Hello, everyone.
Welcome back to another episode of TwoSet Violin.
Today, we will be reviewing a...
piece of- I mean...
Piece?
- a... song.... - Song!
...that has been trending recently.
It's been brought to our attention.
The song is called "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)."
And it's by Lil Nas X.
That's like every rapper and they have a "Lil-"
Imagine a violinist...
Lil Yang.
Ha ha ha!
- Lil Yang! - Lil Yang, the prodigy.
Before we start though, 114 million views!
In two weeks!
That's amazing.
(In life,)
(we hide the parts of ourselves we don't want the world to see.)
Reminds me of Harry Potter.
Yeah!
I was thinking it reminded me of...
Debussy Nuages.
- You know? Like the clouds. - Ah, that's true!
- Yes. Yeah. - It's like this kind of...
- fantasy impressionistic feeling. - And then that harp, whatever it was.
Yeah!
(We lock them away.)
(We tell them no.)
(We banish them.)
(But here...)
Seems like there's a lot of...
- ancient Greek influences. - Mhm.
In classical music, there's also a lot of
ancient Greek inspiration sometimes.
Oh, for sure.
- I think Monteverdi wrote a L'Orfeo, - Uh-huh.
which is about Orpheus.
I was wondering what Montero meant.
- Montero-verdi! Yeah! Montero-verdi! - It kind of sounds a bit like Monteverdi, right?
(Welcome to Montero.)
♪ I caught it bad just today ♪
Whoa...
Dude, he's practicing.
- That's what you should be doing. - Yeah, when you're out of time,
and there's no practice rooms.
Brett: Practice under a tree.
- Have you ever practiced under a tree before? - I have.
I remember before an audition in Sydney,
I went to the botanic gardens
- because all the practice rooms were closed. - Yeah...
And I practiced under a tree.
You know what's annoying though?
When the leaf falls onto your instrument.
This guy's got a snake.
Wasn't there also a snake in another video we reacted to?
- The WAP. - Oh, WAP!
- Eddy: WAP, right? - Brett: It's the same!
Yeah, what's with viral pop music videos with snakes?
Yeah...
Well, maybe it's like Marvel.
Maybe there's like a...
- Character, yeah! And the character's developing now. - combined universe that we're not aware of, right?
The snake is actually Nick Fury,
- visiting all the different Avengers. - Yeah!
I gotta say though...
Can you play guitar with such long fingernails?
I know like, sometimes classical guitarists
purposefully have long nails for the right hand.
- Yeah, but not the left hand, right? - But I don't think-
I mean, I don't know guitar technique.
If that was a violin, that would be a bit...
- not accurate, but we're not guitarists. - Yeah, so we don't know.
♪ Ain't been out in a while anyway ♪
♪ Was hoping I could catch you throwin' smiles at my face ♪
♪ Roman- ♪
Dude, that's Orochimaru, man.
Yeah, from Naruto! Orochimaru is here!
- He's gonna put a curse on Sasuke. - He's gonna bite him!
♪ Romantic talking? You don't even have to try ♪
♪ You're cute en- ♪
Good idea. Running away. I would, too.
♪ Baby, you livin' the life, but nigga, you ain't living right ♪
♪ Cocaine and drinking wit' your friends ♪
♪ You live in the dark, boy, I cannot pretend ♪
It's interesting 'cause...
a lot of very popular hip-hop songs these days,
when I hear them, they always only have two chords.
Most of the time, the chord is like I and IV, or I and V.
But this is the first time it's like...
It's E flat major.
- That's the tonic. - Yeah.
And then E major.
- Oh, so it's just like... - And it's back to E flat major.
Now, the interesting thing too is that...
the second is not the normal second
in E flat major, it's a semitone.
It's just a semitone higher.
So it's almost like one chord, but just shifting.
And I think that's what gives it
- this kind of like exotic feeling with guitar music, right? - It does, it does!
And I like how they're simplifying everything.
Less is more, right?
♪ you know that you can ♪
♪ Call me when you want ♪
♪ Call me when you need ♪
♪ Call me in the morning ♪
♪ I'll be on the way ♪
It's like...
♪ Practice when you want ♪
♪ Practice when you need ♪
♪ Practice in the morning ♪
♪ Practice every day ♪
Yeah!
Let's go!
♪ Call me when you want ♪
♪ Call me when you need ♪
You know how there's just two of them right now.
*gasps*
He's the E flat.
- Oh, he's the E! - And the snake is the E major.
- Always just... - Yeah...
And they're so close, right?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah... - The E major is...
- ...on top of the E flat. - That's why they're so close together.
He's like, "I'm kind of near you, but I'm not really near you."
- And the E flat is trying to get away from E major. - You know... Yeah!
- And E major's like, "No, no, no, no, no!" - They're so close.
- The tension between the- - Yeah, the tension.
And E major is like, "You're gonna become E major."
- "Don't say E flat." - Yeah...
"It's not good living in a flat world."
I mean, it's pretty dirty right, like, the costumes?
I hope they sanitised it.
Yeah, 'cause it's...
I definitely wouldn't do that today.
I don't wanna get sick.
Ooh!
Whoa, what language is that?
- We should look it up. - What does it say?
"The writing on the tree was pulled from Plato."
- Plato is Greek, right? - Yeah.
- Oh, man- oops, I said men. - "Desiring his other half."
I mean, yeah, that's kind of true.
It's like us.
- A violinist and their instrument, right? - Yeah!
You can't separate me and my violin.
Or maybe it's like the violin and the bow.
They desire each other to make music.
Mm...
- Ooh, I like that wig. - Whoa...!
Dude, it's Marge Simpson.
Ah! Ha ha!
Dude, Marge Simpson in an alternate reality.
Wow...
Eddy: Dude, that side-eye though.
Marge from Simpson is like...
"You're not practicing!"
♪ I wanna sell what you're buying ♪
Why is there three of them?
Is it the same guy?
- Eddy: I think it's the same guy. - Brett: Dude, it's the same!
So it was Naruto. It's just the Kage Bunshin.
First it was Sasuke, now it's Naruto.
♪ Shoot a child in your mouth while I'm ridin' ♪
♪ Oh-oh, why me? ♪
♪ A sign of the times- ♪
Feels like being in an audition.
Everyone's judging you.
Dude yeah, that's the panel right there.
- Eddy: Five of them. - Brett: The panel, yeah.
"Oh, wrong bowing."
"Intonation."
This person's checking the score
- to make sure you're still in the dynamic markings. - Yeah, yeah, he's got the score.
- This guy is probably looking at- - Checking out rhythm.
- Rhythm. - He's like, rhythm.
- He's looking at the bowings. - Bowing.
And also, I feel like the chain part.
Performance pressure!
Lack of practice!
Sweaty hands!
- Not a prodigy! - Not a prodigy!
No talent!
♪ every time that I speak ♪
♪ A dime and a nine, it was mine every week ♪
♪ What a time, an incline, God was shining on me ♪
He's like, "No, you don't pass the audition!"
♪ And now I'm actin' hella elite ♪
♪ Never want the niggas that's in my league ♪
- Bro... - Oh, I mean, look at them.
They're just booing you.
Imagine doing an audition in front of thousands- or a concert,
- and everyone's just booing. - "Boo!"
That's not nice.
He must have been really out of tune.
♪ Cocaine and drinking wit' your friends ♪
♪ You live in the dark ♪
It's still the same two chords.
But I mean the fact that they can keep it interesting.
It's a skill. Remember, less is more.
But to be honest, I've been just looking at the visuals.
It kind of just, made me forgot about the two chords.
♪ only here to sin ♪
♪ If Eve ain't in your garden, you know that you can ♪
♪ Call me when you want ♪
Whoa...! ♪ Call me when you need, call me in the- ♪
Whoa, that would hurt your hand!
Can you imagine that friction?
Yeah, that would be so bad.
♪ I'll be on the way ♪
♪ Call me when you want ♪
♪ Call me when you need ♪
Dude, the way he slides on that pole is just like...
a very smooth shift.
That's the definition of a perfect shift.
So smooth.
- Not like friction. - Yeah, or like...
Eddy: Shifting down, yeah.
You know how like Paganini was meant to sell his soul to the devil?
- Oh yeah. - Do you think maybe when Paganini died,
- he just pole danced into hell? - Oh, for sure!
- I reckon he like- - Except the pole was like,
one massive violin neck.
- Violin neck. It's the fingerboard. He's like... - And he was just like playing all the way down.
Paganini, for you guys that don't know,
is an extremely awesome violinist.
And the story was that he sold himself to the devil.
That's why he could play so well.
- Maybe- I think Lil Nas took some inspiration from Paganini. - Yeah.
'Cause...
I mean that technique is pretty good, too, so...
♪ Call me out by your name ♪
Whoa... ♪ I'll be on the way ♪
Whoa... ♪ Call me by your name ♪
♪ Call me by your name ♪
Whoa... ♪ Tell me you love me in ♪
♪ Tell me you love me in ♪
You know what I just realised?
The moment he descended, he like,
- He changed! - all his clothes came off.
Yeah!
- But- No, but it makes sense 'cause it looks really hot. - Yeah.
Of course you'd take your clothes off.
- It's so hot. - It looks like he's sweating.
♪ Don't need your name ♪
♪ 'Cause I don't have to say it ♪
- Oh, that's it! That's the pact! - Oh...!
He's going to see the devil!
And the devil is gonna grant him ultimate skills.
He'll be able to play violin virtuosically.
I mean, I get it.
He probably is like... you know,
- two chords and one of them venture out a little bit, right? So... - Yeah, yeah...
♪ Let's ride ♪
Um... that-
It sounds like...
- What is that? Like, MIDI... - Pan flute...
Wait, what is that?
- It is a MIDI file. Yeah. - It sounds like a MIDI violin.
Dude, Paganini!
There was no violin until now!
Maybe that's not even the devil.
That's just Paganini.
Paganini is like, "Welcome."
"I will give you my musical technique."
I will say it's interesting 'cause...
You know how I was saying before,
the E flat to E major semitone sounds kind of exotic.
I'm not very good with like modal stuff,
but it sounds very oriental influences or something.
A little bit.
- Yeah, I know what you mean. - Yeah, like there's definitely that got that...
...the spice to the...
...harmonies, which I love.
Dude...
I can't even do a normal push-up,
and he's doing a push-up with his legs in the air.
- Oh, and then the other guy is just like... - Respect.
- You know like, in the gym... - Dude, he's...
What do you call it?
They're spotting!
He's like, "Watch out. Don't hurt yourself."
Yeah, we're musicians, we don't...
- You know... - Yeah, we're not like, "Ha-ya! Ha-ya!"
I definitely need someone to spot if I even tried that.
♪ Call me by your name ♪
Whoa...! ♪ Call me by your name ♪
I can't even do a handstand.
Yeah... and he's on someone's knees!
Wow!
The core... like, strength required for that.
Dude, that's like a Ling Ling Workout.
That's why Paganini...
Paganini is giving him a-
He can sing upside down!
PAGANINI CAN DO- OHHH!
That's why I won't go to a chiropractor.
Yeah, I see those videos, they all do like...
- And then people are like, "Oh, it's so good!" - "Oh, it's so good!"
I'm like, "I don't know."
- They literally like, yank the neck. - Yeah.
And I'm surprised his hand is still intact
from that pole swinging down.
If it's hell, it would be like at least few thousand kilometers.
I never thought about that.
How deep is hell?
I don't know.
But it's deep enough that even this spotter guy is red.
'Cause he's cooked from the heat.
It's so hot, his body's already overcooked.
Yeah wow, guys! Um...
That was definitely a very interesting video.
I mean I can kind of see why it has so many views.
It's very visually creative.
- The snake is really cool. - Yeah.
And all that like...
The symbolism is like the same feeling as performing on stage.
- Yeah. - Everyone's judging you, booing you if you mess up.
- We all know how that feels. - Yeah.
All right, there you have it.
The thing I got out of this music video is basically like...
♪ Practice when you want ♪
♪ Practice when you need ♪
♪ Practice in the morning ♪
♪ Practice every day ♪
That's right!
So accent the like button.
Upbow staccato the subscribe button.
- You know, 'cause it's Paganini. - Yeah.
And remember always,
go practice.
And we'll see you guys next time.