This is it, people. We’re officially on the tail end of the Smash Mouth meme. It’s been a good ride. But while most reworkings of “All Star” have just upped the levels of obnoxiousness that are pre-baked into the song, this one is actually enjoyable thanks to its use of sounds from what remains the best edition of Windows ever made.
The creator of the Windows XP-ified jam embedded below, James Nielssen, is no amateur. He’s previously fucked with the Smash Mouth-penned Shrek-anthem in classic vids like “‘All Star’ by Smashmouth but every word is someBODY” and “Guy From Smashmouth Saying someBODY 268,435,456 times.”
For his latest masterpiece, Nielssen has recreated the whole jam using only sounds from Windows XP, an operating system that’s surprisingly younger than the song. Am I wrong that this is good? Nielssen himself called it a “nightmare” but I’m putting it in my iTunes library. With the lyrics excised and those comforting tones, this will make for some nice walking around music in the spring.