Song Story - "He Knows Karate"
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 5:17 PM
Posted by: Shupe
I've decided to write a little journal entry on each new song that will be on our upcoming album this year. I know you haven't heard the album yet, but this will get you in the mood beforehand... I'm really excited about the album, I think the overall vibe is one of the best we've created and I'm excited for people to hear it.Today's entry will be on a song called "He Knows Karate":
How can you go wrong when a song has the words and phrases... Jujitsu, Tai Kwon Do, Kung Fu, Local Dojo, and he can catch flies with Chop Sticks and break cinder blocks with his head. It also mentions Yoda, Darth Vader, Mr. Miyagi, and Walker Tesas Ranger. Sounds like an epic song already.
The song came from 3 different sources in my life. The original idea started a long time ago when my dad told me a story about how a kid moved into his junior high school. "He knows Karate" is what everyone kept saying. The rumor spread through the school and my dad, being the resident tough guy, knew that a run-in with the karate expert was inevitable.
As I got older, I remembered the story when I went to high school. There was a small group of guys who knew karate... Tai Kwon Do, to be exact. Basically, the smartest thing to do was to avoid them altogether. I remember that one of my buddies made one of the karate clan mad and they threatened to fight him in the hall at school.
The last influence to the song came from the movie Karate Kid. When the movie came out when I was young, everyone knew Mr. Miyagi... It was an instant 80's classic.
These 3 sources provided the backdrop for the song about a guy who thought Julie was cute so he said hi to her. Then her massive karate wielding boyfriend decided to take out his jealous revenge on the unwitting innocent song singer. The poor guy later dreams that he is the best karate master around and eventually wins over Julie with his awesomeness. What happens after that is left up to the listener... maybe his demise is eminent or maybe his dream does, in fact, come true.
