'Recorder in the Corner' is the song of the summer
A banger by any other name would still sound as sweet
Sometimes, once in a blue moon, you hear a piece of music, and go, “this… is a number one record.”
And, good readers of The Rectangle, this just happened to me — and I want to share it with you.
So, open your gaping earholes to ‘Recorder in the Corner.’
Listen once? You may not understand the fuss. Listen again? The genius seeps from every squawking note.
And one more time? You’re hooked. Forever changed. It’s a new era in your life.
Finally, you understand that ‘Recorder in the Corner’ is the song of summer. Nay, of 2023. Scratch that, the decade.
After becoming splattered with the song’s skittering, skew-whiff sauce, I had to know more, so I got in touch with the song’s author and performer, Richard Lindesay.
Described by his website as a “musical flute comedian,” Lindesay is a New Zealander currently living in Sydney (that’s in Australia. I don’t know why I had to point that out, but it seems the sort of thing that people do).
I knew the squeals he proudly pipes can’t have of come out of nowhere, so I asked him his history with the instrument.
“I started playing flute and recorder when I was six years old, stopped when I was a teenager, and then started again about five years ago as part of my live standup comedy performances,” Lindesay tells me.
Regarding the birth of ‘Recorder in the Corner,’ Lindesay says he wrote the song in “about 20 minutes.”
The idea behind it had been “on [his] list of funny ideas for some time,” but it’s when he “shared it on TikTok that it really got noticed.”
And, lord above, it’s been noticed. Over the past week or so, ‘Recorder in the Corner’ has become a meme sensation.
Whether it’s overdubbing rap videos, mental health jokes or people creating their own covers, the song has taken on a life of its own.
Lindesay has “especially enjoyed” this development, particularly admiring “those who picked up their recorder and gave it a go themselves.”
Truly, I wish I had the courage to do so myself. Maybe I need to buy my own recorder.
But what’s next? What happens after you release the song of the summer?
For Lindesay, the focus is his upcoming musical comedy show, Always Been a Player — which is part of this year’s Sydney Fringe Festival. Lindesay hopes to be able to tour the show “throughout Australia, and if there is demand also UK, Europe, USA, [and] South America.”
Beyond this, there’s also new music on the horizon. “I have many more song ideas on my list, the next song is due out later in June.”
I can’t wait.
Lindesay has one goal above all others, though: “what I’d truly love would be to appear on Sesame Street.”
Why stop there? With a tune like ‘Recorder in the Corner,’ Lindesay should be able to appear anywhere he damn wants.
To sign off, let’s listen one last time:
Art. Glorious, glorious art. Suck on that, Bach.