Thought on Things: Darude Sandstorm Pt. 1

For those of you who are not aware of what Darude Sandstorm is, it is that song that goes "DO DO DO DO DO...DODODODODODODO...DODODODODODO...DODO...DODODODODO." And if that perfect representation does trigger your memory, give it a quick web search, you've probably heard it at least once in your life. And while you are there, watch the music video for it, because that will be the topic of this post. What is the deal with the Darude Sandtorm's music video?

First thing's first, why do I keep on referring to it as Darude Sandstorm, instead of just Sandstorm? Well, I suppose it is just some learned trait that you pick up form the internet, because almost nobody refers to this song simply as Sandstorm. It's like an internet rule that the name of the artist, Darude, be included in the title. And no, it is not Darude's Sandstorm, just Darude Sandstorm. Or if the person using the title is feeling saucy, Darude - Sandstorm, as it appears in the original YouTube upload. See, we've only gotten past the title of the video and we've already hit some weird cultish rule.

Now, I'm not going to talk about the bizarre amount of attention this video gets, and the strange following that comes from that. I might save that for a later post. I just want to look at the video itself and discuss some thoughts I've had while watching it these past few years.

I can't say I really remember the first time I watched Darude Sandstorm, but I didn't start to notice is anomalies until my sophomore year of college. During a particularly intense week of me and roommates procrastinating, or at least me procrastinating and dragging them down as well, the Darude Sandstorm video was played quite a few number of times. For those of you who have never had male roommates, or those of you who would be considered "normal", this behavior may seem a bit odd. But when a few friends live together, with a fair amount of time in their hands, you may start to see trends, or maybe fashions, pop up. For example, there was one week when we all downloaded a lightsaber app on our phones, and would have battles whenever two, or more, of us crossed paths. There was also a few days when we thought it was the funniest thing in the world to try screaming while we had water in our mouths. And one of these trends just happened to be talking about, and playing, Darude Sandstorm. 

The first odd thing we noticed was the striking resemblance that the main male antagonist had to actor Dwayne Johnson (see below).

And quick side note, for those of you wondering about the image quality, the original upload of this video is in stunning 360p, so this is the best I can do. Admittedly, it was uploaded 11 years ago by the band itself, so we can give them a pass.

When me and my roommates noticed this we started calling him "Discount Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson." Mr. Discount Johnson here plays the role of male antagonist in the video. He, along with his female counterpart, are chasing down another woman carrying a briefcase. And during this entire sequence, a man is watching them from afar. That is the basic premise of the video. It seems pretty standard, a kind of spy, mysterious, vibe going on with some fast paced music playing in the back. There is only so much you can do when the song is purely instrumental, and largely repetitive with the same melody playing over and over again, at different speeds and intensities. So I would say there isn't really much to talk about with the premise. What really makes this video interesting is in its execution of that simple plot. With uncomfortable camera angles, jarring use of slow motion and overall confusing story points this video goes from something ordinary, to anything but. 

And since this post is already pushing it on length, I am going to stop it there and break it into two parts. Tune in next week to find out what is the deal with Darude Sandstorm?