Friday 24 August 2007

Not sure how they found it. Not sure that they know how they found it. But my 12 year old son and 8 year old daughter were in hysterics in front of the family computer in our living room last night. My son came into the kitchen and tried to persuade me to see their latest find on YouTube. He gave a rendition of what seemed to be the Crazy Frog. I naturally declined the invitation and went about my chores.

My kids' laughter blended with the sound of my wife chuckling and enticed me into the living room. Not the Crazy Frog after all but something far more sophisticated and intelligent.

Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring
Banana phone
Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring
Banana phone

The title track of Raffi's 1994 album. As you immediately recognised.

I've got this feeling
so appealing
for us to get together and sing - SING!

Hard to believe but you're already trapped. You have to sing...

Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring
Banana phone
Ding dong ding dong ding dong ding
Donana phone

It may be against your better judgement but you have to sing...

It grows in bunches
I've got my hunches
It's the best
beats the rest
cellular modular
interactivodular

Your feet are tapping, simple joy invades your heart...

It's no baloney
It aint a phony
My cellular
Bananular phone

It's inside your skull. You know it will bounce around, stay awhile, disappear, then surface when least expected or wanted. It's melding with your DNA...

Don't need quarters
don't need dimes
to call a friend of mine
don't need computer or tv
to have a real good time
I'll call for pizza
I'll call my cat
I'll call the Whitehouse, have a chat
I'll place a call around the world
Operator get me Beijing jing jing jing

So far, so annoying ...

Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring
Banana phone
Ying yang ying yang ying yang ying
Yanana phone
It's a real live mama and papa phone
a brother and sister and a dogaphone
a grandpa phone and a grandma phone too - oh yeah
my cellular bananular phone

And on it goes ...

Banana phone
ring... ring... ring...
It's a phone with appeal
Banana phone
ring... ring... ring...
Now you can have your phone and eat it too
Banana phone
ring... ring... ring...
This song drives me .... bananas

One of those family bonding moments. A shared, joyful experience. A reference that can be brought out later, maybe only for us to get. If you've got this far, maybe this is something that you are wishing that I'd kept to the confines of my family. Except...

Fifteen hours later, whilst enduring the joyful back to school shopping, my daughter and I walk into a major department store (never knowingly trendy) as two teenage girls walk out singing... YES ... The Bananaphone Song. Another moment to treasure. Another moment for my daughter to seek out my mobile phone (non-fruit) to call her brother.

It's moments like these that add to life's richness. Not the only route - some have faith, some commit their lives to causes, some submerge themselves in activities - but a path that consciously or subconsciously provides meaning to more and more people. Businesses try to capitalise on this with attempts at viral marketing but many miss the point.

You have to be there. You have to be in a position where you can connect. You need to be aware. The drive to reduce costs in the business world means doing more and more virtually, means cutting back on headcount and putting tight travel, internet use and mobile phone restrictions on those who remain. This, however, pulls organisations and individuals away from the interesting action. The terrain where the next connection may be made or the spark for the next innovation ignited. The solution is clear.

Issue everyone with a Bananaphone.