#THE BACKGROUND VOCALS IN THE 2ND CHORUS BTW

[hongjoongpresent]

the entire essay I could write about the background vocals in terrible man. you don't understand

[acaplaya-musings]

Voiceplay-adjacent Visuals: Ghost Riders In The Sky

Geoff's Halloween video for 2022 (uploaded on the 2nd of October) was a cover of the song Ghost Riders In The Sky, written by Stan Jones (who also wrote Saddle Up), and performed by many artists since, such as Marty Robbins and Johnny Cash. As Geoff himself said in the description, Geoff had been getting "MORE than a few requests for this song" over the past few months prior, and honestly, with it being both a "spooky" song and a country/Western song, it practically had his name written all over it. And well, Geoff certainly delivered, as always, and I have a decent few things to talk about here, so let's go!

Not actually talking about the Cowboy Geoffs just yet, but of course I gotta point out the cool way that they flash in and out of shot right at the start of the video, like a sort of teaser of what you're gonna get from the rest of the video.

And doubly of course, I must show my love for this very cool logo for the cover/video, which apparently Geoff designed himself or something? Seriously this freaking slaps 👌

I'm guessing that Lead Geoff's fairly simple black/grey outfit is meant to help the Cowboy Geoffs stand out more in comparison/contrast, but also goddamn this guy wears black a lot 😂😅

(Also oh my god he's not wearing anything on his left wrist! A very rare occurrence for sure! 😝)

Shoutout to Rick Underwood once again for the ghostly makeup! (He's also credited in the description as "beard wrangler" 😆)

There have been at least two (maybe three) reaction videos I've watched which have compared the Cowboy Geoffs to the Night King and/or his army from Game Of Thrones. It's the eyes, mostly

Right, now time for individual shots! I'm gonna mess with the chronological order of screencaps here just a tiny bit, just so I can do a straightforward left-to-right introduction:

Geoff credits his "backing vocals" in this one, but apparently the credits aren't in respoective order of their positioning in the video. I found out which Cowboy Geoff is which from comments (Patrons of Geoff I'm assuming) on a reaction video. So anyway, this is Jeff!

(For once Lead Geoff (or just Geoff for this one) isn't actually the one with the least amount of facial hair (Geoff has a bit of a 5 'o' clock shadow in this video)).

...This one is Daryl (love the red-brown coat, very nice) (Yes, Daryl (the Patrons helped name him I believe?)).

...This one is Goff (notice that he takes off his hat with his left hand? He's a leftie! (for this video at least))

...And finally we have Jeoph. This isn't the first time Geoff has had 4 Backup Geoffs helping him out in a video (e.g. see Ain't No Sunshine), but this was the first video that the 4th/extra Backup Geoff was officially given a name 😄

No prizes for guessing who got credited with lighting design (and 3D renders!) for this one, but regardless, shoutout to Eli!

Love the translucent/ghostly effect on the Cowboy Geoffs, very neat!

Geoff could have kept the Cowboy Geoffs on screen for the whole time, but instead they disappear along with the background landscape at the end of the first chorus, and then they fade back into shot after the first line of the second verse, about 4 or 5 seconds later. I vibe with it! It's creative, it's interesting, it encourages you to keep paying attention to the video!

And this of course was very cool!

(Also notice how as well as Goff being left-handed, Jeff's gun holster thing is on the side of his vest, under his left arm, rather than on his belt! Details!!!!)

(Super big aspect ratio for this video too btw, like it nearly takes up the full height of my laptop screen! (Gotta have enough space to get good full-body shots of all 5 of them I suppose))

This man has such a stranglehold over me that even just seeing him whistling in this (on my first-time watch of it) had me doing a short intake of breath! How is he allowed to be this good at so many things? 😅

(Also a little jealous because not only can I not raise one eyebrow independently of the other, but I also can't whistle!!! (I can't click/snap my fingers either, but that one I've learned how to do a "cheat" version that's more like a one-handed clap))

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love it when Geoff gets to belt out a line or two in a song! Especially when you can actually see him putting full effort into it!

Very cool! (Also this video is the second usage of the gramophone logo on Geoff's channel; the first was on Rains Of Castamere, but I forgot to mention it ^^;)

Also also I can't help but give a shoutout to the audio panning effect right at the end, with the sound of hoofbeats that move from the left ear of your headphones to the right, as if you're really listening to horses running by you. It might be one of my favourite clever sound effect things ever tbh.

Geoff doesn't upload full-length covers as often as Voiceplay does (totally understandable btw), but when he does, it's always an absolute treat! Currently (i.e. as of the 21st of February), I only have a few Geoff videos left to talk about (some of his 2023 uploads!), but I'm quite excited for them, so stay tuned!