Origins of Bow Chicka Wow Wow

The number one album on iTunes today is Mike Posner's 31 Minutes to Take Off and on this album is a song called "Bow Chicka Wow Wow". Now instead of listening to the preview like most normal people, I thought instead: Where in the hell did that come from and how do I know what it means?


Of course we associate the onomatopoeia Bow Chicka Wow Wow with kitschy porn music from the 70s. Yet I was born in the 80s and the only 70s-era porns I've seen are not porns at all but parodies of them. Yet I know instantly what is meant when someone says Bow Chicka Wow Wow, which is probably as well recognized as saying ouch or thwack.

Though in my research there are discrepancies in the spelling and pronunciation of Bow Chick Wow Wow. I've seen

• bow chicka wow wow
• bow chicka bow wow (this is actually my preferred version)
• bow chicka bow bow
• wow chicka wow wow

Finally after reading about this phrase I had to find an answer. Who started it and in what context? 

After a quick google search, I came across two promising leads but both left me utterly deflated in my quest. The first lead was that the phrase appears in the song "Brickhouse" by The Commodores. But it doesn't. The end bridge sounds like bow chicka wow wow but they're actually saying "Shake it down, shake it down now". Ow now brown cow. But even if they did say it, the song didn't give me the context. That's just part of the song—they're no 70s porno reference. And I have to stress the fact that it is 70s porno music. Not 80s (which would probably be hair metal) or 90s (which would probably be Spice Girls-esque). 

My next lead was a video of stand-up comedy by Jordan Brady. The video gives Brady credit and his wikipedia entry also states that he is the progenitor of the infamous phrase. 

But I still don't buy it. If you watch the video, he doesn't say bow chicka wow wow, or any of it's variations. Instead, he tries to actually make music with his mouth. Bow chicka wow wow is not a song or a melody or anything musical. It is a string of words. Sometimes it is said with a certain inflection but the phrase is in no way musical, despite it's contextual meaning. 

Now this is not to say that Brady did not create the phrase contextually. It's clear from the video he did but in it's current incarnation, I don't think he spread it. I mean, he doesn't even really say it. There's clearly a "dwown" and "boom" that he adds in to realistically imitate bass and drums. This is not the the intended use (or at least my perception of the intended use). If Jordan Brady is the creator of the meme, it has definitely had an evolution. And so for me, at least, the origins of bow chicka wow wow remains elusive. One day perhaps, her true beginnings will be revealed...

Real Real or Just Real?

The poll on IMDb.com wanted to find out what meta-reality users would rather be plugged into. Here were the choices:

• The Matrix
• A Na'vi from Avatar
• Biological game device from eXistenZ
• Surrogate from Surrogates
• Dream-sharing device from Inception
• Memory implantation device from Total Recall
• Computer game from TRON
• VR machine from Virtuosity
• Simulation machine from The Thirteenth Floor
• Tunnel to John Malkovich's body in Being John Malkovich. 

Luckily I'd seen all these movies (though some more recently than others) and I was able to pick one accordingly. My first choice was The Matrix but I didn't really know why. So I thought about it and I think I came to an answer. 

"If you're killed in the Matrix, you die here?" 

Before I go into it, I want to say that I choose the Matrix itself, not the reasoning behind it. I don't want to be plugged into the Matrix because I want to be a battery for a robot. So when reading this, only keep the simulated reality of the Matrix and not the forces behind it in mind. 

All the options do essentially the same thing—they transplant you from the "real world" or a "waking reality" to a simulated one or dream state (except for Total Recall, which honestly I don't think really fits in the poll). The physics of each are the determining factors in my choosing, specifically one physical property. Unfortunately for some of the movies, this physical property isn't explored, so I couldn't really consider it. The property which I find the most compelling is death and it is why I choose the Matrix. 

Of the movies that explores death in a simulated reality, the sim-real of The Matrix is the only one that actually kills you if you die while "plugged in" so to speak. In Inception, you're woken up or transplanted to limbo. In Surrogates, you wake up (unless killed by the special weapon). And you'll wake up from your deceased avatar. 

So why is this important? The easy way to answer it is that it makes the Matrix more real in that in our current perceived reality, death is real, certain, and inevitable. The hard way to answer it is that actual death makes life worth living more than in a safer sim-real.  In film at least, death is a good motivator. Characters have to accomplish something or else someone will die. Perhaps art imitates life (or the other way around) in that death makes life more appealing. Of course, I can't really say for sure as I have never died. Yet. 

I'm also under the impression that I would learn much more about myself while in a simulated environment that I could actually die in. In Inception, I could live as long as I wanted (in theory) and I would be able to re-do any mistakes I've made, which would defeat the purpose of learning. Having a surrogate would lead to a super hedonistic life, devoid of pain or humanity. I could literally do whatever I wanted. In the Matrix it's different. I have to live by some kind of rule. One of these is that "the body can not live without the mind" which none of these films really explore. They're more about the nature of reality. But I find these rules important. Though ironically, I find the fact that you would die in the Matrix to be unbelievable. It makes more sense that you would simply wake up, like in the other movies. 

Perhaps another film will come out that deals more heavily with the "body-mind" question and less of the "What is reality?" question. 

Review: Eating the Dinosaur

In his new book, Eating the Dinosaur, Chuck Klosterman delivers another thought-provoking exploration of pop culture very similar to his Sex, Drugs, and Cocopuffs. The book ranges in topics from comparing Kurt Cobain to David Koresh, dissecting time-travel, and critiquing the writings of Ted Kaczynski. 


Klosterman is the master of probing seemingly innocuous or forgotten events and people of popular culture, dismantling them, and exposing new ideas and concepts. He is able to find similarities and analogies in things that seem completely different.

Klosterman's main thematic focus, as in Cocopuffs, is his examination in how musicians, artists, filmmakers, athletes, and the media define reality. Klosterman takes hold of the power of the increasingly simulated experience of modern life and breaks it down, shakes it out, and sees what falls through. This is what makes Klosterman one of my favorite writers—he can discuss a variety of subjects that all come back to his central focus.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in media/cultural studies or anyone who is interested in a good laugh as the book is also funny in a sardonic kind of way.