“SJI” animated: Cute but dark

At first I thought that, Henrik Eriksson, a disc jockey in Uppsala, Sweden, was writing to me because of the podcast, but now I think it’s a coincidence that he happened to alert me to a very compelling YouTube video right around the same time.

The video is a computer animated piece, bringing to life the Armstrong ‘28 version of “SJI” with some curiously cute creatures. The animator is Dhar Jabouri, described as a “hobbyist animator,” using what I guess is software called Animation:Master, according to the YouTube blurb.

In any case, I say “curiously cute” because while these look like escapees from Sesame Street, the interpretation of the song is rather dark. When we get a glimpse of the woman “on the long white table,” there’s a splattering of blood about. Later, a short flashback vaguely implies that maybe the singer was responsible for the violence.

Or maybe I’m reading too much into it — check out the clip and see what you think.

Big thanks to Mr. Eriksson, check out his blog “Swing, Jazz, Blues — Dance to the Music.” (Here’s his post on the video, as well.)