"I Started a Joke" is a song by the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

from their 1968 album ''Idea'', which was released as a single in December of that year. It was not released as a single in the United Kingdom, where buyers who could not afford the album had to content themselves with a

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

version by Heath Hampstead. This is the last Bee Gees single to feature

Vince Melouney Vincent Melouney (Maloney) (born 18 August 1945) is an Australian musician, singer and songwriter best known as an official member of The Bee Gees from 1967 to 1969 during the group’s initial period of worldwide success. Prior to joining Be ...

's guitar work, as he left the band in early December after this song was released as a single. The song's B-side was "

Kilburn Towers "Kilburn Towers" is a folk song by the Bee Gees. Written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb in 1968 for the album ''Idea''. It was also released as the B-side of "I Started a Joke" in most territories. This song's length was 2:14 in mono and 2:17 i ...

", except in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where "Swan Song" was used. "I Started a Joke" was written by

Robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin **Forest rob ...

mainly, with help from

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...

and

Maurice Gibb Maurice Ernest Gibb (; 22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a British musician. He achieved fame as a member of the pop group Bee Gees. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb were the group's main le ...

on the bridge. It was produced by the Bee Gees with

Robert Stigwood Robert Colin Stigwood (16 April 1934 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer and impresario, best known for managing Cream, Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions like ''Hair'' ...

Composition and recording

Songs for the ''

Idea In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of being ...

'' album were completed on 20 June. "I Started A Joke" was the last to be recorded. According to Robin Gibb, the melancholic melody of the song was inspired by the sounds on board an aeroplane: "There was a lot of that in those days"

laughed, "There was a lot of

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

and the idea that if you wrote something, even if it sounded ridiculous, somebody would find the meaning for it, and that was the truth".

Structure and release

The song was originally recorded in the key of G major and has two contrasting sections. The verse sections consist of a cycle of G Bm C and D chords. The chords for the bridge section are Em Bm C G Bm Em Am D. The promotional video for "I Started a Joke" was directed by

Jean-Christophe Averty Jean-Christophe Averty (; 6 August 1928 – 4 March 2017) was a French television and radio director, and Satrap of the College of 'Pataphysique. Many of his television productions from the 1960s were early examples of French video art. His studi ...

. It was filmed in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

as part of the '' Idea TV Special'' and features floating question marks on the song while Robin sings. In the video, Maurice is shown playing a

Rickenbacker 4001 The Rickenbacker 4001 is an electric bass that was manufactured by Rickenbacker as a two- pickup "deluxe" version of their first production bass, the single-pickup model 4000. This design, created by Roger Rossmeisl, was manufactured between 1 ...

and

playing a

Gibson ES-335 The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial semi-hollowbody electric guitar, sometimes known as semi-acoustic. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES (Electric Spanish) series in 1958, it is neither fully hollow nor ful ...

. The song reached #1 in Canada, New Zealand and Australia. In Canada, it spent two weeks as the number one in ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' charts. "I Started a Joke" debuted at #66 at the United States '' Cashbox'' magazine in the week of 14 December 1968. Robin Gibb's son played "I Started a Joke" on his phone just after his father died on 20 May 2012. Robin-John Gibb told ''The Sun'':

When he passed away we went out, they took the equipment away and we came back in, I picked up my phone and found "I Started a Joke" on YouTube and played it. I put the phone on his chest and that was the first time I broke down. I knew that song and its lyrics were perfect for that moment. That song will always have new meaning to me now.

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as being in the Bee Gees' "softer" style, saying it was more in the style of "

Words A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consen ...

" than " Gotta Get a Message to You," and said that the "paradoxical imagery offers magnetic charm to mystical interpretation."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Faith No More version

Faith No More Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/r ...

originally covered "I Started a Joke" as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

for their 1995 single "

Digging the Grave "Digging the Grave" is a 1995 single by Faith No More, from their fifth studio album, '' King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime''. Produced by Andy Wallace in the Bearsville Studios, the song was borne out of a period of transition for the gr ...

". It also appeared on some versions of their fifth studio album '' King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime'' but following the band's dissolution in 1998 it was released as a single with their

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

Who Cares a Lot? ''Who Cares a Lot? - The Greatest Hits'' is the first compilation album by American rock band Faith No More, released on November 24, 1998. The album is a greatest hits retrospective that spans most of the band's career, including songs from all ...

''. The music video was filmed on 8 September 1998, after Faith No More had disbanded five months earlier and featured none of the band members. It was directed by Vito Rocco, filmed by Nick Sawyer with make-up by Julie Nightingale and Dani Richardson with Gabi Norland as the

clapper loader A clapper loader or second assistant camera (2nd AC) is part of a film crew whose main functions are that of loading the raw film stock into camera magazines, operating the clapperboard (slate) at the beginning of each take, marking the actors a ...

. British actors

Martin Freeman Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most no ...

and

Shaun Dingwall Shaun Dingwall (born 21st February 1970) is a British actor from London. He is known for his roles as Pete Tyler in ''Doctor Who'', as Reg Trotter in ''Rock & Chips'' and as D.C. Mark Rivers in ''Touching Evil''. Early life Shaun Dingwall was b ...

both feature in the promo, along with performance artist

David Hoyle David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

as the karaoke singer, and also stars

Michelle Butterly Michelle Butterly (born 5 February 1970) is an English actress. Career She graduated from the Central School of Speech and Drama. She has played Julie Oldroyd in ''Soldier Soldier'' in 1997, Melanie Dyson in ''Casualty'' from 1999 to 2001, an ...

of the ITV series, ''Benidorm''.

Derren Litten Derren Ronald Litten (born 21 December 1970) is an English comedy writer and actor, best known as the creator and writer of the sitcom ''Benidorm''. Litten also co-wrote ''The Catherine Tate Show'', for which he both wrote and appeared as seve ...

, the writer of ''Benidorm'' and a contributor to ''The Catherine Tate Show'', is also seen in the video.

Track listing

Disc one #"I Started a Joke" – 3:03 #" The World Is Yours" – 5:52 #"

Midnight Cowboy ''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama (film and television), drama film, based on the 1965 Midnight Cowboy (novel), novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars ...

" (Live) – 1:01 Disc two #"I Started a Joke" – 3:03 #"

This Guy's in Love with You "This Guy's in Love with You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and recorded by Herb Alpert. Although known primarily for his trumpet playing as the leader of the Tijuana Brass, Alpert sang lead vocals on this solo recording, arr ...

" (Live) – 4:20 #"

We Care a Lot ''We Care a Lot'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Faith No More, originally released in 1985 and distributed through Mordam Records. On the original vinyl release, the band is credited as Faith. No More. on the album's liner not ...

" (Live) – 3:55 Live tracks recorded on 21 October 1997 at the Horden Pavilion,

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

by MTV Australia.

Charts

Other notable cover versions

*In 1997, German band

Element of Crime Element of Crime is a German rock band that plays melancholic chanson, pop and rock music with guitar, bass guitar, drums and voice/trumpet. Band history The band was founded in 1985 by Sven Regener who subsequently became known as the auth ...

took a cover for the tribute-sampler ''We Love The Bee Gees;'' they released it also 1998 as own single and another time 2010 on their own album '' Fremde Federn.'' *In 1998,

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

with

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...

released a reggae rendition of the song and it was included on the ''Bee Gees Tribute Album: Gotta Get a Message for You'' as a fundraiser for Live Challenge '99. *In June 2016, German satirist

Jan Böhmermann Jan Böhmermann () (born 23 February 1981) is a German satirist, journalist, and podcast and television host. He also worked as a writer, producer, radio host, and is best known for his activism through publicity stunts. Early life and educati ...

covered the song live on his TV show

Neo Magazin Royale ''Neo Magazin Royale'' was a German satirical late-night talk show hosted by Jan Böhmermann. Produced in Cologne, it has been aired weekly on the ZDFneo channel since 31 October 2013. It is also made available in advance on the online ZDFmediath ...

, commenting on the

Böhmermann affair The Böhmermann affair (also known as Erdogate) was a political affair following an experimental poem on German satirist Jan Böhmermann's satire show ''Neo Magazin Royale'' in late March 2016 that deliberately insulted Turkish president Rece ...

. *

The Beautiful South The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Hull group The Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members throughout the band's exi ...

, 1992

Parodies

"I Started a Joke" was parodied by a '' Radio Free Vestibule'' sketch in which a voiced-over commentary takes the lyrics completely literally, appeared on the film ''

Zoolander ''Zoolander'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the '' VH1 Fashion Awards'' television ...

'' as covered by

The Wallflowers The Wallflowers is an American rock solo project of American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jakob Dylan. The Wallflowers were originally a roots rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1989 by Dylan and guitarist Tobi Miller. The band h ...

. The song "I Started a Joke" was featured heavily in the ending of the film ''

Penn & Teller Get Killed ''Penn & Teller Get Killed'' is a 1989 black comedy film directed by Arthur Penn, starring the magicians Penn & Teller, who play themselves in a satirical account of what the audience would perhaps imagine them doing in their daily lives. Most ...

'', which features the two magicians playing a succession of increasingly elaborate practical jokes on each other with a fatal conclusion. "I Started a Joke" was recited in ''

The Fighter ''The Fighter'' is a 2010 American biographical sports drama film directed by David O. Russell, and stars Mark Wahlberg (who also produced), Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo. The film centers on the lives of professional boxer Micky ...

'', when Dickie Eklund (

Christian Bale Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, including ...

) sings it in an attempt to console his mother Alice (

Melissa Leo Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Critics' Choice ...

) following an attempt by him to hide his crack addiction. "I Started a Joke" appeared in one of the sketches in

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''

The State A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "stat ...

'' comedy television show.

References

External links

A short "I Started A Joke" background and song themes

List of Bee Gees song parodies, including "I Started a Joke"
{{DEFAULTSORT:I Started A Joke Bee Gees songs Demis Roussos songs 1968 singles 1968 songs 1969 singles 1998 singles Songs written by Barry Gibb Songs written by Maurice Gibb Songs written by Robin Gibb British soft rock songs The Cascades (band) songs Faith No More songs Song recordings produced by Barry Gibb Song recordings produced by Maurice Gibb Song recordings produced by Robin Gibb Song recordings produced by Robert Stigwood Polydor Records singles Atco Records singles Slash Records singles Songs about suicide Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Brazil RPM Top Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Denmark Number-one singles in New Zealand