Only a few days into International Make Fun Of Songsmith Week ’09, someone has already taken the trouble to show us, on YouTube, classic songs as interpreted by Microsoft’s much-maligned musak generator. After the jump, Songsmith provides the music it feels in its misguided little robot heart would be the perfect accompaniment to The Police, The Cars, and Oasis.

Wonderwall is techno. Shhhh. It’s techno!:

And get out your Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights shoes for “Roxanne”:

Who knew “Just What I Needed” was such a sad song? I mean, it’s a sad/angry song. But not this sad. (Also, the vocals sound weird to me but I’m told my brain is simply being tricked by Songsmith’s backing track.):

I have a feeling we have not heard the last of Songsmith parodies like this (there are a couple more here). I can’t WAIT to see what Songsmith does to the Sinead version of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” for example.

Comments (20)
  1. i kinda like this “roxanne.”

  2. d-w  |   Posted on Jan 16th, 2009 +2

    Roxanne KILLS. Except for the whole major chords over the minor melody thing.

  3. Those were all hilarious.

  4. Andrew  |   Posted on Jan 16th, 2009 +3

    Technoasis is the worst sound I’ve ever heard

  5. i want to know how they got the vocal tracks

    • Brent, I’m the guy making these videos, and I’ve acquired the vocal tracks through a variety of sources over the years (I’m an “actual” musician and do a lot of remixes/mashups). It’s amazing how easily original studio multi-track master recordings leak out over the years.

  6. Yeah, “Roxanne” is way better than the original. And “Just What I Needed” is definitely not the original vocals.

  7. No one’s done Radiohead yet?

  8. saddest mix tape ever.

  9. grover  |   Posted on Jan 17th, 2009 -8

    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see

  10. Marcus Fleming  |   Posted on Jan 17th, 2009 +3

    Am so sick of original Roxanne. This is a breath of fresh air and Cuban cigar smoke. Also that version of ‘Wonderwall’ could easily sweep mainland Europe.

  11. Stefan  |   Posted on Jan 17th, 2009 +1

    That “Wonderwalls” remix is the exemplar “Rockamerica” mix of every hit song that plays in every gay bar in the US.

  12. Stefan  |   Posted on Jan 17th, 2009 0

    Songsmith can’t handle time changes very well (even subtle ones), it appears. All of the songs kinda fall off the rails somewhere in the second verse. The Cars “edit” is pretty boss, though, and I gotta say that “Roxanne” is fun beyond the ironic enjoyment.

  13. Artistic reinterpretation fail. Comedy win!

  14. Is it wrong that this actually makes me want Songsmith? I’d love to see what it would do to Michael Jackson or Stevie Wonder or Van Halen.

  15. Paul  |   Posted on Jan 19th, 2009 0

    I think Songsmith’s robotic heart is in the right place with the Cars song – it’s just that the execution is terrible. I would like to hear a human musician play a sad, solo-piano version of “Just What I Needed”.

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