integrating them). But that’s deceptive, because I’d rehearsed a fair amount beforehand, mostly to avoid having to do multiple takes once I started recording.
Camille: No. I was responsible for getting that song played on the Dr. Demento Show, though!
June 3rd, 2009 at 8:17 am
Thanks! that was fantastic. can’t wait to play it for my six year old. he’ll love it.
June 3rd, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Ok, so, while I enjoy it…I didn’t quite get the “song” part? Like, the background piano part sounds to be like it’s a loose parody of “modern major general” from the Pirate of Penzance, but then Eric just speaks it, not sings it. I think it’d be a lot more funny and memorable if it were completely sung, at modern-major-general pace. Like Tom Lehrer’s “The Elements”. I did enjoy it though!
June 3rd, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Eric, thanks for posting an updated version of the song. I learned it from your sheet music, but I was struggling to stay up with the times. My kids love the song and my wife and I both got a good chuckle out of your performance. Keep it up!
June 4th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Haha it’s so funny!
June 6th, 2009 at 9:30 am
That song makes me proud.