There are a variety of curses that surround various forms of entertainment. For example there is the well-known Saturday night live curse that is blamed for various misfortunes cast upon cast members such as John Belushi, Chris Farley, and Phil Hartman. There is also the universally famous curse that surrounds the Shakespeare play Macbeth. It is said that any company that attempts to perform this play will be subject to a variety of ill-happenings, and there are countless examples to back this up. It only makes sense that a curse would eventually befall the popular activity of karaoke. In the Philippines, it is claimed that Frank Sinatra’s My Way is indeed a cursed song. While it is a seemingly harmless American classic that regular people continue to enjoy, the song has played a part in a variety of unfortunate deaths overseas. Is it real or not? That question will forever surround this song now as there have been enough examples that the curse has become so prominent. There are people who are literally terrified to sing this song in any way in a public karaoke bar.
In the past decade there have been over half a dozen cases where the song was the soundtrack to an unfortunate event. The problem is so pronounced that many karaoke bars have now removed the song from their play list and it is impossible to pick it on any given night. There are people who have extended this fee are into their own homes and they refuse to sing the song in private as well. Some people would claim that there is nothing to this curse and it happens to be coincidence. Mathematically speaking, that is entirely possible because karaoke is a lot more popular in the Philippines. With more people singing karaoke songs this will increase the chances that something bad is going to happen. But you still can’t deny the eeriness that this one song has led to so many problems.
There are a variety of theories as to why this particular song invokes such rage among karaoke patrons. Some people say that since it is so popular people think they know the song, and that any version that deviates from their expectations is subject to intense criticism and throwing out any rules of karaoke etiquette. Other people have studied the lyrics of this particular tune and offer the suggestion that the tone and spirit of the song invokes a sense of arrogance. This leads people to act out of character when they are pumped up by the lyrics that invoke a sense of defiance. Sometimes men compete to have the best performance and their violent natures are bolstered by the lyrics as well. Other people go back to the mathematical explanation and say that it is a song that is sung the more than most, so statistically speaking there are more chances for bad things to happen.
It’s interesting to see how far this story has developed and now that it is attached to such a powerful urban legend, it has enough steam to scare people out right. Some people have wondered if something like this can happen in North America. We usually have fun stories associated with karaoke here. There have already been violent karaoke related incidents tide to other performances, but there is no similar connection to My Way specifically. We hear at karaokemachineguide.com love karaoke too much to associate it with any kind of curse. To us it’s all about fun and an appreciation of music, but we suppose human nature can warp even the best of activities.
What do you think, is the curse real?
Read more here with the New York Times official story of the karaoke curse.
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