Take Stuff from Work

Last updated
"Take Stuff from Work"
Single by King Missile
from the album Fluting on the Hump
Released 1987
Recorded1987
Genre Avant-garde
Length2:12
Label Shimmy Disc
Songwriter(s) John S. Hall, King Missile
Producer(s) Kramer
King Missile singles chronology
"Take Stuff from Work"
(1987)		"The Box"
(1988)

"Take Stuff from Work" is a song by avant-garde band King Missile. It appears on the band's 1987 debut album Fluting on the Hump.

Song composition for voice(s)

A song is a single work of music that is typically intended to be sung by the human voice with distinct and fixed pitches and patterns using sound and silence and a variety of forms that often include the repetition of sections. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word "song" may refer to instrumentals.

Experimental music is a general label for any music that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilites radically opposed to, and questioning of, institutionalized compositional, performing, and aesthetic conventions in music. Elements of experimental music include indeterminate music, in which the composer introduces the elements of chance or unpredictability with regard to either the composition or its performance. Artists may also approach a hybrid of disparate styles or incorporate unorthodox and unique elements.

King Missile is an American avant-garde art rock band best known for their 1992 song "Detachable Penis". Formed in 1986, vocalist John S. Hall has fronted several incarnations of the band since then.

Contents

Content

In "Take Stuff from Work," a jangly acoustic guitar and simple drumbeat are punctuated by occasional saxophone fills as frontman John S. Hall delivers a monologue in which he advises listeners to steal various office supplies from their places of employment. Hall states that such theft is "the best way to feel better about your job," and concludes, "I wrote this at work. They're paying me to write about stuff I steal from them. Life is good." [1]

Acoustic guitar type of guitar

An acoustic guitar is a guitar that produces sound acoustically by transmitting the vibration of the strings to the air—as opposed to relying on electronic amplification (see electric guitar). The sound waves from the strings of an acoustic guitar resonate through the guitar's body, creating sound. This typically involves the use of a sound board and a sound box to strengthen the vibrations of the strings. In standard tuning the guitar's six strings are tuned (low to high) E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4.

Rhythm aspect of music

Rhythm generally means a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time can apply to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or frequency of anything from microseconds to several seconds ; to several minutes or hours, or, at the most extreme, even over many years.

Saxophone type of musical instrument of the woodwind family

The saxophone is a family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. Like the clarinet, saxophones have holes in the instrument which the player closes using a system of key mechanisms. When the player presses a key, a pad either covers a hole or lifts off a hole, lowering or raising the pitch, respectively.

In the liner notes of the compilation Mystical Shit & Fluting on the Hump, Hall writes of "Take Stuff from Work": "I did, in fact, write this at work... I went to my desk [and] just looked around the room to think of things to take. The whole thing was completely unoriginal." [2]

Liner notes

Liner notes are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.

A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for release together as a single work, but may be collected together as a greatest hits album or box set. If from several performers, there may be a theme, topic, time period, or genre which links the tracks, or they may have been intended for release as a single work—such as a tribute album. When the tracks are by the same recording artist, the album may be referred to as a retrospective album or an anthology.

<i>Mystical Shit & Fluting on the Hump</i> compilation album by King Missile

Mystical Shit & Fluting on the Hump is a compilation of avant-garde band King Missile's third album, Mystical Shit, and first album, Fluting on the Hump. The package was first released in 1990 and rereleased on September 7, 2004.

Music video

The video for "Take Stuff from Work" was directed for no fee by J.F.K. Nitzberg. [3]

A music video is a short film that integrates a song with imagery, and is produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie-in marketing campaigns that allow them to become more than just a song. Tie-ins and merchandising can be used for toys or for food or other products. Although the origins of the music video date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they again came into prominence in the 1980s when the channel MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these kinds of videos were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip".

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References

  1. ↑ "Lyrics: Take Stuff from Work". Farmboy's King Missile. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
  2. ↑ Hall, John S. (2004). Album notes. In Mystical Shit & Fluting on the Hump [CD booklet]. New York City: Shimmy Disc.
  3. ↑ "Videography". Laundry Lists of Nonsense. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
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