780: Sample

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Sample

Title text: There are two or three songs out there with beeps in the chorus that sound exactly like the clock radio alarm I had in high school, and hearing it makes me think my life since junior year has been a dream I'm about to wake up from.

Explanation

This strip suggests that even a band with the most brilliant and catchy music would soon become the most hated band in the world if it included sound effects of car horns, cell phones, or alarm clocks in its songs. Listeners would most likely mistake the sound effects for the real thing, which could cause havoc.

For comparison, "Indiana Wants Me", a 1970 hit single by R. Dean Taylor, had the sound of police sirens removed from later pressings because drivers were reportedly mistaking the sound effects for actual police cars and pulling over.

This can also be a reference to an unusual anti-piracy method, where P2P and Torrent networks are seeded with altered copies of songs that contain obnoxious sounds at random points.

The title text refers to the common sensation of having sounds from the real-world incorporated into a dream, especially as one is waking up. This gives a (false) sensation that is the reverse of the dream described in 557: Students. It implies that the author has been dreaming his entire life since his junior year of high school, which is obviously not true.^{[citation needed]}

Transcript

[Caption above the panel:]

How to become the most

hated band in the world:

Record an album that's nothing but brilliant, catchy instant classics guaranteed popularity and airtime,

[Cueball is at the steering wheel of a car.]

Music: So far from hooome but I can't sto— HONK

Cueball: AUGH! WHAT?

[Caption below the panel:]

with a sample of a car horn, cell phone, or alarm clock inserted randomly in each song.

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Discussion

I hate it when I'm listening to music on the radio and a car horn clashes with one of the notes. Alpha (talk) 19:33, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

I've actually prepared to take evasive action because of car horn sounds on the radio, but usually in ads. I also once had a friend who could perfectly make the sound of a cop siren just doing a little "wouup" to tell you to pull over. —Kazvorpal (talk) 05:33, 25 October 2019 (UTC)

Turns out, in Russia, inserting honk-like sounds in a broadcast is illegal for the very reason described in the comic. Funny thing is, the law was passed after this comic came out. 172.68.245.193 20:28, 22 November 2019 (UTC)

This reminds me of the song "Saturday" by Twenty-One Pilots172.71.167.197 19:20, 20 June 2023 (UTC)