December 10, 2008

These Are (Most of) the People in Your Neighborhood

ONE OF THE highlights of our neighborhood tree lighting last week was the big-screen premiere of Atwater Village's new anthem and video, created by a group of talented neighbors including Seth Freeman and Tom Bishel.

They had contacted me for permission to use my Flickr photos (The Roost, Tam O'Shanter, the chapel) in the video, so keep an eye out for them. And here are the lyrics (my fave: "you can sing and dance or get a short term loan") to your new neighborhood anthem:
"Atwater Village"
by
Seth Freeman and Tom Bishel

Sesame Chorus
These are the people in your neighborhood
In your little nook of town
It used to be called Atwater
But the Village gives it such a sweet sound

Verse
woman named Toni who can bake a sweet surprise
a mechanic, a butcher, lots of stuff to buy
in the Atwater Village neighborhood
a golfer, a grocer, a yoga instructor
an officer of the law, a gallery director
in the Atwater Village neighborhood

Bridge
Sometimes you'll see a happy person waving to you from their door
Could be you need to borrow some sugar or a basket
with an Atwater neighbor all your life you can ask it
Until the day you end up in a casket
That you picked out at the coffin store

Chorus
These are the people that you meet
when you are walking down the street
in the Atwater Village neighborhood

Verse
Dogs, kids, horses, playing in the stable
Friendly people cooking and waiting on your table
pampered birds, and stickers and labels
in the Atwater Village neighborhood
accordion teachers, all kinds of preachers
we've even got the best school teachers
in the Atwater Village neighborhood

Bridge
Here we have lots of dentists, keepin teeth clean and cavity free
and over here see Garcetti cleaning up graffiti
and Gina Shivon, our officer friendly

Chorus

Verse
Have a drink at Tam O’Shanter, 55 Degrees
Or The Griffin, Bigfoot, The Roost, or the Tee Gee
In the Atwater Village neighborhood
you can go to the farmers market and get yourself an apple
hit the convenience store and drink yourself a Snapple
visit the big box store then go to the chapel
in the Atwater Village neighborhood

Bridge
you can get your nails done and wax your bikini line
then go and buy a paint brush, and end up pouring some wine

Chorus

Bridge
why even get in your car everything is here
a book a stamp a roll of yarn
a dress a toy a bra a beer
a cut of meat a tennis racquet
a doggie treat a vintage jacket
a tile a sneaker, a book with your pho,
a rug a rubdown and a cup of joe
a beauty salon a wireless phone
you can sing and dance or get a short term loan
an exotic home furnishing a dvd
a pot for you to plant a tree
a foodstuff from the grocery
a veritable plethora a potpourri
everything is here we think you’ll agree

Chorus

6 comments:

Scott said...

Awesome! I think that video alone boosted property values 15%.

Miles said...

Awesome indeed. Hard to watch with tears in my eyes!

Oliver's Mamma said...

Greg Brouwer worked tirelessly long hours to Edit this wonderful video
as well....all of the work was done for free
with additional photography by Lorena David, Mylissa Grieve and Luis Lopez
.....wonderful neighbors all
thanks!
Catherine

Lulu said...

I really could have gone for another 2 minutes of verse/chorus on this. Quite genius, although, I'm a little sad to see Crispy Crust didn't make the list.

Leonora Gershman said...

My favorite line:

Until the day you end up in a casket
That you picked out at the coffin store

Thanks to Catherine and Greg and Seth and all who worked so hard on this fabu vid.

- Leonora Pitts, your friendly Neighborhood Council co-chair

Unknown said...

It's great to see this video posted here on your blog, Newbie! I love living in this neighborhood in spite of, and actually even because of, the now highly publicized rift mentioned in a more recent blog post. I'd much rather live in an interesting place among a diverse group of people with differing opinions than in a boring place with a bunch of people who share my exact views. How else can the people of the world overcome their differences!

I want to echo what Catherine added about the credits, with the one addition of Catherine Dent - producer. In fact the "until the day you end up in a casket" portion of the lyric was one of the many witty lines suggested by her.

There was so much footage and so many photos and many lyrics that were not used in the video, maybe some day we'll put out a collector's edition DVD - heh :)

I know they're in the end credits roll, but it was certainly a highly collaborative (and fun!) project which we worked on literally up until the 11th hour so I think it's appropriate to mention the rest of the folks involved again, so I will: Catherine Dent, Producer (hands-on in a great way), Greg Brouwer (editor), Lorena David (videography), Mylissa Grieve (photos), Luis Lopez (photos), Atwater Village Newbie (photos). A great bunch of people that I would gladly work with again.