Code Monkey (song)
| "Code Monkey" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Jonathan Coulton | |
| from the album Thing a Week Three | |
| Released | December 15, 2006 |
| Recorded | April 2006 |
| Genre | Indie rock |
| Length | 3:09 |
| Songwriter(s) | Jonathan Coulton |
| Thing a Week Three track listing | |
| |
"Code Monkey" is a song by Jonathan Coulton, released on 14 April 2006[1] and part of his album Thing a Week Three released in December 2006. It is one of his most popular songs[2] and has since been downloaded over one million times.[3] It has been variously described as:
- "a rocking anthem about dead-end programming jobs,"[4]
- "a song about a computer programmer in love with a receptionist,"[3]
- and "a semi-autobiographical song ... about a lovelorn computer programmer."[5]
Coulton credits the song's mention on the technology-discussion site Slashdot with the earliest success of the "Thing a Week" project, remarking, "so here was this song about a sad tech geek, and it went directly – it was shot – an arrow shot directly to the heart of the tech geek community." [5]
Featured in
A music video for the song was created by Mike Spiff Booth using imagery from the World of Warcraft video game series and uploaded to YouTube on September 23, 2006.[6]
The song has appeared in television commercials, and is the theme song for the G4 television network show Code Monkeys.[7]
In 2008, the song was featured in an animated video presented at a free ASIFA event, written by Tom Weiser and IdleAmbition.
In 2011 pianist Louis Durra recorded an instrumental version of the song for his Mad World EP album.
In 2012, Chicago-based performance troupe VStheUNIVERSE released a short film based on Coulton's work entitled "Code Monkey."
References
- ↑ "Thing a Week 29 – Code Monkey"
- ↑ "Jonathan Coulton Answers Your Questions". Slashdot, 5/31/2011.
- 1 2 (No author.) "Pop songs based on office life are missing from musical history," The Times (United Kingdom), Section: Features, What else happened, pg. 2 – Career, June 7, 2007.
- ↑ Clive Thompson. "Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog". New York Times, 5/13/2011.
- 1 2 Alex Blumberg. "An Internet rock star tells all," All Things Considered, National Public Radio, May 13, 2011. Text retrieved from the Newspaper Source database.
- ↑ Mike Spiff Booth. "Code Monkey Music Video"
- ↑ Coulton, Jonathan (June 11, 2007). "Code Monkeys". JonathanCoulton.com. Retrieved August 22, 2008.