Rachel Pendergrass is a writer, performer and science communicator in Atlanta, Georgia. She is the assistant director of the Dragon Con Science Track, a program contributor for the Atlanta Science Festival, and producer/host of a monthly science variety show called Solve for X. When she’s not sciencing, you can find her performing as a storyteller, making nerdy sketch comedy videos with Dragon Con TV, enthusiastically ranting about sharks, or working on her sommelier skills by drinking fancy wine. Find her on Twitter at @sharkespearean.
Shark Week started on Sunday. This week long celebration of all things elasmobranch (Okay, let’s be honest, mostly Great White sharks and very little else) has inspired artists, comedy shows, and even possibly Super Bowl halftime shows!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmcWZ2Bzoho
Shark Week has also inspired more than a few musicians to show their love for fintastic festivities through song. Even Billy Idol got in on the Shark Week song action!
httpv://youtu.be/mhzXk3e9d7g
Here are the top 12 picks for your Shark Week playlist.
For Shark Week’s 25th Anniversary, Mythbuster’s Grant Imahara teamed up with geek-culture singer-songwriter Marian Call to create this whimsical shark week anthem. Chomp Chomp!
httpv://youtu.be/GhfRFu1qxT8
Comedy Youtube channel Barely Political shared with the world their touching ballad sung by a puppet shark, who urges the world to remember that for sharks, every week is shark week.
httpv://youtu.be/PoA7hvR5imw
In 2011, singer-songwriter Jessica Frech embarked on a quest to release one new music video each monday based on the comments on the previous week’s video. In one such video, she sang about how deeply she loves Shark Week, complete with the most disturbing cartilaginous backup singer ever seen.
httpv://youtu.be/7yytNsi9vB0
Years later, Jessica Frech (and her terrifying backup singing shark) released yet another hit that combines two very different flavors; Miley Cyrus and shark science with her parody of We Can’t Stop.
httpv://youtu.be/skg4Ox7P31w
Florida native Jacob Jeffries and his band posed the question, “What if sharks could speak, would they be watching Human Week?” Only through the transcendent power of music could we tackle such probing questions.
httpv://youtu.be/Hb8o4c642NA
Although not about Shark Week, this ballad about the internal monologue of a theme park shark who has somehow learned to perform like a dolphin has about the same entertainment to education ratio as Shark Week has in the past.
httpv://youtu.be/ptMrndKnnow
One year ago, Rifftrax parodied the single best movie ever made, Sharknado, live in movie theatres. For the closing credits of that event, this song was created. Its artistic prowess matches that of the Sharknado movies. It is more than worth the $0.89 it costs.
Discovery Channel’s greatest shark-programing competitor, National Geographic, posted this beautiful elasmo-indie hit by songwriter and filmmaker Andy Brandy Casagrande IV (ABC4). The song is jam packed with emotion and accurate shark facts.
httpv://youtu.be/xsp4CvENFU0
iJustine creates a Shark Week parody video every year. They’re pretty fun, even if they tend to hyper-focus on shark attacks, much like Shark Week. She has parodied Bruno Mars’ ‘Lazy Song,’ Enrique Iglesias’ ‘I like It,’ Magic!’s ‘Rude,’ and more.
httpv://youtu.be/634BWmkKAsc
Proving that sharks are popular in every music genre, punk band Michigan City Vandals has a Shark Week song for the more hardcore music fan.
httpv://youtu.be/ZA8obrFq_FI
MelodySheep, who became famous amongst nerd for their ‘Symphony of Science’ series of remixes, even did a Shark Week remix.
httpv://youtu.be/WgBdEMjeT6E
However, if you’re tired of seeing constant posts about Shark Week (like this one) all over social media, youtuber Chris Thompson has your back. We all know a few people who could stand to hear this song. I may be one of those people.
httpv://youtu.be/YyH0IpGdmIA