Skullcrusher Mountain

From JoCopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search


Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Skullcrusher Mountain
ReleaseWhere Tradition Meets Tomorrow
Length4:16
Release date10-01-2004
Related Pages

Lyrics
Tabs
Videos
Concerts

Other media
{{#song:Skullcrusher+Mountain }}


Demo version: {{#song:Skullcrusher+Mountain+(Demo) }} "Skullcrusher Mountain" is the second track on Jonathan Coulton's second album, Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow. It is one of Jonathan's signature songs.

History[edit]

"Skullcrusher Mountain" was originally written as part of John Hodgman's Little Gray Books Lecture #21, "How To Measure Misunderstood Genius."

Live performance[edit]

"Skullcrusher Mountain" is one of Jonathan's most regularly played songs at his concerts. Occasionally, Jonathan will have the audience sing along with the chorus.

Trivia[edit]

  • JoCo's administrative assistant, Scarface, takes her nickname from the assistant in this song.
  • The "half-monkey, half-pony monster" has inspired many fan creations, including the Travels of Code Monkey 2, where a toy "Ponkey" is mailed from fan to fan and photographed in locations around the world.
  • It was announced at PAX 2008 that "Skullcrusher Mountain" will be available as part of the downloadable three pack "PAX 2008" for Rock Band, the second Jonathan Coulton song available for that game.[1]
  • The end of the chorus was sung a capella by Special Agent Chaz Villette in the sixth episode of Shadow Unit, a web-based collaborative fictional TV series written by several well-known fantasy authors.
  • During its second birthday, MMORPG AdventureQuest Worlds had Jonathan as a cameo NPC who gave out quests at the level Skullcrusher Mountain. The entire level itself is a tribute to the song, including a miniboss named Scarface, and the song plays in the background.
  • There is a quest in World of Warcraft called "Skullcrusher the Mountain". One of the rewards available from the quest is "Coulton's Crushers".
  • A portion of the song is used as the intro/outro of Robert J. Defendi's free audiobook Death by Cliche, released in 2008-09.
  • The song is played as house music prior to performances of Mike Daisey's monologue "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs" at New York's Public Theater in 2012. Although the show has no fixed canonical script, in at least one performance Daisey referred to Apple's engineering staff as mad geniuses who would finally be able to fulfill their plans of combining a monkey with a pony. [2]

Availability[edit]

Downloads[edit]

"Skullcrusher Mountain" is available for purchase in the Jonathan Coulton MP3 Store as an individual track or as part of Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow. Of course, this song is also included as part of the "Everything" playlist.

Downloadable FLAC versions of the above are available in the Jonathan Coulton FLAC Store

CD[edit]

As of February 2008, the CD version of Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow is out of print and is no longer available.

Other versions[edit]

The demo version of "Skullcrusher Mountain" is also available on the MP3 Store as an individual track or as part of Other Experiments. This song is also included as part of the "Everything" playlist.

A karaoke version of "Skullcrusher Mountain" (studio recording version) is available on the Jonathan Coulton Karaoke Store.

One of the more interesting covers was created by the JoCo Forum band "The Mandelbrot Set", the main vocal being narrated and sung by fellow Masters of Song Fu winner Joe "Covenant" Lamb and his daughter Charlotte.

Themes[edit]

Citations[edit]

Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow
1. The Future Soon · 2. Skullcrusher Mountain · 3. I Crush Everything · 4. Betty and Me · 5. Mandelbrot Set
JoCo Looks Back
1. Code Monkey · 2. Ikea · 3. I Feel Fantastic · 4. Mandelbrot Set · 5. Tom Cruise Crazy · 6. Shop Vac · 7. Chiron Beta Prime · 8. I'm Your Moon · 9. My Monkey · 10. Skullcrusher Mountain · 11. I Crush Everything · 12. When You Go · 13. A Talk with George · 14. You Ruined Everything · 15. Creepy Doll · 16. Mr. Fancy Pants · 17. Baby Got Back · 18. First of May · 19. Re: Your Brains · 20. The Future Soon
Best. Concert. Ever.
1. The Future Soon · 2. Ikea · 3. Shop Vac · 4. I'm Your Moon · 5. Baby Got Back · 6. Kenesaw Mountain Landis · 7. Chiron Beta Prime · 8. Tom Cruise Crazy · 9. Code Monkey · 10. Creepy Doll · 11. Still Alive · 12. Mr. Fancy Pants · 13. I Crush Everything · 14. Skullcrusher Mountain · 15. Mandelbrot Set · 16. You Ruined Everything · 17. Re: Your Brains · 18. A Talk with George · 19. I Feel Fantastic · 20. First of May