Love it or hate it, Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" is an infectious ear worm that will linger in your head for days.
If you haven't heard the song, which is unlikely after it was featured on "The Colbert Report" last week and subsequently went mega-viral, then you probably have some sort of condition.
Daft Punk is a French electronic/dance music duo, known for their propensity to perform wearing robot masks and rarely giving interviews. Consisting of musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, Daft Punk gained notoriety in the late 1990s dance scene after their debut album
"Homework" became an underground hit. 2001's
"Discovery" brought them more popularity and mainstream success and respect across the musical spectrum.
The duo are even featured as playable characters in the 2009 video game 'DJ Hero," and provided most of the music for 2010's
"Tron: Legacy" film(they also make a
cameo in the film itself).
"Get Lucky" was offered as a digital download in April 19, 2013 a week prior to the official release due to the song being leaked, and has garnered massive commercial and critical success. It debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart, and has hit #1 in that category in virtually every country it's been released in. It currently sits at #4 on the "Hot 100."
A collaboration with famed
"Chic" founder Nile Gregory Rodgers and singer/rapper/clothing designer/producer Pharrell Williams of the rap band
N*E*R*D, "Get Lucky" is a disco inspired dance song about "the fortune of instantly connecting with someone," according to Pharrell.
The thing about this song is its amazing internet presence. Within days of the song being released, remixes and covers started showing up everywhere from professionals and amateurs alike. Touring acts started incorporating "Get Lucky" into their set lists almost immediately, and cell-phone videos started popping up on the internet soon thereafter. Daft Punk has released three official videos, but the internet has taken the song into their own hands, and created a bevvy new interpretations as varied as the internet itself.
Daft Punk was scheduled to appear on the August 9th episode of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," as part of "Colbchella '013," but because of inadequately explored reasons that involve the MTV Video Music Awards and exclusivity, even though that isn't a contractual obligation, and MTV and Comedy Central are both owned by Viacom(or something), the band bowed out at the last minute. This forced "The Colbert Report" to come up with something fast and furious to fill the slot, and as necessity is the mother of invention, what they came up with was pure genius:
Colbert talks at great length about the whole situation leading up to this masterpiece on the
"Paul Mecurio Show" podcast, saying that what they came up with was so much fun, that he really didn't care about perceived snub.
But this is not the only thing the internet has to offer regarding "Get Lucky."
First, we have the three videos released by Daft Punk themselves:
Here is an amazing cover by UK artist George Barnett:
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Here is a Vintage Irish waltz version:
Here is an A Cappella Cover with one guy singing each part:
Australian pop group San Cisco:
The Struts:
Here is a super mellow version by Tim Atlas & Daniela Andrade:
And a version in Spanish by Los Cavernas:
There are many, many more covers and remixes out there, with varying degrees of success and listenability, and I invite you to search them out and post them in the comments.
I don't know what it is about this song that has everybody all fired up, but sometimes all you need is a good hook, and a hit is born.
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