Tunak Tunak Tun

Carlisle

The song Tunak Tunak Tun first came to Carlisle in 00.2, when it was performed at the Lip-Sync and then played at the last dance. The next year it continued as canon, and even had its own Tunak Tunak Tun Appreciation activity.

Lancaster

Tunak Tunak Tun became a part of LAN canon in 05.2. The dance was first introduced in 04.2, but the song itself was first played at a Lancaster dance in 03.1.

How Tunak Came to Lancaster

Once upon a time at Lancaster, in 2nd session 2004, there was a hall called First Dietz. First Dietz is very secluded from the rest of Franklin and Marshall, so they had to make do with each other. A popular pastime of First Dietz was watching videos on RA Adam Roush's computer. One day, Adam showed them a video called Tunak Tunak Tun. They were enthralled. This man was dancing with 4 iterations of himself, to a catchy beat, and playing an air sitar. They loved Tunak Tunak Tun, and they loved Daler Mehndi.

Towards the end of the first week, First Dietz had a most outstanding idea. We shall choreograph a dance to Tunak Tunak Tun and teach it to all.

So a dance was choreographed. Right in the 2nd Dietz lounge, for Dietz had only 1 lounge among its 3 floors.

This dance was introduced to Lancaster during the Saturday activity "A Day at the Mall". And it was loved by all.

It was then played at every dance. On the final dance, it felt as if every single person in the F&M Campus was trying to put their hands in the center at the end of the song.

Next year, only one member of First Dietz was there 1st session. Patrick Liu tried very hard to get them all into Tunak, but they just didn't understand the glory of it all.

It was to be 2nd session, when 1st Dietzers Christian "Christ" Burnette, Gokul Krish, and Jeffrey Sachs had all returned. Now was the time to attempt that which hadn't been done before:

Adding a song to the canon.

And so, a vote was held. However, the ballot was pure evil. The very nature of the ballot was more confusing than Florida 2000. The ballot read thusly:

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Should Daler Mehndi - Tunak Tunak Tun (5:01) become part of the lower canon?

YES | NO

Should LA Style - James Brown Is Dead (5:43) remain part of the lower canon?

YES | NO

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Did the ballot really mean what is implied? That Tunak and James Brown could not coexist in the same canon? No it did not, but some were confused.

Luckily for all, Tunak and James Brown are now both happily in the Canon forever more. James Brown Is Dead received just over 75% of the vote to remain in the canon, while Tunak Tunak Tun received a bit over 60% of the vote.

During Lancaster 06.1, a group of intrepid Indians tried to change tradition by choreographing their own, more "indian" dance to Tunak Tunak Tun. It did not stick.

The Choreography

During the "yodeling", sway left to right and look down.

Chorus: Air sitar, plucking the strings with your right hand, and going up the fret with your left hand. Hold the sitar vertically as opposed to horizontally. (Skidmore CTY'ers still hold it horizontally.)
Make fists and point your pointer fingers out. Put your right hand above your shoulder and your left in front of your chest. Twist your fingers.
Air sitar
Pointed fingers
Air sitar

Verse I:
Act as if you are raving (This move was supposed to be a belly dance).
At the end of the verse, Daler let's out a yell. At that time Put your hands into the "Kamehameha" form from Dragon Ball Z, except above your head. This is actually representative of summoning a fireball.

Chorus

Verse II:
Extend your arms downwards and bring your arms around in a clockwise circle.
At the end of this verse around the words "Tara Mehndi" there are 5 beats of a drum. You then pretend to hit a drum Right, Left, Right, Left, Right

Chorus

Instrumental I:
Turn to your right and wave your arms at your side. This mimics a many armed god.

Verse I

Chorus

Verse II

Chorus

Instrumental II:
Shimmy wildly

Verse I

Chorus

Verse II

Chorus

Finale:
Everyone puts their hands in the center and goes down toward the ground and jumps up with a triumphant yell.

Canon

This song is currently part of the canon at...

• Carlisle (Orginated here, contrary to popular belief. Has been Canon since at the latest 2001)
• Lancaster
• Los Angelos
• Saratoga
• Skidmore

Lyrics

The lyrics, as well as their translation can be found at

http://www.lyrical.nl/song/26240/25771+25769+25770

The original Daler Mehndi video (with the primitive origins of the dance) may be seen at

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5995556455415798282&q=tunak+tunak+tun

--Jeff Sachs 08:23, 9 Aug 2005 (MST)