View source for Banana Man

{{Infobox song
 |title = Banana Man
 |albumart = MMMM08.jpg
 |writer = Joe Hawley
 |singer = [[Joe Hawley]]
 |album = Banana Man (Single), [[Party Boobytrap]] (Variant 3), [[Complete Demos]], [[Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum (Album)|Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum]], [[Admittedly Incomplete Demos]]
 |language = English
 |genre = Rock
 |externalLinks = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRD9BqjIk-E Youtube]<br>[https://open.spotify.com/track/1rbieHTuGFWstwVk9o7Fgr?si=4fbcc85ac9ca4c47 Spotify]<br>[https://needlejuice.bandcamp.com/track/banana-man Bandcamp]<br>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yModCU1OVHY Demo (Youtube)]<br>[https://tallyhall.bandcamp.com/track/banana-man-demo Demo (Bandcamp)]<br>[https://tallyhall.bandcamp.com/track/banana-man-lounge-version Lounge Version (Bandcamp)]
}} 
'''Banana Man''' is a song by [[Joe Hawley]] appearing on [[Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum (Album)|Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum]].

== History ==
Joe states that the song came from a time that he awoke in the middle of the night during his high school years to the sound of African villagers chanting on his TV (He thinks it may be due to his Samsung GXTV's timer). Later, at one of his younger sister's dance competitions in Myrtle Beach, he wrote the lyrics alone in their hotel room.<ref>[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g7t-2gaQxO0wZ187M5epjiocUdbZs8alQysD7H71xPg Joe Hawley Email Interview.] October 2019.</ref>

===Recording===
Banana Man was recorded by [[Tally Hall]] in November of 2003 and released on a variant of [[Party Boobytrap]] and as a single in the same year.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040607013914/http://www.talentmatch.com/search/allview.asp?PID=59562&entry=tmurl# TalentMatch Tally Hall website archive]</ref> It was later released on [[Complete Demos]] in 2004.<ref>[https://tallyhall.bandcamp.com/track/banana-man-demo Banana Man (Demo).] Bandcamp.</ref> This demo included an extended whistling bridge and had a general rougher feel to it. 

Banana Man was later re-recorded for [[Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum (Album)|Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum]] the next year. In 2007, the song would be remixed and partially re-recorded for [[Atlantic Records]]. The intro vocals would be re-recorded, and the guitar and harmonies are mixed louder.

A "lounge" version of Banana Man was included on [[Admittedly Incomplete Demos]], which was recorded for the [[Taken For A Ride (T.H.I.S. Episode)|Taken For A Ride]] episode of [[Tally Hall's Internet Show]].

===Airplay===
On June 3rd, 2005 Banana Man was played on the Steve Dahl show on Chicago's WCKG (105.9) radio.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060221073243/http://www.dahl.com/show_logs/2005/06/03.asp] The Steve Dahl Show. June 3rd 2005. (Captured 21st February 2006). Archived Via The Wayback Machine.</ref> In the transcript they remarked:
<blockquote>"Steve's not sure if that band is actually from Chicago. He went to their site and it looks like they might be from Ann Arbor. That's pretty much a suburb of Chicago.
As near as Steve can figure, that band Tally Hall is based out of Ann Arbor. It seems like the concept of the segment, Stever's LOCAL Band-Aid, would exclude them from being played. It was a good song though and they'll probably get a local booking off it from which Steve will take his standard 50% fee."</blockquote>

==Song Meanings==
When asked about its meaning in a 2005 chat on thecarpetedwall.com ([[Coz Baldwin]]'s website), Joe stated "there is no hidden secret meaning, work vs. play".

==Music Video==
The music video for Banana Man was created as a class project for Jennifer Hardacker’s Video Art II class at the University of Michigan<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230819234748/https://whalejoey.com/about WhaleJoey.com. About page.] Archived via The Wayback Machine.</ref>, during November or December of 2003.<ref>[http://www.jenhardacker.com/wp-content/themes/blankslate/HardackerVita.pdf Jennifer Hardacker resume]</ref> It was directed and edited by Joe Hawley.<ref>[http://www.jonkmusic.com/2006/09/tally-hall/ Jonk Music Tally Hall article] Jonk Music.</ref> The video stars Joe Hawley as himself and the titular character of Banana Man, with the other members of Tally Hall (as the Zimbabwe songbirds) and friends from U of M. The video won "Best Music Video" at the 2004 Flint Film Festival.<ref>[https://www.pingry.org/uploaded/2016_Our_Community/Students/Publications/Pingry_Record/record-apr292005.pdf Pingry Record April 29th 2005]</ref> The video was later uploaded to tallyhall.com where it could be streamed and downloaded.

On March 5th 2005, the video would make its way onto AlbinoBlackSheep, a website for videos and animations by internet creators.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050401011922/http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/ AlbinoBlackSheep 2005 archive] Archived Via The Wayback Machine.</ref> There, it would gain immense popularity, becoming the most popular video on the site for a time. The video would reportedly be downloaded over 2 million times<ref>[http://tinawhelski.blogspot.com/2006/08/tally-halls-joe-hawley-interview.html TINA WHELSKI AUGUST 9, 2006 Joe Hawley Interview]</ref> and go on to accumulate 4.6 million views on YouTube as of April 2022.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yModCU1OVHY Tally Hall - Banana Man on YouTube.] YouTube.</ref>

Banana Man also saw small success on television, being used in the MTV show "The Real World: Key West" as the theme song for Johnny Bananas.{{cn}}

==Trivia==
* The line "And then forget about de yellow from de beckoning man" originally said "colorful man".
* On the YouTube content ID system, they credit "Clifton Chenier" as the sole writer of Banana Man. Clifton Chenier was a musician that played zydeco, a combination of blues and indigenous music of the Louisiana Creoles. It's possible he was a big influence on the song and Joe himself.
* Joe mentions the existence of a "Dance Dance Revolution-style Playstation game influencer somewhere", but he doesn't remember the name.{{cn}}
* There is a quiet, (1, 2, 3, 4!) before the second verse and the music pops in.
* There are whispers during the instrumental section of the bridge, the demo version being transcribed by Skye and Andre.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPGVLt6PY_0 Video of isolated whispers in the song's bridge.]</ref>
* Turn The Lights Off animator Drew Mokris owns the Zimbabwe songbirds and cage from the music video.<ref>[https://twitter.com/drewmo/status/243157273084575745/photo/1 Drew Mokris tweet] [[Twitter]].</ref>
* In 2009, a man named Vaughn English performed the song as a contestant on the show American Idol. He was eliminated shortly after.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htkFh6qLehU Video of Vaughn's performance] YouTube.</ref>

{{Magic Lyrics}}

==Tabs/Chords==
Unavailable, if you have made tabs or chords of the song please add them!

==Personnel==
'''Music & Lyrics:''' Joe Hawley<br>
===Studio Version===
'''Vocals:''' Joe Hawley<br>
'''Additional Vocals:''' [[Rob Cantor]], [[Zubin Sedghi]]<br>
'''Electric Guitars:''' Rob Cantor, Joe Hawley<br>
'''Bass:''' Zubin Sedghi<br>
'''Piano & Keys:''' [[Andrew Horowitz]]<br>
'''Drum Kit & Percussion:''' [[Ross Federman]]<br>
'''Choir Vocals:''' Jason Ceo, Greg Jaffe, [[Bora Karaca]], Donald Milton III, Michael Steelman, Victor Szabo, Brett Trzcinski, Tim Wagner, Jon Zande<br>
'''Trombone:''' Steve Peterson<br>
'''Trumpet:''' David Tenerelli<br>
'''Tuba:''' Matt Lyon<br>
'''Whistling:''' Bora Karaca<br>
===Complete Demos Version===
'''Vocals:''' Joe Hawley<br>
'''Additional Vocals:''' [[Rob Cantor]], [[Zubin Sedghi]]<br>
'''Electric Guitars:''' Rob Cantor, Joe Hawley<br>
'''Bass:''' Zubin Sedghi<br>
'''Piano & Keys:''' [[Andrew Horowitz]]<br>
'''Drum Kit & Percussion:''' [[Steve Gallagher]]<br>

==References==
<references/>

{{Party Boobytrap}}
{{Complete Demos}}
{{MMMM}}
{{Admittedly Incomplete Demos}}
{{Singles|image=[[File:GoodDay_singleCover.jpg|195px|left]]}}

[[Category:Songs with Music Videos]] [[Category:Singles]]