An Analysis of Julian Smith’s “Eat Randy”

 

Screenshot of intro to “Eat Randy,” 2012, USA

Introduction:

As well-crafted as it is bizarre, Julian Smith’s comedy single “Eat Randy” operates equally well as both throwback to 80s–90s rock and multilevel musical joke. “Eat Randy,” released in 2012, is a catchy (and kitschy) song, full of dark humor, about a guy who can’t find anything decent to eat at a fancy restaurant, and so would “rather eat Randy.” I first listened to this song (and watched the music video) in my late teens, and have had a back-and-forth relationship with it and its content. When I was a teenager, my sister and I thought it was hilarious, and we bought the track on iTunes; as a young adult, I thought it was gross, and regretted the purchase; now, an older young adult, I think it’s both hilarious and gross, and am resigned to the purchase — at least I can whip it out at parties.

Long-time YouTuber Julian Smith pulls out all the stops to make this song and its accompanying video work. He commits to an outrageous 80s–90s vibe in his choice of dated sound effects, melody, and form (not to mention the 80s rocker makeup he wears in the video). In a later video, Julian also revealed his dedication to authenticity in having converted the original footage to analog, and back to digital again, for the final presentation. Leaving aside the visuals, this blog post will be a musical analysis of Julian’s “Eat Randy,” where I will look at just a few of the aspects of this comedic song and determine part of what it is that makes the whole work so well for me — and hopefully not ruin the joke in the process!

Lyrics & Background:

In a live commentary session filmed ten years after the release of “Eat Randy,” Julian stated that this song was probably one of the oldest pieces of content on his YouTube channel. He had originally composed and recorded the chorus “I’d rather eat Randy” between 2005 and 2006, but had left it sitting on his computer for years, because he couldn’t find a way to lyrically justify the sentiment of wanting to eat another human being (I would agree on the difficulty of this problem). Listening to this song again, I would say that the solution he arrived at ultimately was creative and successful.

The verses make clever use of semi-rhyme in their lyrics, and this combined with the extreme repetitiveness of the chorus both work to support the joke; this also makes the song particularly suited to stick in the viewer’s/listener’s head. In particular, the repetition and alliteration contained in “these specials don’t sound special to me,” at the end of the second verse, gives the line a quick turnaround, gaining momentum into the chorus, as well as providing a good reason for wanting to eat Randy.

What might not be entirely clear in the music by itself is the meaning of the repeated “eat Randy” after the bridge. This is made clear in the music video: the character that Julian plays is telling/forcing Randy to eat, to fatten him up for the table later. This bit also clarifies the meaning and importance of the bridge, where Julian says seemingly random but nice things to Randy. This is to get Randy off his guard, and give Julian opportunities to fatten him up. Needless to say, it is extremely bizarre — and hilarious, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Timbre:

One of the first things I noticed in this song was Julian’s use of timbre, to support both the song and the humor. In the verses, he starts out using a somewhat “snooty” accent, to match the lyrics and the character of the song, who thinks that nothing in the restaurant is good enough for him. Then he jumps into the chorus, where he maintains a vocal coloring that is dark, and almost velvety, enhancing the dark humor of the piece. The first two times this is performed, it is accompanied by a slightly quieter track of 80s rock falsetto, and this is designed to really lean into the ridiculous and sell the 80s–90s vibe. This falsetto accompaniment then takes center stage at the climax of the song, where it is allowed to fly solo with pure and soaring (not quite shrill) high notes. At the very end, he takes this a step further with an almost screeched “Randy!” to finish the song. All these tone colors together make for some very interesting and somehow cohesive effects, creating an energetic and entertaining retro piece.

Articulation & Sound Effects:

Another obvious point of humor is Julian’s use of articulation. In the verses, he says each word in an almost clipped manner, which also plays into his assumed character in the song. This contrasts with the chorus, where the words flow together more, matching the more melodic quality of these sections. The most interesting use of articulation occurs in what I would label as the “pickup,” which follows after the bridge. The refrain “eat Randy” subtly turns from declarative to imperative, with a quick breath and an increase in speed and intensity; his “eat Randy” now has a stronger attack.

To shift this battery of “eat Randy”s into the chorus again, he slows slightly and increases the staccato articulation, but also adds distortion to the end. This prepares us for a further change, where we switch up into the chorus again, and this time it is just the falsetto, as described earlier. His use of distortion in the last few repetitions of “eat Randy” are fully explained in the music video: Julian is sharpening a knife, now ready to eat the fattened Randy. However, even without help from the visuals, the deep and somewhat disturbing distortion underscores this change, and gets us ready for the climax.

Conclusion:

In sum, “Eat Randy” is a tour de force in comedy, parody, and real musical finesse. It almost makes me wish that Julian Smith would take music more seriously, but, according to a statement he made in his 2022 reflection commentary, he decided early on that YouTube was the way to go for him, as he didn’t want to go on tours as a professional musician. This way, he says, he gets to dabble in all of his interests — and I expect that all of his viewers appreciate him for it.

While this has been an analysis of the song itself, you can take a look at the music video that goes with it to see just how well the visuals complement the lyrics and the melody. For a teaser, I will mention just a couple points: when Julian is “blessing” the meal that is Randy, the visual setup appears vaguely normal until the camera jumps from Julian’s face to Randy on the table (on the line “Amen”). Also, Julian stands on a table with the camera in upshot while he sings the chorus at the climax, visually emphasizing the high notes.

So there you have it — enjoy! (If it in any way matches your sense of humor.)

Sources:

“JULIAN SMITH - Eat Randy.” YouTube, uploaded by Julian Smith, 21 Mar. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqKPe9w5bUs.

“My first ever commentary on my most popular videos!” YouTube, live stream by Julian Smith, 6 July 2022, Musical background 23:40 to 24:27, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF7LzQbWJ8g.

“My first ever commentary on my most popular videos!” YouTube, live stream by Julian Smith, 6 July 2022, Reflections on “Eat Randy” 16:20 to 23:15, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF7LzQbWJ8g.