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The STAR WARS Cantina Band Song Is Even Catchier on a Barrel Organ

by Blake Rodgers
Dec 30 2017 • 11:46 AM
The Cantina Band song from A New Hope is quintessential Star Wars. The familiar notes set the scene for the wretched hive of scum and villainy in Mos Eisley. And while it’s delightful played as is, there’s something really compelling about it being played on an old-timey barrel organ. YouTuber Brice Dudouet shared his take on the song earlier in the year, and it has recently burrowed its way into our brains and has no plans on leaving any time soon. The iconic Star Wars tune played by Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes is somehow even more more of an earworm when played on a crank organ. 
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Despite our loving the original song, the first 30 seconds is all anyone ever really needs to activate the nostalgia centers in the brain. What surprised us about the organ version is how enthralled we were with the process and just how into the song Dudouet gets for his YouTube audience. He may only be cranking the organ, making sure the perforated paper roll doesn’t jam and occasionally changing the key of the music, but that’s still quite a performance. Dudouet’s arrangement of the John Williams song prove he’s quite the Star Wars fan and his nerdy proclivities shine through elsewhere too. In 2016, he arranged the theme to Monsters, Inc. 
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What do you think of these organ-ized (see what I did there?) songs? What other movie themes would you want to hear in this style of music? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Image: Lucasfilm