My way: death by karaoke

I love nights of debauchery and ending up at my favourite seedy karaoke bar. The cask wine, the mish mash of drunken and slurry participants, the dazzling array of songs and the assumption that for one night only, I can be as enigmatic as Neil Young, Bob Dylan, or perhaps Snoop Dogg.

Note to self: do not sing Frank Sinatra's 'My way' if karaoking in the Philippines. Apparently, this is a death wish. It has become such a problem that authorities now have a sub category of crime called 'the my way killings'. Why? Apparently the song is just too cocky and provocative and everyone has an idea about how it should be sung.

'Defenders of “My Way” say it is a victim of its own popularity. Because it is sung more often than most songs, the thinking goes, karaoke-related violence is more likely to occur while people are singing it. The real reasons behind the violence are breaches of karaoke etiquette, like hogging the microphone, laughing at someone’s singing or choosing a song that has already been sung.' As a result many karaoke bars have removed it from their playlists.

Read the full NY Times article on the bizarre phenomenon here.