I expect to live longer because I have a funny husband. I love his style of humor. Ray’s jokes are always topical, contextual and spontaneous (as opposed to the “let me tell you this one” variety). He is smart and quick. He doesn’t use shock language and his jokes are never mean. I lead an entertained life and along with some other great qualities Ray has, I consider myself a very fortunate woman to have accidentally met him on a tennis court in 1992.
Comedy is not Ray’s full time profession but along with public speaking, it is one of his competencies and something he enjoys doing.
This is the story, as Ray explained to me, of how the official version of The Man Song video was recently made. The video stars the song’s creator, Sean Morey, and is directed and produced by my husband, Ray Gordon.
Sean Morey is an accomplished comedian who hails from the small town of Longport, New Jersey. After starting as a performer on the streets of Boston, he later moved to Los Angeles and saw his career take off. Playing the banjo and guitar, he has written many funny original songs that have been played on radio stations across the U.S.A.
Ray Gordon was a classmate of Sean’s at Atlantic City High School. They were among the very few students who hailed from the small town of Longport (population: 600 back then), which must have been a key factor in their comedic development. They were both on the school’s excellent cross-country team, and spent many hours keeping their teammates loose with some funny stories, good-natured ribbing and general frivolity.
Upon graduation, they parted ways – Ray going to school in NYC and Sean setting off for Boston. After some time performer in Boston, Sean moved to Los Angeles and saw his comedic career take off. Sean has appeared on the Tonight Show many times, and has a number of other TV appearances to his credit. He is well-known for his live stand-up routines as well as his musical numbers. Playing the banjo and guitar, Sean has written and performed many funny original songs that have been popular on radio stations across the U.S.A.
Ray took a more roundabout route as a comedian. After work, he’d perform in small events from time to time, often using visual images he created to present his material. He also taught graduate school for 17 years, further honing his comedy skills… or so he says. Ray moved to Japan in 1994, and eventually became a regular stand-up comedian at the Tokyo Comedy Store. He was featured in the 1999 GQ Comedy Issue in an article about Japan called The Toughest Room in Show Biz.
Ray Gordon and Sean Morey at Atlantic City High School Reunion August 2011
Ray and Sean re-connected a couple years back, and often got together to trade one-liners and work on song lyrics. At one point, their conversation came around to Ray’s work in producing videos, and how they could collaborate on a project. It turns out that Sean wanted to make his own authorized live action music video of Sean’s most famous song, The Man Song. In the first few years after it’s release, The Man Song was one of the most widely played comedy songs on radio. Others had taken the original audio track produced with a live audience and posted various versions of the song to YouTube, resulting in millions of views. One of those versions was released by the radio show “Bob and Tom” where he was a frequent guest. There were lyrics and there was both a puppet and a cartoon with a moving mouth but no one had ever attempted live action. Sean thought the time had come for him to “reclaim” his own song on video.
Ray worked with Sean in outlining each verse, determining the options for sight gags to punctuate each line, and storyboarding each scene. Once all the sight gags had been finalized, they searched for a venue to film the video. His sister offered her home in Los Angeles, which offered the perfect combination of quiet environment, ample indoor rooms and a nice outdoor area.
Ray Gordon
Because it was a family home, the entire shoot had to be completed in one day. The actresses arrived with their wardrobe and Ray set up the cameras and lighting starting in the morning, and shooting commenced. After a whirlwind of activity and a number of scene and wardrobe changes, by 4PM the shoot was complete.
Editing included scenes from multiple cameras and syncing the action to the actual soundtrack of the song as it appears on Sean’s comedy CD. Once complete, the video was posted to YouTube on December 19th, 2011.
What we found amazing was the reaction of people to the video. So many friends commented that it was one of their favorite comedy songs, and that they remember hearing it often on the radio. We found that The Man Song was also well known on Kauai, having been featured by the very popular local radio personality, Ron Wiley.
Sean’s album He’s The Man includes The Man Song and 23 more of his comedic recordings.
The Man Song Lyrics by Sean Morey
Ladies and gentleman, The Man Song!
He’s the man. He’s the man.
I don’t take no crap from anybody else…
but you
I wear the pants around here…
when I finish with your laundry
Cause I’m a guy you don’t wanna fight…
when I say “jump”, you say “yeah right”
Cause I’m the man of this house…
until you get home
He’s the man. He’s the man.
When I say goes around here…
right out the window
But I don’t wanna hear a lot of whining…
so I’ll shut up
The sooner you learn who’s boss around here…
the sooner you can give me my orders, dear
Cause I’m head honcho around here…
but it’s all in my head
He’s the man. He’s the man.
And I can have sex anytime…
that you want
Cause I’m a man who has needs…
but they’re not that important
And don’t expect any flowers from me…
Cause if I’m not mistaken, you prefer jewelry
I’m the king of my castle…
when you’re not around
He’s the man. He’s the man.
And I’ll drink and watch sports…
whenever I wanna get in trouble
And I’ll come home, when I’m good and ready…
to sleep on the couch
Cause a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do…
and I’m gonna do what you tell me to
Because I’m top dog around here…
but I’ve been neutered
He’s the man. He’s the man!
You the man!
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Is this your first introduction to The Man Song or does it spark a pleasant memory? Perhaps you have bought the CD which includes this and other Sean Morey hits. Would love to hear your stories about the The Man Song or The Man or The Woman in your life.