Last week, the students at Iowa State University got a midday treat — one that combined some “Bad Romance” with a bell tower. Tin-Shi Tam, ISU carillonneur, performed Lady Gaga’s hit song on the carillon (aka the bells in said tower) at noon on Friday.
An ISU student started a Facebook campaign to request the song, and Tam obliged. Apparently, Tam often takes requests for her Friday performances. Hanson’s “MMMBop” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” also grace her repertoire.
I graduated from another Big 12 school, the University of Oklahoma. There, students are often subjected to OU’s fight song “Boomer Sooner” or Rodger and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” (yes, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain) on the hour. Otherwise, it’s just the traditional dings and dongs to denote the time. BORING! Never had I heard any pop hits. So color me jealous of this ISU tradition.
My only great disappointment in this is that there aren’t any Little Monsters on the courtyard attempting to recreate Gaga’s dance from the music video! Now that would be entertaining. But it’s still pretty cool, right?
If you were an ISU student, what song would you request? My vote goes to the Saved By the Bell theme song. We’ve got the running late to class motif and the word bell in the title. Sounds like a winner to me.