July 30: Mystery Lyrics and Paying Rent

2007-07-30 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:34 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Projects (also: Personal life) · mode: Personal update · tags: song or performance, community lore

Hank celebrates paying rent because the new owner of the house he rents will keep him as a tenant, then tells how, looking for paper to write down new lyrics at 3 a.m., he found song lyrics he had already written and forgotten.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting flubbed ('Julia'); Monday means paying rent

00:00:45 — Hank's rented house was for sale; the new owner will keep him as a tenant, so paying rent is exciting

• ★★★ Hank's rented house was for sale and, on a month-to-month lease, a buyer could have evicted him; the new owner will keep them as tenants, so paying rent is exciting. — 00:00:45

00:01:10 — Next video is Wednesday, so a song; busy with responses to Accio Deathly Hallows; a nerdfighter's crest; songwriting after too many Cokes

• ★★ Because Hank's video is on Monday, his next video falls on a Wednesday, which means it will be a song. — 00:01:10 · Song Wednesday

• ★★ Hank has been concentrating on Accio Deathly Hallows, checking video responses, reading comments and answering messages; he apologises to those he hasn't answered and promises he will. — 00:01:10

  “Sorry if I haven't responded to you yet. I will. I promise.”

• ★ Hank shows an awesome nerdfighting crest a nerdfighter created. — 00:01:10 · Nerdfighteria

00:01:59 — The mystery lyrics: already-written, forgotten lyrics found on the pad under the phone

• ★★★ Unsure how his songwriting works, Hank got up at 3 a.m. to write down new lyrics and found, on the pad under the phone, lyrics he had written before and forgotten. (playful) — 00:01:59

00:02:50 — Lyrics may be used someday; song ideas from viewers help (the Harry Potter song was a commenter's idea); thanks to Coca-Cola; song ready Wednesday; sign-off

• ★ Hank says the found lyrics may end up in a song someday, but probably not in Wednesday's. (hedged) — 00:02:50
• ★★ Hank says viewers' ideas for song topics are helpful: writing a song about Harry Potter was not his idea but a commenter's or forum member's, whom he thanks. — 00:02:50 · Harry Potter (book series), Brotherhood 2.0 forum
• ★ Hank thinks he will have a song ready on Wednesday. (hedged) — 00:03:19

Humor (significant)

• Hank keeps flubbing the date in his greeting. — 00:00:15

  “It always came out sounding like Julia.”

• Hank reads the forgotten lyrics he found, not knowing their tune. — 00:02:28

  “If I could, I would eat you, like a five-year-old eats glue.”

• Hank reflects on having got out of bed to write these lyrics down. — 00:02:50

  “worth getting up out of bed and writing down and then promptly forgetting.”

• Hank thanks Coca-Cola Classic like a sponsor for helping him write songs. — 00:03:19

  “and keeping me up until 5 o'clock in the morning.”

Threads in this video

• update · Hank's rented house goes up for sale (2007) — Hank reports that his rented house, which he and John had been discussing because it was for sale, has a new owner who is happy to keep him as a tenant. (00:00:45)
• promised · Hank: respond to everyone's messages about Accio Deathly Hallows (2007) — Hank apologises to people whose messages about the song he hasn't answered yet and promises he will respond. (00:01:10)
• told · Hank finds forgotten song lyrics under his phone (2007) — Hank tells how he got up at 3 a.m. to write down lyrics and found lyrics he had already written and forgotten on the pad under the phone. (00:01:59)
• looked back · Hank's song 'Accio Deathly Hallows' (2007) — Hank says writing a song about Harry Potter was not his own idea but a suggestion from someone in the comments or the forum, and thanks whoever suggested it first. (00:02:50)

Where the stories that moved here went next

• Hank: respond to everyone's messages about Accio Deathly Hallows (2007) — open (no report in 2007–2026); last: promised, 2007-07-30
• Hank's rented house goes up for sale (2007) — told 2×, last update 2007; last: retold, 2007-08-03

Mentioned

Accio Deathly Hallows · Brotherhood 2.0 forum · Coca-Cola · Harry Potter (book series) · Song Wednesday

← Previous: July 27: How Nerdfighters Drop Insults · Next → July 31: HP, Secret Siblings, and Books