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Vlogbrothers videos titled with Smash Mouth's All Star lyrics (2020)

running joke · status: retired · last event: callback (2023-05-23)

For five months of 2020 the brothers titled their videos with successive lyrics of Smash Mouth's All Star, an idea inspired by YouTube comments, until the video of 2 October 2020 used every remaining word; John later called the commitment stupid but kind of beautiful.

Told alongside: Hank asks viewers to pre-order A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor (2019) · John invites viewers to solve the video clues leading to a secret livestream together with other nerdfighters (2020) · Hanko de Mayo 2020 edition: Hank's 40th birthday and John's failed hunt for an All Star sing-a-ma-jig present · John draws 170,000 circles to grasp the US COVID-19 death toll (2020) · John: take the following week off from Vlogbrothers (July 2020)

About: All Star

date event what video
2020-04-21 first use The title Hey Now, the opening words of Smash Mouth's All Star, starts the brothers' All Star lyric titles. (playful) hey now
2020-04-24 variation The title The Sharpest Tool in the Shed continues the All Star lyric titles. (playful) The Sharpest Tool in the Shed
2020-04-28 variation The title Get Your Game On continues the All Star lyric titles. (playful) get your game on
2020-05-01 variation The title I Need to Get Myself Away from this Place continues the All Star lyric titles. (playful) I Need to Get Myself Away from this Place
2020-05-05 variation The title You're an All Star! continues the All Star lyric titles. (playful) YOU'RE AN ALL STAR!
2020-05-08 variation The title The Years Start Coming and They Don't Stop Coming! continues the All Star lyric titles. (playful) The years start coming and they don't stop coming!
2020-05-12 variation The title We Could All Use a Little Change continues the All Star lyric titles. (playful) We Could All Use a Little Change
2020-05-15 variation The title Lookin' Kinda Dumb! continues the All Star lyric titles. (playful) Lookin' Kinda Dumb!
2020-05-19 variation Told in comments that the All Star lyric video titles keep coming, John playfully claims to have no idea what this refers to; to another commenter who noticed the lyric titles he says "You're on to us." (playful) Didn't Make Sense Not to Live for Fun
2020-05-22 variation Hank says 'the meteor men beg to differ, judging by the hole in the satellite picture' is a forced rhyme that misunderstands climate science, but is less intrusive because it isn't emphasized. The Meteor Men Beg to Differ // Judging by the Hole in the Satellite Picture 00:01:01
2020-05-26 variation The title You'll Never Know continues the All Star lyric titles. (playful) you'll never know
2020-05-29 variation The title Get Paid continues the All Star lyric titles. Get Paid 00:03:27
2020-06-05 variation The title So Much to Do continues the All Star lyric titles. (playful) So Much to Do
2020-06-09 variation The title 'i could use a little fuel myself' continues the All Star lyric titles, echoed in John's line that we could all use a little fuel. i could use a little fuel myself 00:00:00
2020-06-12 variation The title Fed to the Rules continues the All Star lyric titles. Fed to the Rules
2020-06-16 (said on 2020-06-07, implied) variation The title 'a cool place' continues the All Star lyric titles, echoed in John's line about heading to a cool place. a cool place 00:00:00
2020-06-19 variation The title Only Shooting Stars continues the All Star lyric titles. Only Shooting Stars
2020-06-23 variation The title You'll Never Shine if You Don't Glow continues the All Star lyric titles. You'll Never Shine if You Don't Glow
2020-06-23 callback Told the All Star titles give a commenter a feeling, John says he has no idea what they are referring to. (playful) You'll Never Shine if You Don't Glow
2020-06-26 variation The title You Might as Well Swim! continues the All Star lyric titles. You Might as Well Swim!
2020-06-30 variation The title 'i like it' continues the All Star lyric titles. i like it
2020-07-03 variation The title My World's on Fire continues the All Star lyric titles. My World's on Fire
2020-07-07 variation The title You're a Rock Star continues the All Star lyric titles. You're a Rock Star
2020-07-10 variation The title What a Concept!! continues the All Star lyric titles. What a Concept!!
2020-07-14 variation The title, the next line of All Star, continues the lyric titles, and John opens the video by paraphrasing it. The ice we skate is getting pretty thin. 00:00:00
2020-07-14 callback Replying to a comment about the titles, John says he is not sure what 'these titles' refers to, but All Star is one of his favorite pop songs. (playful) The ice we skate is getting pretty thin.
2020-07-17 variation The title So Much to See continues the All Star lyric titles. So Much to See
2020-07-21 variation The title 'Somebody Once Asked . . .' bends the opening line of All Star to Question Tuesday, continuing the All Star lyric titles; John also fields a question on his favorite line of the song. Somebody Once Asked . . . 00:00:58
2020-07-24 variation The title, the next line of All Star after the previous video's title, continues the All Star lyric titles; Hank answers a viewer question asked in the title's words. Could I Spare some Change for Gas? 00:01:36
2020-07-31 variation The title, the next line of All Star after recent titles, continues the All Star lyric titles. Your Brain Gets Smart, but Your Head Gets Dumb
2020-08-03 variation The title, the next line of All Star after recent titles, continues the All Star lyric titles. you're bundled up now? wait till you get older.
2020-08-07 variation The title, the next line of All Star after recent titles, continues the All Star lyric titles, echoed in Hank's remark about mean critics calling you a loser. Her Finger and Her Thumb in the Shape of an 'L' on Her Forehead
2020-08-11 variation The title continues the All Star lyric titles with the next line of the song. never get bored
2020-08-14 variation The title Hit The Ground Running continues the All Star lyric titles, echoed in Hank's line that you hit the ground running. Hit The Ground Running 00:00:00
2020-08-14 callback Told by a commenter, apropos of nothing, that they still like the song All Star, Hank replies he's not sure why they brought it up but feels the same way. (playful) Hit The Ground Running
2020-08-18 variation The title 'what's wrong with taking the back streets?' continues the All Star lyric titles. what's wrong with taking the back streets?
2020-08-18 callback Told the title is bad, John says he also hates this title thing, but they are 85% through the nightmare and, as Hank said on Friday, they are not giving up now. (playful) what's wrong with taking the back streets?
2020-08-21 variation The title The Water's Getting Warm continues the All Star lyric titles. The Water's Getting Warm
2020-08-25 variation The title, the opening line of All Star, continues the All Star lyric titles; John echoes it in his remark on how many sentences begin with what someone told us, and in comments plays innocent about where the titles come from. Somebody once told me… 00:00:00
2020-08-28 variation The title continues the All Star lyric titles; it is echoed in Hank's point that idols did not follow existing paths but created them. Break the Mold 00:01:56
2020-09-01 variation The title continues the All Star lyric titles with the next line of the song. get the show on
2020-09-01 callback John says 'I have a new book coming out' would make a great title if he hadn't made an absurd, increasingly ridiculous title commitment several months ago. (playful) get the show on 00:00:00
2020-09-04 variation The title continues the All Star lyric title bit with the next line of the song. Go Play!
2020-09-08 variation The title continues the All Star lyric titles with the next line of the song, echoed in the Wimbledon fans' chant about the way to Plough Lane. That's the way.
2020-09-11 variation The title continues the All Star lyric titles with the next line of the song, echoed in Hank's closing line about not wanting to know what happens if you don't go. If you don't go…
2020-09-11 callback In a comment John plays innocent about the All Star titles, but says if he and Hank had a stupid project they could not escape, they would keep a shared Google doc full of highlighting and exasperated comments. (playful) If you don't go…
2020-09-15 variation The title All That Glitters Is Gold continues the All Star lyric titles, and the video is about that lyric. All That Glitters Is Gold
2020-09-15 callback John says he has been thinking a lot about the lyric 'all that glitters is gold' for roughly the last 21 weeks. (playful, hedged) All That Glitters Is Gold 00:00:00
2020-09-18 variation The title They Say it Gets Colder continues the All Star lyric titles, echoed in Hank's line that above Venus's surface, they say it gets colder. They Say it Gets Colder 00:00:58
2020-09-22 variation The title the world is gonna roll me continues the All Star lyric titles, echoed in John's line that sometimes it really does feel like the world is gonna roll him. the world is gonna roll me 00:00:00
2020-09-25 variation The title i said yep continues the All Star lyric titles, echoed in Hank's line that when John asked him to do this in 2007, he said yep. i said yep 00:01:19
2020-09-29 variation The title How 'bout Yours? continues the All Star lyric titles, echoed in John's line 'My bridge is terrifying. How 'bout yours?' How 'bout Yours? 00:01:32
2020-10-02 (said on 2020-10-01, implied) retired Hank celebrates that after five months of titles taken only from Smash Mouth's All Star, with this not-great title they have used every word in the song. (playful) I ain't she was with well and I so and it's and but so and I'll and 00:00:00
2020-10-02 (said on 2020-10-01, implied) variation The description says this title is the leftover interstitial bits of All Star not yet used in Vlogbrothers titles, so they are done; Pizzamas begins next week (week of 5 October 2020). (playful) I ain't she was with well and I so and it's and but so and I'll and video description
2020-10-05 callback In a P.S., John says Hank's video on the All Star project left out that it was inspired by YouTube comments, especially one from Maddie. → refers to I ain't she was with well and I so and it's and but so and I'll and Thank God It's Over and PIZZAMAS IS HERE!!!!!!! 00:03:18
2020-10-07 (said on 2020-10-06, implied) callback John notes Hank's recent video alluded to their decision a couple of years ago to stop maximizing views, which informed five months of titles from a 'not very good' 19-year-old pop song. (playful) → refers to I ain't she was with well and I so and it's and but so and I'll and The Golden Age of Vlogbrothers 00:00:29
2022-09-30 callback John calls the brothers' decision to use every word of All Star's lyrics as video titles stupid, but says requiring commitment to the bit made it kind of beautiful. (playful) COMMIT TO THE BIT 00:01:10
2023-05-23 callback John enjoyed a Tumblr post wondering which line of All Star Hank would have used as a title had this happened in the Vlogbrothers All Star era; John guesses Hank would pick an abstract one. (playful) Rough Week 00:00:29

Dates are upload dates, which set the order. Where the speaker gives a different recording date in the video, it is added as "said on YYYY-MM-DD, implied" (derived from the date said in the video).

What is said about it

25 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).

  • 2020-04-21 · hey now — John says one of The Hits played Smash Mouth's All Star, the song that has obsessed Hank for decades. — 00:01:27
  • 2020-04-21 · hey now — John recalls Hank once very seriously proposing a 478-part video series analysing each of the 478 shots in the All Star music video. (playful) — 00:01:27
  • 2020-04-21 · hey now — John says Hank is on record calling the internet's remixing and reimagining of All Star one of his favourite things about online culture. — 00:01:27
  • 2020-04-21 · hey now — John says All Star and the internet's responses are the ultimate marriage of the sublime and the ridiculous, and much of their brotherhood has been about sharing places where silliness meets wonder. — 00:01:56
  • 2020-05-19 · Didn't Make Sense Not to Live for Fun — John thinks All Star might be a song about celebrity by people who didn't not want fame, which isn't quite wanting it; if so, its lyric is a great double negative. (hedged) — 00:03:24
  • 2020-06-02 · --- — John apologizes for pausing the brothers' silly title bit because he is immensely sad today. — 00:00:00
  • 2020-06-09 · i could use a little fuel myself — announcement: John says YouTube asked him weeks ago to join its Class of 2020 celebration; he shares his video to encourage students, teachers and anyone, since we could all use a little fuel. — 00:00:00
  • 2020-06-16 (said on 2020-06-07, implied) · a cool place — John: From the White River in Indianapolis, John kayaks to a cool place almost nobody knows about, to show it to Hank. — 00:00:00
  • 2020-07-14 · The ice we skate is getting pretty thin. — John: Thin ice has become such a cliche that we forget how terrifying it is: gliding from shore ever less sure the ground will hold, which John finds a fair metaphor for 2020. — 00:00:00
  • 2020-07-21 · Somebody Once Asked . . . — John: Asked his favorite line of All Star, John says it is weird that people keep asking him about this 19-year-old pop song, then names a favorite line. (playful, hedged) — 00:00:58
  • 2020-08-14 · Hit The Ground Running — Hank describes deciding to do a thing and loving it at first: its greatness fills your tank so you hit the ground running and sprint for weeks or months without questioning it. — 00:00:00
  • 2020-08-14 · Hit The Ground Running — Hank: When the fuel runs out or the world changes annoyingly, you may have to decide, even three quarters through, whether to keep going; continuing is the default, so stopping is hard. — 00:00:29
  • 2020-08-25 · Somebody once told me… — John says humans trust information from people they trust, which is why so many sentences start with what someone told us; online this rumor- and anecdote-driven sorting runs wild. — 00:00:00
  • 2020-08-28 · Break the Mold — Hank's lesson about dreams: we can only dream what we've seen, so we want to walk our idols' paths, forgetting that they didn't follow paths but created them. — 00:01:56
  • 2020-09-15 · All That Glitters Is Gold — John notes the lyric 'all that glitters is gold' appears in Led Zeppelin's 1971 Stairway to Heaven and reappears years later in Smash Mouth's All Star. — 00:00:00
  • 2020-09-15 · All That Glitters Is Gold — John says when Smash Mouth repurposed the lyric 28 years later, it seems to be just about rock-star life: you get the show on, you get paid. — 00:01:56
  • 2020-09-25 · i said yep — Hank reflects that we don't know what we sign up for: John asked him to do this in 2007, he said yep, and here they are in 2020. — 00:01:19
  • 2020-09-29 · How 'bout Yours? — John says the true observation is never 'this bridge is terrifying'; all you can say with certainty is 'my bridge is terrifying. How about yours?' — 00:01:32
  • 2020-10-02 (said on 2020-10-01, implied) · I ain't she was with well and I so and it's and but so and I'll and — Hank says being done feels good; it means nothing, but they assigned value to it and he is amazed and proud of them. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • 2020-10-02 (said on 2020-10-01, implied) · I ain't she was with well and I so and it's and but so and I'll and — Hank says they began the idea on April 21, 2020, as everyone was getting used to a big deal changing their lives for a long time. — 00:00:32
  • 2020-10-02 (said on 2020-10-01, implied) · I ain't she was with well and I so and it's and but so and I'll and — Hank says the first reason was that constraint is inspiring: not every constraint, but adding constraints can juice up the creative process. — 00:01:01
  • 2020-10-02 (said on 2020-10-01, implied) · I ain't she was with well and I so and it's and but so and I'll and — Hank says the more important reason was that both brothers wanted to prove they really don't want to grow the channel anymore; saying it differs from enacting a policy that limits growth. — 00:01:30
  • 2020-10-02 (said on 2020-10-01, implied) · I ain't she was with well and I so and it's and but so and I'll and — Hank says that although they gave up titling their videos, the channel's audience has not fallen at all over the last five months. — 00:02:44
  • 2020-10-05 · Thank God It's Over and PIZZAMAS IS HERE!!!!!!! — John: Five months ago, on John's video Hey Now, Maddie commented that Hank should title his next video You're an All Star and use the rest of the lyrics as titles, calling it Vlogbrothers 2.0 nonsense. — 00:03:18
  • 2020-10-05 · Thank God It's Over and PIZZAMAS IS HERE!!!!!!! — John thanks Maddie and the others who made similar comments, adding that you never know when you will change the world with a YouTube comment. — 00:03:18