Edward Anatolevich Hill

Update, 11 March, 2010. Because this trifle of a post has been receiving roughly 100 times more hits than all of the rest of my blog's rich offerings combined, I thought I would take this opportunity to encourage those of you who end up here to take the time to look around a bit.

I have to say I am a bit dismayed by the suggestibility of the great numbers of people with a sudden interest in Eduard Khil'. Yes, he is remarkable, but there is so much non-viral stuff out there that is equally remarkable, and that could just as easily have ended up making the masses 'lol', or exclaim 'wtf'. Why wait for the approval of others to go have a look at it?

I am also dismayed by the law-like correlation between meme status, on the one hand, and the inanity of the level of commentary on the other. To riff on the line by which Jonathan Franzen so successfully alienated Oprah and her followers, I consider this blog, though only a blog, to be a serious endeavor, and one much more rooted in textual than in oral culture. Yet is not the bulk of what transpires on the internet a result of the awkward attempt of people who otherwise would not be writing words at all to express themselves through the mediation of a keyboard?  

Please, if you end up here, don't just 'lol' at Ed Khil' and then move on. Think of something insightful to say. Say it with care. Then have a look around at all that jehsmith.com has to offer.

*

Some things seem so odd, so completely insolite, that in coming across them one can only assume that they are completely without historical precedent, that they exist outside of all tradition. Consider this, for example:

The man singing is Edward Hill, also known as Eduard Khil', or, better yet, Эдуард Хиль. According to his Russian Wikipedia page, Hill was born in Smolensk in 1934, and finished his studies at the Leningrad Conservatory in 1960. By 1974 he had been named a People's Artist of the USSR, and in 1981 he was awarded the Order of the Friendship of Peoples. He is best known for his interpretations of the songs of the Soviet composer, Arkadii Ostrovskii. As for the peculiar name, I could find no information, but imagine that he is descended from the English elite that had established itself in western Russian cities by the 17th century. He is not a defector of the Lee Harvey Oswald generation. He is entirely Russian.

The song he is interpreting, "I Am So Happy to Finally Be Back Home," is an Ostrovskii composition, and it is meant to be sung in the vokaliz style, that is to say sung, but without words. I have seen a number of comments online, ever since a flurry of interest in Hill began just a few days ago, to the effect that this routine must have been meant as a critique of Soviet censorship, but in fact vokaliz was a well established genre, one that seems close in certain respects to pantomime.

Recent interest in Hill has to do with the perceived strangeness, the uncanniness, the surreal character of this performance. There is indeed something uncanny about a lip-synch to a song with no words, and his waxed face and hair helmet certainly do not carry over well. But once one does a bit of research, one learns that the number was not conceived out of some desire to cater to the so-bad-it's-good tastes of the Western YouTube generation, but in fact was meant to please --to genuinely please-- Soviet audiences who were capable of placing this routine, this man, and this song into a familiar context. The audiences would recognize, for example, that the same number had been performed by the Azerbaidzhani singer Muslim Magomaev in a film from the early 1960s, The Blue Spark:

One thing to notice is that, in spite of the absence of text, and of the fact that he is clearly lip-synching, there is nothing at all uncanny about Magomaev's version. It is a perfectly standard musical number from that era. So whatever it is that makes Hill so remarkable has to lie elsewhere than in what he has inherited from Ostrovskii and Magomaev, and what Soviet audiences would recognize as linking him to them. These other elements are the hair, the eyebrows, the elbows (I first decided to learn Russian when I became frustrated with the number of times the translator of my edition of War and Peace resorted to the phrase 'arms akimbo': surely, I thought, Russia can't really be a place where people so regularly resort to so special a posture). Still other elements are the set, the lighting, the quality of the color film: musical productions from the early 1960s still look charming and comforting; the same songs interpreted 15 years later often seem like perversions of the original. Hill's version seems nothing if not perverse, but what a bit of contextualization helps us to see is that this is not at all the result of his own innate weirdness, or of the innate absurdity of the song he has undertaken to sing.

About 90% of the recent commentary on Hill's performance maintains that it is so bad it's good, while the remaining 10% maintains that it is, simply, good. To my mind, if there is a stroke of brilliance in this performance, it is the genial wave Hill gives to the audience as he exits whence he came. He bids farewell as if we have just experienced something genuine together. But what could that have been? He hasn't even said anything. I thought here of Tolstoy's cranky reaction to the Moscow debut of Wagner's Ring Cycle, in his incredible work, What Is Art? Echoing a concern about what it is that art is supposed to do, raised already by Pascal (who encourages readers of poetry to imagine a state of affairs in which a person actually has the properties a poet attributes to them, e.g., a girl who actually has cherries instead of lips), Tolstoy wants to know why those people on the stage are singing instead of talking if what art is meant to do is to capture something real about human experience, and why, once we reduce their sung words to their mere content, we should be at all interested in what they have to say (mostly childish fantasy stuff about forest spirits and valkyries). 

Hill hasn't said anything, yet he bids farewell as if he has. What bit of reality is this meant to reproduce? What kind of perversion of that original reality does it involve? It's hard to react like Pascal or Tolstoy, since the art hasn't told us anything about the reality that's been transfigured. One can only say, in the manner of a YouTube commenter, WTF. Magomaev never invites you to say this. His interpretation makes perfect sense: he is a man in a night club enjoying himself, so much so that he feels inspired to use his very voice as a musical instrument. Hill is doing something altogether different. 

[H/t Jeff Surak]

Comments

[John Ballard]

Thanks for this. I must confess my own initial WTF reaction was as shallow as most of the comments left at 3Q and You Tube. It's easy to be condescending from a distance, especially when you stand among a crowd of equally ignorant peers.

Reading your commentary I am reminded of a contemporary Polish singer, Maryla Radowisc, whom I discovered two or three years ago very much by accident. She must have a big fan base at home because You Tube videos are uploaded weekly, despite her years (60+).

The genre is very different but the her Wielka Woda video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmzzhpfmzOk) stands as a contemporary testimony to how wide cultural gulfs can yawn. The joyous audience response to her singing makes anyone want to be there. And from what little I have read, the tune has historic roots as organic in her setting as those of Edward Hill in his. The neat part is that she is contemporary and effervescent.

[Leon Garcia G.]

I see this clip as a wonderful sample of Soviet musical kitsch, precisely because, as you state, both the singer and his audience earnestly enjoyed the number. Only our sense of irony may alchemically transmute it as "art."
The easy sentimentality of the arrangement reflects very well the ethos of the Brezhnevian era: hell hidden behind pastel tones. Kitsch is the soul of totalitarianism, as some theorists have posited. Then again, I can readily see how close in spirit and style this production is to the Lawrence Welk show. (Does Welk and his audience represent as well the possibility of a metaphysical American totalitarianism?) It would be interesting to find out to what extent the Soviet TV producers of the era learned from their Western counterparts.
These performances obliterate the tragic sense of life. They show that a caramelized paradise is possible, and that reality can be esthetically abolished, to the astonishment of rebels the world over.

[Nick D]

I think it's just good. I think it's all to do with the Grain of the Voice, and the pleasures thereof. To paraphrase a lot of opera studies stuff: it's not about the text; it's about the voice. (It's the music, stupid!). I guess part of the 'uncanniness' is to do with a classically trained voice being used in a TV context. But I think we get the something of that feeling with any operatic singing. The operatic voice itself IS uncanny. It's to do with the bodily resonance of the sound (which the Grain of the Voice thing is about).

[J.]

Awesomeness.

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/im-sorry-i-cant-hear-you-over-the-sound-of-how-awesome-i-am

[Leon Garcia G.]

The pleasures thereof of Kitsch are so much more interesting than just good. (It's the performance, stupid!)

[Izabella]

Justin, the Maryla Rodowicz video you want is this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D_ey4XKVIg

I grew up in Poland and remember when that song was a hit. It was indeed popular there, at least among some audiences. The genre has since evolved into something called disco polo - low-brow and proud of it.

But then there's also this. No joke here, or at least none on the performers. It's an obvious parody of the genre; it also has a political subtext that's basically incomprehensible to an uninformed observer. Seeing as you have been posting Ceaucescu videos and other such, you might enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiNr0zvX_cQ

Poland does have very good rock, jazz and alternative music, and has had it at last since the early 80s. Much of it is political and context-dependent, but there's plenty that could well appeal to Western audiences if translated and advertised appropriately, which to the best of my knowledge has never happened. Obviously, that audience does not intersect much with disco polo fans.

[Nick D]

Just to be clear: I did not mean to imply that anyone was actually stupid (I don't think of comments as replies to previous comments, and it was just a lazy re-use of Clinton's phrase). And yes, you're totally right, LGG, it's the performance. By saying 'music' I really meant 'the sound': I just wanted to draw attention to the actual voice in that performance, which is surely a big part of the performance, and yet it seems to be something people don't like to talk about.

[John Ballard]

Izabella, great link!
I saw it once and failed to bookmark it. This time I didn't make the same mistake.

BTW, my link above to Weilka Woda is broken.
I shouldn't have used parenthesis. This should work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmzzhpfmzOk

I'm a complete ignoramus about this music but I can tell when it makes people happy and communicates unalloyed joy. That's why I like it. Perhaps you can add more...

[Leon Garcia G.]

You're right Nick- and I understood the allusion to Clinton's campaign blackboard (Jim Carville's, right?), so I just joined into the laziness...
E.A. Hill's voice is amazing, the man is a true virtuoso, and the performance is perversely enjoyable: that's why we're all here.
(And I can see why the song was a big hit: the tune really sticks to the brain!)
¡Salud y paz!
:·)

[Izabella]

Well, let's go deep roots here. This goes way, way back...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETnZ66yB6hI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWtvZMR4XGU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsGBr46em60

[John Ballard]

Wow! Better than a box of chocolate.
Thanks.
I was born fifty years too late...

[njurkowski]

Interesting analysis. You mentioned the setting, and his genial wave to the audience, but one of the truly odd things to my mind is how there clearly isn't an actual audience. He's acting as though there is one. Similarly, there aren't real words, but he's presenting the text as though he's saying something.

This contrasts with Magomaev's performance, which is believable in part because we can see other people. Wordless song isn't unheard of, and scatting in nightclubs is pretty recognized.

Hill's performance is a caricature of a performance, accentuating the purely physical, performative aspects of song (melody, gesture, presence), but missing some of the communicative particulars that we might consider integral to the performance of song (lyrics, audience). Individually, these particulars wouldn't be so striking, but combined, they amount to, as you say, a truly uncanny approach.

[matt]

linked to you, ta
http://www.izo.com/2010/03/on-the-lip-syncing-of-eduard-khil-j-e-h-smith-with-youtube-videohill-hasnt-said-anything-yet-he-bids-farewell-as-if-he-h.html

[Genetically Diff]

Don't forget to join the group on facebook
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[Patrick Murtha]

Another difference is that there is something quite disturbing about Mr. Hill's manic look, while Mr. Magomaev is, on the other hand, a total babe -- Rat Pack hot.

[Justin E. H. Smith]

Thanks for that much-needed perspective, Patrick. I seem to have inadvertently contributed to E. A. Hill's transformation into an internet meme, which displeases me a bit. But the pleasure I get at the thought of Muslim Magomaev's parallel transformation into a gay icon certainly compensates for that.

[BetterThanYouWusses]

This guy is crap. Maybe learn to sing with some words. Even Russian words would be nice. I've hummed better songs in the shower than this.

BetterThanYouWusses out.

[Michael Ellis]

More awesomeness, ruined by knowledge. Why do we have to know why the cheese smells? It just does. Trolololo 4 life.

[locopuff]

Thank you for all of this great information :D My friend sent Edward Hill's video to me and I've listened to it on repeat for the past hour :D

[Wisehymer]

Why try to decode Tolstoy's ink smears on paper? Why is what the singers are speaking any more important then the melody without the distraction of words?

[Chris M]

To me the London after midnight quality to his grin gives the video a surreal quality but the vocalizations are amazing. Its not so bad its good, it is good while not fitting comfortably within our "normal" expectations.

[SBD]

Edward Hill, or Эдуард Хиль for friends is still going strong!

This extraordinary artist is as a victim of forced lobotomy in the Soviet Union in the late fifties a medical wonder. His symptoms are unprecedented. Up to some 30 years ago, he could not talk, being only able to express himself with the utterances: 'lolololo' and 'ahihihi'. Other symptoms include exaggerated facial expressions and a glazed look, which led to distrust and fear amongst his friends and family.

Now, extensive musical therapy has radically improved his condition. When a big band starts to play, he completely lights up. Now, 30 plus years later, he can generate full sentences, aided by music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuVlhT4-n3A

Here Эдуард gives a 'musical interview', the only way to gain access to his inner world. From the moment the wicked Drum and Bass beat kicks in, his transformation is striking. Furthermore, this interview show one of the rare examples of Эдуард actively engaging another person in his world, a first step towards human interaction.

[Eric (aka faltarego)]

I saw the "Trololololololo..." video via a friend's Facebook link and found it the most annoying thing I'd seen in years. I watched it with a mixture of awe and horror. Oddly, however, it left me wanting to know who this singer was, and so I proceeded to Google for further information. Imagine my amazement when I found this page, which contains not only a very intelligent and thoughtful article, but actual intelligent, thoughtful comments as well. Mind = blown. (But where'd that lobotomy stuff come from?)

[Mike Zarnock]

I actually thought it was animatronics, a new feature at Disney.... I did not think for a second that it was a real person....

[Jeff W]

Chris M nailed it - "London After Midnight". Exactly.

[Pawel]

Iza, Justin,
I wouldn't call Kazik a parody of the genre. The song was recorded on album titled "Kazik's Dad". And it was more like a tribute to the songs people used to play in the streets to earn some money from passer-byes. Indeed the music of those years was a simplification aimed at masses - but is it very much different from pop culture and britney spears (at least in its basis)? something to keep masses occupied and happy.
here's another example you may like - Jerzy Połomski.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfbKMnALCrs
You can observe how people enjoy his show.
The thing rarely mentioned is that singers such as Rodowicz were the regime's puppets. She allegedly used to sleep with Cyrankiewicz - prime minister during years of comunism in Poland, was promoted by him and gained a lot of popularity thanks to his protection.

[fandorin]

his name is spanish, as he revealed in an interview

http://www.krestianin.ru/articles/10607.php

great thoughts...

one of the 10% :D

[Videomartyr.blogspot.com]

I wonder what an unfamiliar audience (maybe even a Russian one) would think if they saw a Bobby McFerrin video that was slightly out of sync?

This is a great example of a "new" experience. Familiar on some levels yet so different on others, it is like being on a roller-coaster unveiled for the first ride. You don't know where it's going to go, and you can't decide (even in the first 10 seconds) whether to enjoy it or leap out before it's too late.

This song does stay with you, for its quality, mystery, and complete WTF-ness about it.

Awesomeness is still the best one word comment for it.

www.videomartyr.blogspot.com

[Skipper]

Thank you for researching and posting this Justin, you've shed some insight on an otherwise mysterious cultural phenomenon (at least for me).

Your analysis inspired me to write the performance "lyrics": http://www.thoughtskipper.com/2010/03/what-do-you-mean-hes-not-singing-just.html

And the sing-along version here: ;-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z4m4lnjxkY

[rolly baldes]

Edward Hill reminds me of the guy in the viagra commercials...lol

[shinyman]

TROLOLOLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Todd Gack]

I think almost any Australian of a certain age who watches Edward Hill will be reminded,consciously or unconsciously, of Bob Downe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsV8N55C3MQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=VzDBz3WKIvY&feature=related

The haircair products, the eerie smile and expression, the walk-in, the interaction with the camera, and (in the first clip from 2:50) earnest yet lyric-less singing.

The only added elements for me in Bob Downe's performances are camp and irony.

[j]

Have any of you eagle-eyed observers noticed the resemblance with the mystery man in David Lynch's Lost Highway? There is a intimately knowing look in the singer's eyes that signals to the viewers his own awareness of the artificiality of his performance, rendering the viewer claustrophobically complicit in this knowledge -- herein lies the uncanny effect in my view -- the viewer's insistence/perception of the knowingness of the agent who produces a remarkable effect. The presence of the audience in the earlier version renders that other performance utterly quotidian by contrast.

[aungsung ngan lee]

fucking brilliant

[Allie]

It's his mannerisms, facial expressions and, okay, hair that make this funny to me. I can't get enough of the song.

[Marklemagne]

The reaction to the viral video is one reason I try not to have a tie on when someone takes my picture. Out of context we all look and sound ridiculous. Thanks for helping me put this into perspective.

[Wayne Barker]

Both renditions employ the same musical arrangement, do they not? So there's a story behind the story.

[Dah]

My first impression on seeing this was that it was taken from a Soviet version of the Lawrence Welk Show. So, someone ought to go back and analyze the embalmed-in-sugar mannequin performances of old standards on Lawrence Welk, because they strove for much the same effect as this number does.

In other words, I think you haven't exactly stumbled upon anything unique here.

[Romanos]

I am extremely fond of reading and whenever I got interested in some book, I opened a http://www.pdfqueen.com books search engine, found the book I needed and downloaded it. But as it turned out, in the journals and articles one can sometimes find the info he/she failed to find in the book. Thus can say that from time to time such articles as yours are a very pleasant surprise for me!

[Nikolay]

Эдуард Хиль (not Хилл, so not Hill, but probably Khil; however if he has English roots, then Hill) was actually always treated in the Soviet Union as a bit weird singer. And he was a source for many jokes. But he obviously has a nice voice and may of his songs were extremely popular.
This song was definitely not the most well-known work of Khil for Soviet audience. Just a joke song, recorded in the ancient 1966 or when it was...
I really couldn't understand why it became so popular these days. Looks like I don't feel the modern world very good...

[Nikolay]

That's interesting. He says in the interview that his surname is spanish and the same as in Tirso de Molina's hero from "don Gil de las calzas verdes". So the correct latin transcription is Eduard Gil. :)

[Andy]

After watching another of Hill's performances ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R82_J7LB66o ) and the Muslim Magomaev clip, it's clear that the magic of this video is the combination of Hill's perma-grin and the surreality of the vokaliz style.

Had I not been told otherwise, I would have just assumed that this video was from the Lawrence Welk show. It would have fit in well there.

[will friedwald]

does anyone know if Mr. Hill (Comrade Hill?) is still alive?

Has he been told of the stir he's causing in the west?

What is his reaction?

Anyone with any info on how to reach him is invited to write me at will-friedwald@nyc.rr.com.

[Vlad Patryshev]

Well, as someone who enjoyed both this song and the artist at the times when it was totally new (and pretty popular), I'd say thank you guys for the recognition; he is really good, and was recognized by professional musicians back in Leningrad, when he was occasionally singing in Leningrad Capella, at pretty much classical concerts. Just FYI.

[Fofa]

"The Blue Spark" would be "Голубой огонек" which was not a movie, but a late night variety show on Soviet Central TV.

[John]

Justin wrote:

"Please, if you end up here, don't just 'lol' at Ed Khil' and then move on. Think of something insightful to say. Say it with care. Then have a look around at all that jehsmith.com has to offer."

I'm sorry that you feel underappreciated, Justin. You've done a marvelous job of not only informing people of the cultural context of this video, but asking important questions about aesthetics. I commend you for elevating the level of discourse in web culture.

[asfsdf]

lol @ Ed Khil

Get over yourself.

[Justin E. H. Smith]

Thank you, asfdf, for illustrating my point as if on cue.

[XRu]

Having grown up in the Soviet Union in 70s I remember this guy well. He had a beautiful voice but like so many of the old-school Soviet singers wasn't really a "stage performer" - he was a singer, period. Both him and Magomaev looked a bit robotic on stage. Most of Khil's songs were nice and would seem pretty "normal" by Western standards (considering the time period).

[Sergey]

Yesterday Khill said on the "Moscow Echo" Radio broadcast that initially this song had words about a wild west cowboy who returns home to his girlfriend, but soviet censors banned it so it's become a vocaliz.
Khill is alive, he's not on TV or radio nowdays.
As for me, I'm russian, I was always amazed with his face. Android?

[Jay]

ftw!

[Chris Schneider]

When I saw this my first reaction was WTF, because I couldn't determine whether it was a Benny Hill parody or some current Eurotrash broadcast from Macedonia. After reading this blog, I enjoy it now as a rather goofy form of hip, early Sixties Soviet entertainment. Hope to see more of these videos.

[m.R.]

I think it's that his lips don't really change position and that he seems genuinely pleased with himself although he only has a range of about 4 notes plus one high note. Like, "You must agree I am a fabulous person and everyone thinks so." But, it's also good to know that it's a true form of singing like yodeling or jazz numbers. The strangeness of other cultures in a modern context can easily strike one as funny. I don't think anyone is really trying to be shallow, just easily entertained.

[andy]

I'm very impressed with what you had to say about actually adding value. I'm particularly affected because I'm working hard to create valuable content on my own blog, and like you get frustrated that the only way to get attention seems to be to achieve meme status. (Maybe I should try posting funny pictures of cats on my blog?)

Anyway, I would like very much to follow your site, but I can't seem to find a link to an RSS or Twitter feed. If you shoot me an email if and when you have time to set one of those up, you'll have one more subscriber/follower.

[annie]

must words be exchanged in order to experience something genuine?

[whykickamoocow]

the recent interest in Eduard Khil has mostly come from the Wii hacking community.

One of the most respected wii hackers (waninkoko) recently announced that his next modification/hack would incorporate Eduard song in it.
http://twitter.com/hackinblack

[ixobelle]

the whining part in italics at the beginning of the post is priceless.

[Boris Alexandrei Nirvinovitsji]

hi all peoples! this tune is stuck for weeks in my head! i really like it! I like russian 50's and 60's music in general.This is one of the most beautifull songs i;'ve ever heard! thanx to everybody!

[Ray Souza]

I find your over reaction, to the reactions of all the ignorant trolls who have commented on this video, as pointless all the ignorant comments that have preceded it.
You disappoint me Justin...I find you...disappointing.

[Theophila]

The facial expressions that Mr. Hill was using struck me as oddly familiar, I had seen them in an (unrelated?) performance somewhere...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifQK_86Nk-A

Both Mr. Hill's clip and this one give me the off putting sense of how different today's culture is than it was mere decades ago. Strange to have such a similar reaction to such different videos.

[Nick Nicholas]

I'm out of sync with memery, and when I was shown the clip last night, I was declining to laugh precisely because I recognised someone somewhere did used to find this legit entertainment, and I was trying to work out how. (I mentioned Lawrence Welk too.)

I disagree with our host's singling out the wave as incongruous—"Hill hasn't said anything, yet he bids farewell as if he has". The act of musical performance is itself a transaction that he can sign off on, it would be as unexceptional if he'd just played the xylophone. njurkowski hit the nail on the head with the interaction with an absent audience http://www.jehsmith.com/1/2010/02/edward-anatolevich-hill.html?cid=6a00d83453bcda69e201310f49829b970c#comment-6a00d83453bcda69e201310f49829b970c , and XRu with the lack of stage savvy http://www.jehsmith.com/1/2010/02/edward-anatolevich-hill.html?cid=6a00d83453bcda69e201310f9027f1970c#comment-6a00d83453bcda69e201310f9027f1970c —which combined with the visuals our host has pointed out, amp up the WTF to 11.

In fact, what I was reminded of was the weird expressionist caked makeup mannerisms of silent film. Performers not quite cottoned on to our aesthetic of how an actor on screen should look.

[Scott McCullough]

Like many others before me, I stumbled onto your site because of your excellent essay on Eduard Khil. I love the way you critique the Trololo video as a commentary on Brezhnev-era Soviet society.

I've featured your site on my Facebook page and invited others to peruse your online musings.

Thank you for making the Internet a lot more interesting!

[MilagrosAGUIRRE32]

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music is an inspiration for the soul, rejuvenates us, helps us be better. We should make many of our daily tasks to the sound of music

[megadeth costa rica]

music is an inspiration for the soul, rejuvenates us, helps us be better. We should make many of our daily tasks to the sound of music

[Ken]

Thanks for the stern lecture, Justin Erik Halldor Smith, you condescending dick.

[Freedom oy]

Thank you very much for your explanation. I always just assumed that the Communist party didn't approve any of the lyrics so this is what they had left... But that's just me

[jdfeka]

This is one of the most fascinating blogs and discussions which I've run across in a long time of surfing the internet.

I was led to it out of pure curiosity after I saw the video in question and posted a comment "in jest" about whether anyone could provide the lyrics. One of the replies brought me the link which led me here ... I can honestly say that I have never been so richly rewarded by following links provided in comments as I have here.

[sejeelias@gmail.com]

hen er for sej

[Torrent]

I think it's that his lips don't really change position and that he seems genuinely pleased with himself although he only has a range of about 4 notes plus one high note. Like, "You must agree I am a fabulous person and everyone thinks so." But, it's also good to know that it's a true form of singing like yodeling or jazz numbers. The strangeness of other cultures in a modern context can easily strike one as funny. I don't think anyone is really trying to be shallow, just easily entertained.

[Matt]

ha awesome vid..Edward Hill was pretty talented; at first it looks dumb but you can tell he has some skill

[Testking 000-977]

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[mephedrone]

Very good article And very nice videos.It is very interesting post I like it very much.Thanks for sharing it.

[EthanG]

Learning the name of the song took the surrealness of Khil's version to a whole other level for me. "I Am So Happy to Finally Be Back Home". Waxed face, arms akimbo, London after midnight grin (as Chris M delightfully pointed out), and singing about home?!? Wonderful!

[Chicagoland remodeling]

Zest is the secret of all beauty. There is no beauty that is attractive without zest.