Tally Hall’s “Good Day”
Okay, I wanna tell you about this music video because it is completely ridiculous and it was a total jaw dropper when I first saw it.
Tally Hall’s “Good Day” is one of the most amazing and thoughtful music videos you’ll ever see. You will not believe what went into this production. And in addition to the video being amazing, the song is wonderfully and boundlessly creative. I’ll never forget the first time I came across it while going down a YouTube rabbit hole 11 years ago. It completely blew my mind.
If you’ve seen the movie Inception by Christopher Nolan, you’ll remember it revolves around the idea that a dream can occur within another dream, which can take place within another dream, and these layers of dreams get deeper and more complicated, with effects on space and time. Well, that’s kind of what happens in this music video.
So here’s the gist: First, the band filmed a super-creative music video, performing the song in at least 15 different locations. Then they filmed all these silly little 1-second high-production easter eggs acting as televangelists, Tom Waits, pro wrestlers, fitness instructors, Bob Ross, the Brady Bunch, the 80s show Cops, This Old House, Girls Gone Wild, Baywatch, Saved By The Bell, and more. I mean, there’s gotta be at least 30 of these fun clips.
Later in the video, they film a 7-layer video loop where each video layer is played on the screen while they’re filming the next layer. None of this was done with digital editing techniques and everything is in time with the music.
After ALL OF THAT had been edited into one music video, they then filmed that video playing on 25 or 30 different screens, accounting for screen aspect ratios and monitor sizes across all of these different recordings. Then, they edited the whole thing in time with the music.
It's total madness!
As a YouTuber who’s produced a couple hundred videos myself, I cannot even imagine the level of effort and exhaustion that went into this music video.
And let’s talk about the music! It is fantastic! If you’re a fan of that “intelligent pop” like XTC, Jellyfish, Supertramp, or Toy Matinee, you’re going to love this song. There’s an occasional measure of 5/4 mixed into the verse just to throw things off, the chord changes are all over the place, there’s key modulation, multi-part vocal harmonies reminiscent of Gentle Giant, and random yelling like an old Frank Zappa Uncle Meat noisescape.
This song really has the whole package for any weird music fan. And we’ve only talked about one video of one song on one album. They have several music videos that are definitely worth checking out.
“Good Day” is the opening track on their first full-length album, “Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum.” Nearly every track on this album is great. Some may shy away from the ridiculousness of tracks like “Banana Man” or “Two Wuv,” but overall, the album is top-notch. This is going to sound overblown, but I’d honestly describe this album as a modern-day Abbey Road, but with the genre-defying variety of Phish’s “Picture of Nectar.”
Like “Picture of Nectar,” the album is a little too much for one sitting. If I were the producer, I would have cut a few of the songs to make the album just enough to keep me wishing for more. The full album with the bonus tracks is 17 songs long and a few of those I usually skip over.
Their second album, “Good & Evil” took a little longer to land for me, but over time I learned to appreciate it’s more “mature” songwriting and production. It’s not as creatively youthful and diverse, but the songs are strong with solid melodies and unpredictable progressions.
The takeaway here is: if you love catchy hooks with smart chord changes and top-notch musicianship, you’re going to love this album. My wife and I saw them live before they disbanded shortly after their second album. It was QUITE a show.
Since breaking up, the band has developed a cult following, which you’re probably going to join after you get into these albums. If you are desperate for more Tally Hall music beyond their two releases, check out “Hawaii: Part II” by Miracle Musical, which was released by a couple of the band’s members. The Tally Hall wiki says “This album was released exactly December 12th, 2012 at 12:12 AM, the same day the world was supposed to end.”
Speaking of cult followings, you should join the Make Weird Music cult and hit that subscribe button.
So, there you go. If you’re a Tally Hall fan already, let us know in the comments. If you check them out for the first time because of this video, let us know in the comments, especially if you’re as blown away as I was. And if you don’t like it, then don’t leave a comment because I don’t want to know you.
