I wrote this song by accident. I came home from Australia after five months of having no guitar to play with, and started to write a song about how miserable life could be. The opening line, “27 lonely years, you’ll be living with your fears, if you don’t send, this message to your friends,” was all I had. I had no idea what the song would be about, but I loved the rhyme scheme and the rapid fire delivery. As I kept writing lines that fit the pattern, it dawned on me that I was writing about the doom and gloom found in chain letters. After that revelation, it was only a matter of ripping off “Paperback Writer” and “Day Tripper,” and boom, I had a delirious new psychedelic pop song. My last music video, “Funeral Business,” featured the Ghostbusters rocking out to that jam, so I figured I’d return to the pop culture well for the equally spooky “Chain Letter.” One of my favorite shows ever, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” offered the perfect template for a song about tempting supernatural fate. I’d like to thank my friend Andrew Lee, first and foremost, for his incredible guitar solo. I’d also like to thank Lilja Nielsen for much needed video editing critiques, and the brilliant George Gross for more of the same. Lastly I’d like to thank my friends Matt Sturm, Sonia Rapaport, and Ian Wehrle for a bunch of moral support and musical advice. That’s enough yapping, so please enjoy the song and video below, and remember, chain letters only work when you share them with all your friends, so if you don’t wish to be cursed with 27 years of misfortune, please share this video with everyone you can!
