Changes: Man or Muppet

Written by	Bret McKenzie
Date	2011
Publisher	Fuzzy Muppet Songs

Revision as of 18:37, 8 June 2014

File:Man or Muppet - Constantine commentary.jpg

Constantine providing commentary in 2014.

"Man or Muppet" is an Academy Award winning original song from the film The Muppets. The song is sung by Gary and Walter.

During the song Walter sees himself in human form, while Gary sees a Muppet version of himself. The four complete the song together.

Songwriter Bret McKenzie discussed the process at length in a New York Times blog interview: "I was channeling power ballads — Harry Nilsson, “Without You” — [singing] “I can’t liiive, if living is without yoooou.” And Eric Carmen, “All by Myself” — [singing] ‘I don’t want to live, alllll by myself.’ Those are two of my favorites. I knew this had to be an incredibly dramatic song. It’s one of those, the more serious the song is, the funnier it would be. I just wanted to make it as epic and dramatic as possible. That’s why the chorus is just these relentless long notes at the top of Jason Segel’s range. There’s something about guys singing at the top of their range, it’s really emotionally desperate.^[1]

In 2012, Bret McKenzie was honored with an Academy Award for "Best Original Song" (albeit with only one other nominee in the category). "Man or Muppet" marked the first Oscar win for any Muppet production.

Jim James of My Morning Jacket had written a demo of the song, but it was deemed "incredibly mellow" and was rejected by the producers.^[1]

Releases

The Muppets: Original Soundtrack (2011)

Music video

To promote the release of the film's soundtrack, Walt Disney Records released a music video of the song intercut with clips and dialogue from the film. In conjunction with the release of Muppets Most Wanted, Vevo release the music video to YouTube with commentary by Constantine.

The music video version was released on a limited edition album, The Tributes Collection.

Sources

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Just a Man Singing About a Muppet Who's Singing About a Man. McKenzie, Bret. The New York Times. December 12, 2011.

[NYT-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Just a Man Singing About a Muppet Who's Singing About a Man. McKenzie, Bret. The New York Times. December 12, 2011.

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{song|image=Gary and gary.jpg|writer=[[Bret McKenzie]]|composer=|lyricist=|date=[[2011]]|source=|publisher=Fuzzy Muppet Songs}}
-__NOTOC__
-{{song|writer=[[Bret McKenzie]]|composer=|lyricist=|date=[[2011]]|source=''[[The Muppets (2011)|The Muppets]]''|publisher=Fuzzy Muppet Songs}}
-[[Image:Gary_and_gary.jpg|thumb|300px]]
 [[Image:Walter-Man.jpg|thumb|300px]]
+[[Image:Man or Muppet - Constantine commentary.jpg|thumb|300px|Constantine providing commentary in 2014.]]
-"'''Man or Muppet'''" is an original song from the film ''[[The Muppets (2011)|The Muppets]]''. The song is sung by [[Gary (The Muppets)|Gary]] and [[Walter]]. It is about what fate they choose for themselves and that once they choose they have to go along with it.
+"'''Man or Muppet'''" is an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] winning original song from the film ''[[The Muppets (2011)|The Muppets]]''. The song is sung by [[Gary (The Muppets)|Gary]] and [[Walter]].
+During the song Walter sees himself in [[Human Walter|human form]], while Gary sees [[Gary (Muppet)|a Muppet version]] of himself. The four complete the song together.
-Bret McKenzie was honored with an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nomination for "Best Original Song" on January 24, 2012. Only one other song was honored with a nomination in this category, "Real In Rio" from the film ''Rio''. The Academy Awards will be presented on February 26, 2012.<ref>http://www.nme.com/news/flight-of-the-conchords/61621</ref>
+Songwriter Bret McKenzie discussed the process at length in a ''New York Times'' blog interview: "I was channeling power ballads — Harry Nilsson, “Without You” — [singing] “I can’t liiive, if living is without yoooou.” And Eric Carmen, “All by Myself” — [singing] ‘I don’t want to live, alllll by myself.’ Those are two of my favorites. I knew this had to be an incredibly dramatic song. It’s one of those, the more serious the song is, the funnier it would be. I just wanted to make it as epic and dramatic as possible. That’s why the chorus is just these relentless long notes at the top of Jason Segel’s range. There’s something about guys singing at the top of their range, it’s really emotionally desperate.<ref name="NYT">[http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/just-a-man-singing-about-a-muppet-whos-singing-about-a-man/ Just a Man Singing About a Muppet Who's Singing About a Man]. McKenzie, Bret. The New York Times. December 12, 2011.</ref>
-During the song Walter sees himself in [[Human Walter |human form]], while Gary sees [[Gary (Muppet)|a Muppet version]] of himself.
+In 2012, Bret McKenzie was honored with an Academy Award for "Best Original Song" (albeit with only one other nominee in the category). "Man or Muppet" marked the first Oscar win for any Muppet production.
-Jim James of My Morning Jacket had written a demo of the song, but it was deemed "incredibly mellow" and was rejected by [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]].<ref>[http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/just-a-man-singing-about-a-muppet-whos-singing-about-a-man/ Just a Man Singing About a Muppet Who's Singing About a Man]. McKenzie, Bret. The New York Times. December 12, 2011.</ref>
+Jim James of My Morning Jacket had written a demo of the song, but it was deemed "incredibly mellow" and was rejected by the producers.<ref name="NYT"/>
 ==Releases==
 *''[[The Muppets (soundtrack)|The Muppets: Original Soundtrack]]'' (2011)
-==Music Video==
+==Music video==
-To promote the release of the film's soundtrack, Walt Disney Records released a music video of the song intercut with clips and dialogue from the film.
+To promote the release of the film's soundtrack, [[Walt Disney Records]] released a music video of the song intercut with clips and dialogue from the film. In conjunction with the release of ''[[Muppets Most Wanted]]'', Vevo release the music video to YouTube with commentary by [[Constantine]].
-[[Video:Jason Segel and Walter - "Man Or Muppet" from Disney's "The Muppets"|660px]]
-==Awards==
-Aside from the Academy Awards nomination, pending, the song has received other honors.
-* Winner: [[Georgia Film Critics Association Awards]], [[Sierra Awards]]
-* Nominee: [[Broadcast Film Critics Association Award]], [[Satellite Awards]]
+The music video version was released on a limited edition album, ''The Tributes Collection''.
-Additionally, the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards nominated all the film for Best Music.
+<gallery widths="250" spacing="small">
+Video:The_Muppets_Man_or_Muppet|music video
+Video:Man or Muppet - Constantine commentary|commentary
+</gallery>
 ==Sources==
-<references/>
+<references />
 [[Category:The Muppets (2011) Songs]]
 [[Category:Muppet Songs]]


Written by	Bret McKenzie
Date	2011
Publisher	Fuzzy Muppet Songs