I Started A Joke encyclopedia topics

Musical content

According to Robin Gibb, the melancholic melody of the song was inspired by the sounds on board an airplane:

The melody to this one was heard aboard a British Airways Vickers Viscount about a hundred miles from Essen. It was one of those old four engine 'prop' jobs, that seemed to drone the passenger into a sort of hypnotic trance, only with this it was different. The droning, after a while, appeared to take the form of a tune, which mysteriously sounded like a church choir. So it was decided! We accosted the pilot, forced him to land in the nearest village and there; in a small pub, we finished the lyrics. Actually, it wasn't a village, it was the city, and it wasn't a pub, it was a hotel, and we didn't force the pilot to land in a field... but why ruin a perfectly good story?

Cover versions

Skibby did a reggae cover which has been released as part of the sampler CD set "It's Reggae" in 1996.
In 1998 it was covered by Robbie Williams with The Orb (for a Bee Gees tribute album).
In 2001, a cover by The Wallflowers was featured in the Zoolander movie soundtrack.
Richie Havens, The Beautiful South, The Dirtbombs, indie pop bands The Lucksmiths and Low, British singer Kathryn Williams and folkster James William Hindle have also recorded covers of the song.
There are several instrumental versions with Francis Goya on guitar in his album Romantic Guitar and James Galway on flute in his 1988 Greatest Hits album.

Parodies, appearances in other media, etc.

The song was parodied by a Radio Free Vestibule sketch in which a voiced-over commentary takes the lyrics completely literally.
The song is featured in the film Penn & Teller Get Killed.

Faith No More cover

Faith No More originally covered "I Started a Joke" as a bonus track on some versions of their fifth studio album King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime but following the bands dissolution in 1998 it was released as a single with their greatest hits album Who Cares a Lot?.

Music video

The music video for it was filmed on September 8, 1998, after Faith No More had split up, and featured none of the band members. It was directed by Vito Rocco, filmed by Nick Sawyer with make-up by Julie Nightingale and Dani Richardson and had Gabi as the Norland clapper-loader.

Track listing

Disc one

"I Started a Joke" – 3:03
"The World Is Yours" – 5:52
"Midnight Cowboy" (Live) – 1:01Disc two
"I Started a Joke" – 3:03
"This Guy's in Love with You" (Live) – 4:20
"We Care a Lot" (Live) – 3:55

Live tracks recorded on October 21, 1997 at the Horden Pavilion, Sydney, Australia by MTV Australia.

Charts

Chart	Peak
UK Singles Chart	49
Australia ARIA Charts	58
New Zealand RIANZ Charts	58

Charts

Year	Peak Positions
Year	CA	US	BR	GE	NL	IT	FR	AU
1968	1	6	1	3	3	19	5	1

References

External links

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Last updated on Thursday July 17, 2008 at 04:13:20 PDT (GMT -0700)
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Wikipedia

Musical content

According to Robin Gibb, the melancholic melody of the song was inspired by the sounds on board an airplane:

The melody to this one was heard aboard a British Airways Vickers Viscount about a hundred miles from Essen. It was one of those old four engine 'prop' jobs, that seemed to drone the passenger into a sort of hypnotic trance, only with this it was different. The droning, after a while, appeared to take the form of a tune, which mysteriously sounded like a church choir. So it was decided! We accosted the pilot, forced him to land in the nearest village and there; in a small pub, we finished the lyrics. Actually, it wasn't a village, it was the city, and it wasn't a pub, it was a hotel, and we didn't force the pilot to land in a field... but why ruin a perfectly good story?

Cover versions

Skibby did a reggae cover which has been released as part of the sampler CD set "It's Reggae" in 1996.
In 1998 it was covered by Robbie Williams with The Orb (for a Bee Gees tribute album).
In 2001, a cover by The Wallflowers was featured in the Zoolander movie soundtrack.
Richie Havens, The Beautiful South, The Dirtbombs, indie pop bands The Lucksmiths and Low, British singer Kathryn Williams and folkster James William Hindle have also recorded covers of the song.
There are several instrumental versions with Francis Goya on guitar in his album Romantic Guitar and James Galway on flute in his 1988 Greatest Hits album.

Parodies, appearances in other media, etc.

The song was parodied by a Radio Free Vestibule sketch in which a voiced-over commentary takes the lyrics completely literally.
The song is featured in the film Penn & Teller Get Killed.