Uploaded May 2010 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Seventy-third video. This is a very special composition for me -- it represents part of a very large project for AP English. One of my favorite novels of the class was Of Mice and Men by John Steinback, and, using Mario Paint (of course) as my medium, I crafted this song. Music, lyrics, and vocals are all original and all for credit. Many thanks to IroncladPhazon for the video's recording!
Anyone familiar with the book...maybe? Well, even if not, the lyrics will give you a quick synopsis. As for the music, the first three verses progress relatively straightforward; major problems begin to arise at the fourth verse, and the music changes to reflect that. I recorded all the vocals yesterday starting at around 8 pm, so my voice does tend to get a bit weak toward the end, especially at the fifth verse. This turned out to be a real range-stretcher, too: from my favorite notes around the D sharp area to the F sharp two octaves above that. The harmonies were done by recording each separately and editing them together using MixPad and WavePad. As for the accompanying Mario Paint music, I managed to use all the instruments in the original soundfont, which was pretty neat seeing that I'm presenting this in real life to an audience who's never heard of Mario Paint.
I hope you enjoy hearing what I sound like in real life, if not for the educational value. Had I a true recording studio, this would certainly have come out even nicer; I constantly had to play with the volume of the vocal clips to get them to blend (and it's hard not to get lazy). Fifty-one separate vocal clips were used. Anyway, here's what I came up with using the resources available; hope you enjoy!
Lyrics
Verse One:
George and Lennie were best of friends
Like no other you'd ever see
One's pretty shrewd, one's rather huge
But buddies the two of them be
They needed work and found a farm
But dreamed of one of their own
And after all was said and done
Now one is left alone
Chorus:
This is the story (This is the story)
This is the story (This is the story)
Of Mice and Men (men, men...)
Verse Two:
First they met the man, Candy
Whose dog was mangy and old
A beloved pet, yet he had to let
Carlson | shoot it | cold
Crooks was Black with a crooked back
And he hated most of the whites
Inclined to harm, his cruel yarn
Caused poor old Lennie frights
(Chorus)
Verse Three:
Lennie likes feeling stuff that's soft
So he'd keep it at arm's length
Good fun it makes, but then it breaks
'Cause he don't know his own strength
George let him have Candy's little pup
So he'd pet it every day
This couldn't last; the puppy passed
Lennie squeezed its breath | away
Verse Four:
The boss's son was a boxing champ
A fighter named Curley
He got in a fight about his tart of a wife
But he blamed machinery
When Curley's wife came into the barn
Lennie's charm caused her to laugh
'Til he reached and pulled upon her soft hair
And he snapped her neck in half
Verse Five:
George found him at the place they'd meet
If things would go out of hand
Lennie said, "Speak of that rabbit farm
Where we'll live off the fat of the land."
George brought the gun that Carlson owned
And he spoke his next words with dread. He said,
"Lennie, pal, go tend the rabbits now,"
As he fired and shot him | dead
So ends the story (So ends the story)
So ends the story (So ends the story)
Of Mice and Men (2x)
Seventy-third video. This is a very special composition for me -- it represents part of a very large project for AP English. One of my favorite novels of the class was Of Mice and Men by John Steinback, and, using Mario Paint (of course) as my medium, I crafted this song. Music, lyrics, and vocals are all original and all for credit. Many thanks to IroncladPhazon for the video's recording!
Anyone familiar with the book...maybe? Well, even if not, the lyrics will give you a quick synopsis. As for the music, the first three verses progress relatively straightforward; major problems begin to arise at the fourth verse, and the music changes to reflect that. I recorded all the vocals yesterday starting at around 8 pm, so my voice does tend to get a bit weak toward the end, especially at the fifth verse. This turned out to be a real range-stretcher, too: from my favorite notes around the D sharp area to the F sharp two octaves above that. The harmonies were done by recording each separately and editing them together using MixPad and WavePad. As for the accompanying Mario Paint music, I managed to use all the instruments in the original soundfont, which was pretty neat seeing that I'm presenting this in real life to an audience who's never heard of Mario Paint.
I hope you enjoy hearing what I sound like in real life, if not for the educational value. Had I a true recording studio, this would certainly have come out even nicer; I constantly had to play with the volume of the vocal clips to get them to blend (and it's hard not to get lazy). Fifty-one separate vocal clips were used. Anyway, here's what I came up with using the resources available; hope you enjoy!
Lyrics
Verse One:
George and Lennie were best of friends
Like no other you'd ever see
One's pretty shrewd, one's rather huge
But buddies the two of them be
They needed work and found a farm
But dreamed of one of their own
And after all was said and done
Now one is left alone
Chorus:
This is the story (This is the story)
This is the story (This is the story)
Of Mice and Men (men, men...)
Verse Two:
First they met the man, Candy
Whose dog was mangy and old
A beloved pet, yet he had to let
Carlson | shoot it | cold
Crooks was Black with a crooked back
And he hated most of the whites
Inclined to harm, his cruel yarn
Caused poor old Lennie frights
(Chorus)
Verse Three:
Lennie likes feeling stuff that's soft
So he'd keep it at arm's length
Good fun it makes, but then it breaks
'Cause he don't know his own strength
George let him have Candy's little pup
So he'd pet it every day
This couldn't last; the puppy passed
Lennie squeezed its breath | away
Verse Four:
The boss's son was a boxing champ
A fighter named Curley
He got in a fight about his tart of a wife
But he blamed machinery
When Curley's wife came into the barn
Lennie's charm caused her to laugh
'Til he reached and pulled upon her soft hair
And he snapped her neck in half
Verse Five:
George found him at the place they'd meet
If things would go out of hand
Lennie said, "Speak of that rabbit farm
Where we'll live off the fat of the land."
George brought the gun that Carlson owned
And he spoke his next words with dread. He said,
"Lennie, pal, go tend the rabbits now,"
As he fired and shot him | dead
So ends the story (So ends the story)
So ends the story (So ends the story)
Of Mice and Men (2x)
