Changes: Man or Muppet

Written by	Bret McKenzie
Date	2011
Publisher	Fuzzy Muppet Songs

Revision as of 03:02, 31 October 2015

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.

The Muppets Man or Muppet

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:Muppets2011Trailer01-1920 39.jpg|thumb|300px]]
+[[Image:Man or Muppet - Constantine commentary.jpg|thumb|300px|Constantine providing commentary in 2014.]]
 "'''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.
+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.
-{{quote|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.}}
+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>
-:— [[Bret McKenzie]] (songwriter)<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>
-[[Bret McKenzie]] was honored with an Academy Award nomination for "Best Original Song" on January 24, 2012 for the song. Only one other song, "Real In Rio" from the film ''Rio'', was nominated in the category. The Academy Awards were presented on February 26, 2012, and "Man or Muppet" marked the first Oscar win for any Muppet production.
+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.<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>
+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:The Muppets: Man or Muppet|660px]]
+The music video version was released on a limited edition album, ''The Tributes Collection''.
-==Awards==
+<gallery widths="250" spacing="small">
-[[Image:BretMcKenzie-Oscar.jpg|thumb|300px]]
+File:The_Muppets_Man_or_Muppet|music video
-The song has received the following honors.
+File:Man or Muppet - Constantine commentary|commentary
-* [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] winner for "Best Original Song"
+</gallery>
-* [[Broadcast Film Critics Association Award]] nominee for "Best Song" (lost to "[[Life's a Happy Song]]" from ''The Muppets'')
-* [[Georgia Film Critics Association Awards|Georgia Film Critics Association Award]] winner for "Best Original Song"
-* [[Satellite Awards|Satellite Award]] nominee for "Best Original Song" (lost to "Lay Your Head Down" from ''Albert Nob'')
-* [[Sierra Awards|Sierra Award]] winner for "Best Song"
-* [[Las Vegas|Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards]] winner for "Best Song"
-Additionally, the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards nominated the film's entire soundtrack for "Best Music."
 ==Sources==
-<references/>
+<references />
 [[Category:The Muppets (2011) Songs]]
 [[Category:Muppet Songs]]


Written by	Bret McKenzie
Date	2011
Publisher	Fuzzy Muppet Songs