Video Hangover: Tom Green - "Lonely Swedish (The Bum Bum Song)"
Every week, we dig in the archives for videos that we find noteworthy, memorable, or just unbelievably stupid. And then, Jon McMillan breaks 'em down for you. Why Video Hangover? Because when you watch as many videos as we do, you're going to feel it afterwards.
"Lonely Swedish (The Bum Bum Song)"
Tom Green, 1999
My bum is on the "close browser window" button.
Fifteen minutes that felt like years
For those of you who missed the Tom Green era (or have successfully blocked it out of your memory), he was like a cross between Adam Sandler's Billy-Madison era angry-boy schtick and a mentally challenged Dane Cook impersonator (or, if you prefer, Dane Cook himself). Critics still argue about whether his gross-out epic Freddy Got Fingered was a brilliantly subversive bit of agitprop, or one of the worst movies ever made. Put me in the latter category. But for those of you who couldn't sit through the movie, "The Bum Bum Song" perfectly distills the Green ethos: stupid costumes, poop jokes, wildly uncomfortable man-on-the-street interactions, and an almost pathological disregard for good taste. Although, to his credit, he did date Drew Barrymore for a while.
TRL, not actually L? No way!
Rumor (and by rumor, I mean Wikipedia) has it that "The Bum Bum" song, after reaching #1 video status on TRL, was forced into early retirement by producers who wanted to maintain the illusion that TRL was filmed live (apparently they'd already recorded the following week's show, without the Bum Bum song). TRL pre-recorded? Sounds far-fetched to me, but if it was printed in Tom Green's autobiography, it has to be true, right?
My bum is in (existential) pain
I can't believe I'm advocating it, but I suggest you all stick with this video through the 1:45 mark, when one of the most idiotic, insulting, grating novelty songs of all times evolves into ... a credible parody of late-'90s radio-rock. The "bum is all alone" breakdown sounds like a Third Eye Blind outtake, or at least a bridge from the first Creed album. I'm not sure what this says about Tom Green, but I'm pretty sure I know what it says about Creed.
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Posted at 12:45 PM in Video, Video Hangover
Tags: Tom Green
Tom Green once kicked a roast beef sandwich out of my hand. True story.
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I once kicked Tom Green out of a roast beef sandwich. Also a true story.
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tom green still has an internet show that he does out of his house and it's really good and features a lot cooler guests than stereogum does. he probably talks about britney spears less as well.
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Wow, I remember Tom Green, but I've never heard that song.
All of a sudden I understand the reference to it from "The Real Slim Shady". That part of the song always confused me.
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Actually, that was so silly and dumb, its almost good.
If it was Ween, we'd love it.
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i am actually disgusted by the fact that i used to find this funny in the 6th grade. like, hilarious. although i must admit, at the end when he complains that he wants to hear the cannon and not the loon, i still giggle a little.
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he was married to Drew Barrymore for awhile.
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Oh, wow.
I'm really scared. I used to find that immensely entertaining, and now it's just straight up retarded.
That video sums up my 1990s though: dressed like a daisy, talking about Sweedes and my ass. Good times.
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I have mixed feelings about Tom Green. I like his absurdist humor, but he also seems like a bit of a twat. Either way, "Lonely Swedish" is an amazing title for a song.
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please do not compare Tom Green to Dane Cook. in fact, please kindly do not post the name "Dane Cook" ever again on this website. unless it is followed by the word "retires forever."
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he's actually a pretty talented mc: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ctc4daiIZU
and this bit that he did on the canadian version of the show is much better than the bum bum song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMDl39CkRuo
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I love Tom Green, now and then, and this song is fantastic absurdist humor. He's just trying to have a good time and make other people have fun at his own expense. Get off your high horse and enjoy some ridiculous humor. Stop being so serious, man, it's harshing my mellow for serious.
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I LOVE THIS - - THEN AND NOW.
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I enjoy the Tom Green.
I remember that episode of TRL for some reason. Silly.
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Tom Green was a shock comic and all, but the man had some truly amazing skits here and there.
He put a painting he made entitled "Tiger Zebra" on the wall of an art gallery without getting caught, and then got chased out by security for DRAWING ON IT. The painting entitled "Tiger Zebra" remained on the wall of the art gallery unnoticed for a week.
Also, watching him saw dead roadkill in half while trying to calm the audience down by assuring them "It's just magic!" Well, that will always have a fond place in my heart.
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Tom Green was a shock comic and all, but the man had some truly amazing skits here and there.
He put a painting he made entitled "Tiger Zebra" on the wall of an art gallery without getting caught, and then got chased out by security for DRAWING ON IT. It remained on the wall unnoticed for a week.
Also, watching him saw dead roadkill in half while trying to calm the audience down by assuring them "It's just magic!" Well, that will always have a fond place in my heart.
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i would rather listen to that than bloc party...
while the song isn't all that funny, his tv show was hilarious.
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check the O.R........rrrr....rrrr....
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I REFUSE to rescind my love for Tom Green: He was funny not because of poo-jokes but because he was doing things no one else was doing - he was unnervingly ridiculous. He was my Elvis - pissing off parents and shaping the way I view comedy. His early stuff was amazing - the bum bum song? Eh. Undercutter's Pizza? Piggy off the hill? Classic
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Yeah. Let not the Bum Bum Song tarnish Tom Green's legacy. The shit he used to pull with his parents was classic.
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Tom Green is Andy Kaufmann, but you won't find Michael Stipe romanticizing him or Jerry Lawler wrestling him.
Anyone who's watching Freddy Got Fingered knows his genius. However, the song has aged poorly though that bass breakdown is awesome.
Oh, and the S-W-E-D-I-S-H is just down the street from me.
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I personally think Tom Green is a fucking genius. I'll take his antics over hipsters bullshit any day.
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why did this writer link the words "worst movie ever" to the AV Club review that raves about it? i don't think they spoke an ill word of it.
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