Ken Pontac In Focus
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Best known for his contributions to LazyTown scripts and the lyrics on the famous "You're A Pirate" song, Ken Pontac offers his unique point of view... |
July 8th, 2010
My first assignment as a writer for LazyTown was a re-write of the pirate-themed episode "Rottenbeard".
Pirates are one of my favorite subjects, so this was like a gift to me. I immediately began drinking huge mugs of rum and thinking salty thoughts.
I quickly became friends with Stefan Karl, and, noting his Icelandic accent, asked him to talk like a pirate for me. What came out of his mouth was amusing (after all this is Stefan Karl we're talking about), but it sounded nothing like what most people associate with salty sea-dog talk. "Stefan, from now on let's only talk to each other like pirates," I suggested. "Yar," he replied, being a quick study and already grasping the basics of the idiom. From that moment on Stefan and I amused the crew (or is that BEMUSED the crew?), with our buccaneer babblings.
I turned in my re-write and the art department began to build props and sets for the episode. The crew began to get more and more excited about the show as amazing set pieces and costumes were created. One day the lovely seamstresses gave everybody bandanas to wear, customized with various piraty bangles and feathers. When visiting Nickelodeon executive and all-around great lady Brown Johnson arrived from America she regarded the motley crew and declared, "Nobody told me it was pirate day!" "Get yerself belowdecks, and the sewing-wenches'll fix ye up all salty," I growled.
I was delighted to find that part of my assignment was to write a song for the episode. Songwriting is my favorite kind of writing, and writing a song about pirates – well, let's just say that I was really, really into it! I was given a melody by Máni Svavarsson, which I played over and over and over again until it was the only thing in my head. I played it for days, listening to it the first thing in the morning and falling asleep as it played in the evening.
One morning I woke up and a lyric crystallized in my mind, "Yar har, fiddle-de-de, being a pirate is all right with me. Do what you want 'cause a pirate lives free. You are a pirate." I grinned and recorded the lyric, knowing that the hard part was over and the song was as good as written. I pretty much finished the rest of it before breakfast.
I sang the song to Máni and Stefan, and we all agreed we had a winner. I sang the song to Brown, and while she liked it she had one concern. "That lyric 'Diggity dirt and dig figgity fast' worries me. It sounds too close to 'friggity' and we don't want people to think Robbie's swearing." I changed the line to "Diggity dirt and dig diggity fast" and created perhaps the most mis-quoted lyric in LazyTown. A few of the incorrect interpretations are:
"Dig a the dirt and dig it deep fast."
"Dig in the dirt and you dig in it fast!"
"Dinky-dink-dink-a-dinkadefast!"
– That last person wasn't trying very hard!
Also, there's a line missing from the final version of the song. The lyric "Yar har wind at your back lads, wherever you go!" should actually read "Yar har, yo ho ho ho, wind at your back lads, wherever you go!" Then it would rhyme (I like my songs to rhyme). I had exited Iceland by the time the song was recorded, and was unable to make that correction. It bugs me every time!
A year or so later I checked YouTube to see if the song was on the Internets. I was amazed and delighted to find that the thing had become a huge meme, with over ten million hits on the basic version, and millions more hits on all the parodies, mash-ups, and drunken karaoke versions. I'm humbled by the response, and thankful for the opportunity to create something that has touched so many lives.
– This song will burrow into your brain and lay eggs in it. Then the eggs will hatch and all the baby worms will sing the song over and over and over again –
Click To Listen
Anymay Anksthay Otay Enkay Ontacpay!
[Ed. Note - Ken Pontac was also a writer for such shows as "Mighty Max" (1993), and more recently "Happy Tree Friends" (2006-2010), among others.]
© 2010 L.G. Wise (X RADAR Publ.)
All Rights Reserved
No part of this commentary can be used, reprinted, copied or stored in any medium without the publisher's authorization.
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