Gimme a fan
An anthem our climate changed world deserves
It seems like every year, a song I discovered on TikTok makes my year-end best-of list. Last year is was “Hostile Government Takeover.” The year before that it was “Bread.” and in 2022, it was “Ozempic Wegovy Mounjaro” and (unknowingly) “W.I.T.C.H.” I guess there’s something about the viral nature of those TikTok songs that is really appealing to me. They stick in my craw and never leave. Are they classic songs that will stand the test of time? Most likely not. Did they help define the year that was? If they made it on to my list, you can bet on it.
So it is with great confidence that I hereby declare that a song released today will be this year’s TikTok song on my year-end list. The name of this song is “GIMME A FAN” which was put together by an artist known as Slim Z. In order to fully appreciate “GIMME A FAN” you either have to be a Madonna fan already or you need to familiarize yourself with this 29 second video right away.
This video has cracked me up ever since I first saw it. Her faux British accent, her insistence that she’s suffocating, the drama of it all is just too funny for words. The “Caresse, you have no idea, I can’t take it!” referring to her former manager Caresse Henry (RIP) - everything about those 29 seconds is high camp and hilarious.
So enter Slim Z, who on TikTok earlier this week, set various parts of this infamous video to a techno beat, creating the bones of a remix we never knew we needed. He asked his followers if he should create a full length version and release it. The response was a resounding yes! (I was among the chorus of people begging for the remix to drop.) On Wednesday, he announced that it would be available on Friday 7/31. There was much rejoicing.
Sure, today was the day Ariana Grande’s new album petal was released, but “GIMME A FAN” was the new release I was most anticipating this week. I looked for it almost immediately after I made my coffee and believe me, I was not disappointed.
The song of the summer.
Not only is it available on most streaming services, it’s also available for purchase in the iTunes store (for those that still do that) for a lousy 69 cents. I snapped that baby up before Madonna can get a cease and desist order for it.
Is it high art? No certainly not, but it’s a good song for what has got to be the hottest on record and a good tonic for these trying times. It reminds me a little bit of another techno version of a diva losing it which is sadly not streaming anywhere or available for purchase. It is called “STFU” which was created by Lucian. Fortunately, I downloaded it back in 2006, probably from an mp3 blog or maybe I captured the sound from this YouTube video. Who cares, it’s hilarious.
And I just realized that 2006 was 20 years ago. And the original “Give me a fan!” video is older than that. I’ll be turning into dust now, but it’ll be while listening to the remix of the latter video.
Hilarious, Dan! Wasn't aware of either song....The Slim Z reminds me a bit of those "answer songs" that was prevalent in the '60s....the Streisand one, too, for that matter! Neither was prompted by a song, of course, but it's cool they created songs out of a star's verbal misstep!
Plus, I love poking holes in the self-importance of some of these superstars (whom we love, yes..... BUT). One of the many reasons I loved watching David Letterman back in the day....he would NOT stand for such pomposity out of stars!
One classic instance....musta been the '80s at some point, some bigger-than-life star pontificated, on the couch, about something or other for several minutes. When he finally came to his self-righteous verbal exclamation point, Dave let a pause extend to just the right uncomfortable moment before asking the guest, "Is that a Banlon shirt?" Nicely done, Dan!