Thanks to this class, I’ve been spending far too much time thinking about the word “Derp.” I find myself saying the word to myself as I’m commuting on the subways. This morning while taking a walk I realized that we know have an excellent opportunity for some extra credit. I imagine this will have to be a team effort. Let me explain:

Hearing the word “Derp” reminds me of an old song by the Trashmen called “Surfin’ Bird.” This was a popular tune in the early sixties that was insprired heavily by The Rivingtons “Papa Oom Mow Mow.”

The Ramones did a version of it in the seventies. Checking the lyrics led me to the idea for the extra credit project. The main line that keeps getting repeated is “Bird is the word.”

And here is where the extra credit comes in to play. I would like to have the song rewritten to be “Derp is the word.” Next, we’d need to have somebody or a group sing and record the new song (for the melody, check out the midi version of Surfin’ Bird from Gary’s Midi Palace).

And then for this sucker to go truly viral in a big way, we’d need to make a “Derp is the word” video. Luckily we’ve got some Communications majors in the class who can make and edit video. So please think about this. I think we could make an awesome video that would be fun and would also get noticed. Is anybody interested?

For a point of reference, please check out The Trashmen doing Surfin’ Bird on American Bandstand in 1964 (by the way, the show host is Dick Clark and was based in Philadelphia).