The song “Star Wars” by a capella group Moosebutter is nearly a decade old, but it’s suddenly becoming a hit thanks to the popular YouTube video “Star Wars - an a capella tribute to John Williams,” which has been showcased everywhere from StarWars.com to an NBC affiliate in Atlanta. The problem with the new video is that it makes its star, paid YouTuber Corey Vidal, seem like he’s the one responsible for both the song and its performance. He does give credit to Moosebutter, whose permission he received prior to making his clip, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. How many viewers actually read the info about the videos they watch on YouTube?
Okay, so Vidal’s lip-syncing is entertaining, but I also thought it was him singing — all four parts — and so initially was impressed by that. Otherwise his talent is merely good memorization skills and simple composite editing. And for that he’s gotten 1.4 million views. In response, the guys from Moosebutter have put up a video of themselves, minus one member, performing the song live in 2005. That’s the clip I’m featuring instead of Vidal’s, and here’s hoping that it gets at least half the views as the clip that’s getting all the fame.
And now I’ll say what I have to about the song: it’s kind of like the recently showcased clip of Shia LaBeouf being inserted into all of Spielberg’s earlier films. I think it might now be hard to listen to any of Williams’ scores without thinking of how Star Wars dialogue and plot points might be used as lyrics to the themes. Just as I’d love to see more of the Shia stuff, I’d love for Moosebutter to have a go at the tons of other Williams compositions from the past 30 years.
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