Ben Bernanke

Ben Bernanke
Song
Artist	Lemon Demon
Released	2008
Written by	Neil Cicierega
Appears on	View-Monster, Almanac 2009
Sung by	Neil Cicierega
Duration	4:29
Tempo	105
Genre	Rock
Links:	Needlejuice Bandcamp Youtube Spotify

Ben Bernanke is the 2nd bonus track on View-Monster. The song is a word for word recreation of a video created by Neil's friends. The video was later removed from YouTube, but re-uploaded in 2011 under the channel "kenfury23."

As told by Neil:

"One day my friend and fellow filmmaker Ryan Murphy showed up at my house with a MiniDV tape containing over half an hour of footage he had shot with another friend, Jake Quilty-Dunn. Ryan asked me if I could capture the footage to my hard drive so he could edit it and put it on YouTube. As I watched the footage, Ryan expressed some doubt that I would be amused– he assumed it was one of those things where you just had to be there. But he was wrong, and I found the footage hilarious. I told him I wanted to edit it myself. He was fine with that. The footage was of Jake, sitting in a chair, saying very strange things in a strange voice to “Spencer”, a silent man played by Ryan. Jake’s rantings are a mishmash of private jokes, improv, overheard dialog, and menacing homoeroticism. The real Ben Bernanke is the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. He has very little to do with how he’s portrayed by Jake. There have been no reports of him seeking ownership of anybody’s teeth."

Lyrics

Hello there, Spencer
I see you, you boy, boy
I see you, Spencer
With my eyes

You're the architect of my dreams, Spencer
You plan them, and build them on blue paper
And hand them to me

And then I dream them, Spencer
That's what you do for me
Thank you for that, Spencer
You prick

I'm a magician, Spencer, a furious magician
Ohh-ooh-ooh
Avada kedavra, Spencer, to you, Spencer
Avada kedavra to you, Spencer


You think you're something special, Spencer?
You think you're something brand new?
But you're old oats, Spencer
You're old, dry, stale oats, Spencer

I'm a magician, Spencer
A furious magician
Ohh-ooh-ooh-ooh

You're a tall glass of water, aren't you, Spencer?
You boy, precious boy
I'm Ben Bernanke, Spencer, and I want your teeth
For the Federal Reserve
I'm cutting interest rates in half, Spencer
And I need your teeth

I'll admit, Spencer, you're handsome
But what have you done with it?
You think you can mock me, Spencer?
Do you?

Do you think you can mock me, Spencer?
Do you think you can capture my essence
And throw it back at me with
Humour and rhetorical devices?


Well, you can't, Spencer
You don't know what I'm capable of
I need your teeth
For my Lonely Hearts Club Band, Spencer
I'm Ben Bernanke

I'm a magician, Spencer
A furious magician
Ohh-ooh-ooh-ooh-hoo-hoo
Are you proud of your country?
Are you proud of your country?

I'll bet you are, pretty little boy
Sitting up there in your high chair
Demanding more applesauce
Well you've already got enough applesauce, Spencer!
There's plenty of applesauce on your plate

I'm going to kiss you, Spencer, on the lips
You sexy little rattlesnake, you naughty little baby boy
You rambunctious little infant
My mother tries to get me to go on dates, Spencer
You know what that's like?
You know how humiliating that is, Spencer?

You boy, Spencer
Spencer... (Spencer... ) (Spencer)
(OH MY GOD!)
You tall drink of water
Spencer

I'm a magician, Spencer, a furious magician
Ohh-ooh-ooh-ooh
I'm a magician, Spencer, a furious magician
Magician
Magician...

I love you, Spencer; I'm gonna spank you silly...

Trivia

• A Ben Bernanke remix by Alora can be found here.