DISCLAIMER: My boss told me to write about this. I swear I’m not just being a goofy college slacker (well, maybe a little).
So this is what it is. Early Netherlandish master painter Hieronymus Bosch is best known for one overwhelming work: his epic triptych “The Garden of Earthly Delights.” This painting, created circa 1490-1510, is believed to be a depiction of the progression of mankind from purity to damnation. The first panel shows Adam and Eve being introduced by God himself in Eden. The second panel is the largest and most insane, depicting Eden transformed into a garden of earthly delights, in which scores of naked humans gallivant around with deranged hedonism, mating with each other, animals, and plants, and beginning to morph into actual animals and plants as well.
But the third panel, possibly even more disturbing, is where the “Butt Song” comes from. This panel depicts Hell, full of demons torturing humans in various ways while the skies overhead are filled with black smoke. Interestingly, most of hell’s torture methods involve musical instruments! And in the middle-left of the panel, partially buried beneath a large harp/lute sort of thing, is a person’s rear end with a musical score written on it!
See it?
And now, a fellow goofy college slacker (Amelia at Oklahoma Christian U) has taken this score and transcribed it. This has been making its rounds of the internet, but just in case you haven’t seen it, the Music Library Blog is here to link it to you. It’s quite strange and random. Do these notes contain a hidden meaning in their melody? Or was Bosch simply drawing random black dots on lines on the butt? Either way, the butt song from Hell can be heard here: http://chaoscontrolled123.tumblr.com/post/76305632587/luke-and-i-were-looking-at-hieronymus-boschs
Sin not, dear readers, lest your bottom become a musical score!
AU Music Library News 