Dads in Beds (Kanye West parody)

When my kiddo Theo was born, I took parental leave to support this big family transition. During that season, it was Father's Day, and I had a vision of creating a "feminist father's day anthem" — because I had just witnessed my partner's work in carrying a whole human to term, and moving through the birth process. It's a wondrous and significant event, and it inspired me try and subvert the honouring-of-dads by shining a light back on the amazing woman in our home.

My conceptual explorations landed on the idea of parody. The work of Kanye came to mind — juxtaposing the intensity and aggression of his Yeezus-era work, with the "soft" themes of parenting.

The work of parenting IS intense. It's exhausting. It's a bootcamp. You're sleep deprived, yet compassion is demanded of you. You're so lacking in self-care, but must continue giving to others. Especially with the arrival of a newborn (and in our case, two older kids), there is nowhere to turn where you might find a smidge of quiet, a dollop of rest, and dime of downtime. It's all a little too much. There's nothing like the season of early days of parenting, and this song would need to stand as a fellow soldier's tribute to the in-the-trenches work.

This song was built in 2 days. Lyrics first. Then, recording vocals; I couldn't afford the time for a proper studio setup, so recorded these on my white-tangled-corded headphones. Then, filming. Daytime hours only, when my kiddos were awake, to get them in the shots. Then, editing. Nighttime only, in streaks of focus while I should have been sleeping. Was it hard to get the camera in focus? Get my lip-syncing right? Get vocals to utter the right utterances? Yes and yes; I look back on this wicked little sprint and see a billion little tweaks I would improve if I had given myself more time. But I wanted it done by Father's Day, and the parenting work was what actually needed my real focus.

So the song and video got made! I shared it with Kendra and the kids. It's been a staple in our house ever since. A classic, a legend, really. But sadly, until now (it's 2024), it hasn't been able to be shared much further.

Is parody fair use? Can I use Kanye's song, rewrite the lyrics, and create this tribute to parenting? Universal Music Group's automatic internet copyright scanners said no, and immediately blocked the video on Vimeo, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter — literally anywhere I tried to share it. I maintain that this is absolutely within the "fair use" principles of parody.

So, hopefully on my very own internet platform here, it can remain, for you to also enjoy!

(Thanks for watching!)