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Steve Jobs and a Song

2011-10-07 · song · Hank · 3:47 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Philosophy & meaning · mode: Personal essay · tags: song or performance, timely hook

Hank sings a song, built on a loop of his own mouth sounds, saying ordinary acts are how people give to the world and nobody does it all alone; then, after Steve Jobs's death, he argues that not being special is normal and necessary, and that maybe we just have to be good.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Intro (a song written to a loop of Hank's mouth sounds); greeting; the song: giving to the world through ordinary acts, nobody does it all alone

  • ★★ Hank introduces a song written to a loop made from sounds he made with his mouth. — 00:00:02
  • ★★ In the song Hank says everyday acts like making a meal are his way of giving to the world, and he would rather sing than give people soda. — 00:00:26

  • ★★★ The song says there is so much to be done and many people to do it; it can be hard, but together we get through it, because nobody does it all alone. — 00:01:14 · collective action

    “No one does it all alone, nobody does it all alone.”

00:02:06 — Thanks to the hundreds who made beats with his mouth sounds at star.me; why the video is black and white

  • ★★ Hank thanks the hundreds of people who made beats from his mouth sounds at star.me, and says viewers can still do it via the link in the description. — 00:02:06
  • ★ Hank made this video in black and white to do something different, and so viewers wouldn't see the natural colour of his teeth. (playful) — 00:02:17

00:02:23 — The song is about not being special: ordinary things like caring for kids and emptying septic tanks make the world work

  • ★★★ Hank says the song is about not being special, which is not only really normal but also really necessary and really wonderful. — 00:02:23
  • ★★★ Hank says the normal everyday things, like taking care of kids, emptying septic tanks, learning, having fun and being silly, are what make the world work. — 00:02:34

00:02:45 — Steve Jobs, one of Hank's heroes, has died; he made the brothers' work possible; the world is less good without him; maybe we don't have to be special, just good; sign-off

  • ★★★ Hank reports that Steve Jobs, one of the most special people of his generation and one of Hank's personal heroes, died a couple of days ago. — 00:02:45
  • ★★ Hank says it is risky to talk about someone right after they die, since we inflate their importance, but he finds it hard to imagine inflating Steve Jobs's. — 00:02:54
  • ★★★ Hank says Steve Jobs made what the brothers do possible: from their first computer, the Apple IIe their dad got, to the computers bought in 2007 for this project and all their editing software. — 00:03:03 · Mike Green, Brotherhood 2.0
  • ★★ Hank says the brothers are in the very not-unique situation of having a job that depended on Steve Jobs's existence. — 00:03:16
  • ★★★ Hank didn't know Steve Jobs, only his creations, but through them Jobs made his life better, and Hank thinks the world is less good without him. — 00:03:22
  • ★★★ Hank suggests the goal may be for the world to be less good without us at the end of our lives; if so, maybe we don't have to be special to be like Steve Jobs, just good. (hedged) — 00:03:34

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Hank's song 'If I had a dollar bill' · Steve Jobs

Also: Apple IIe · Brotherhood 2.0 · collective action · Mike Green

Only in the description or credits: star.me

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