005 - Ben Wah Balls

"Welcome to the latest episode of blink-155, one of Canada's blink-182 podcasts, we've determined."

## Title Pun

No title pun. Sam quickly transitions from pretending Canadian music journalist Alan Cross is his dad to introducing Ben Wah Balls as one of blink-182's most troubling incestual love songs.

## Episode Summary

### Housekeeping

There is no housekeeping on this episode.

### Main Discussion

* Continuing the theme of 'firsts,' Ben Wah Balls is the first joke song in a series that closes out Cheshire Cat.
* Despite being a joke song, it clocks in at almost four minutes and Sam and Josiah wonder if this is actually one of blink's longest songs. Seeing that this isn't available online, Sam implores listeners to start compiling song lengths and any other interesting background information for them to use.
* Sam suggests that these types of hackey joke songs are a key part of blink's identity. Josiah suggests these are deeply unfunny jokes and describes Tom's sense of humour as a "12 year old boy at camp." They suggest perhaps blink lost this sense of humour between TOYPAJ and Self Unentitled (referred to in this episode as 'Self titled' or 'Untitled')
* "Ben Wah Balls" is a mispelling of Ben Wa balls, but Sam and Josiah are unsure if this was intentional or not, because it was 1995 and there was no wikipedia.
* Sam and Josiah wonder if there was an actual man Ben Wa who was the namesake for the balls and if so, was it an honour or a clever takedown (like Dan Savage's Rick Santorum/santorum campaign)
* Another inaccuracy in the song is that Ben Wa balls are actually only safe for vaginal use but Tom describes using them anally. Sam reveals he does not fully understand because he is a massive virgin. This song may ultimately be about the perils of limited sexual education.
* Sam puts forward a theory that Old Boy, a move directed by Park Chan-Wook and adapted from manga released in 1996 (one year after the song) is actually based on Ben Wah Balls.
* Josiah does not like that there is ska in the middle of the song. While both suggest they are not looking forward to the unPC content they will have to discuss in the future, talking abou ska may be worse.
* The band was trying too hard and the song is too tight musically to be considered purely a joke song.
* In the previous episode Sam and Josiah discussed Matt Skiba trying to blend in as Tom with a Hurley shirt, but he does't make dirty jokes, which is a true Tom trait. Tom contains multitudes: obsessed with aliens, a Mason, a born-again Christian, a filmmaker, Angels and Airwaves, yet still loves making dick jokes.
* Sam sends Josiah a video ciip of blink playing in Montreal in 1996, thanking all of the bands they played with
* The sketch at the beginning of the song is the first time that Tom says he wants to fuck a dog.
* There are similarities in the guitar parts to Enthused

### List of Covers

* Simple instrumental cover, with 69 views

### Final Thoughts

* Josiah doesn't like that it has ska in it, the lyrics are almost funny enough to work, and this is a completely different band that blink currently. The old live videos are what make the song amazing.
* Sam is grateful to Ben Wah Balls for providing the narrative foundation for Old Boy, one of his favourite action movies.

## Bands/People/Places Mentioned

* Alan Cross and The Ongoing History of New Music - Sam mocks Josiah for being an Alan Cross motherfucker when he describes old punk cassettes as having a warm crackle
* Dan Savage - Sam and Josiah wished they had invited the sex columnist on to discuss the minutiae of Ben Wa balls.
* Sir-Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back" passes the Bechdel test, Ben Wah Balls does not.
* The Strokes - this song may be their version of being the Strokes because it shows they don't care. They wrote a good song techincally but made it impossible to listen to with stupid lyrics.
* Khloe Kardashian - She has posted about using Ben Wa balls and Sam and Josiah wonder if she likes blink-182
* d.b.s - a great Canadian punk band from Vancouver, is one of the bands thanked by Mark Hoppus in the 1996 Montreal video
* Seelin Hall
* Wolf Eyes, Lightning Bolt, Merzbow - All bands that Sam and Josiah suggest sound like he blown out, distorted version of Ben Wah Balls on Buddha

## Other Notable Items

* First mention of what Sam and Josiah will do if/when blink-182 releases new songs. Sam suggests they will commit ritual suicide if that happens. Josiah suggests that they will just start saying that the pod is actually named after the +44 song "155." They ask listeners to collectively agree that as soon as song 156 is released, they will state the pod is named after +44.
* First time Josiah mentions Bloor Street as an attempt to name drop landmarks in Toronto
* a @dril tweet is mentioned
* Both Sam and Josiah complain about ska, but the pod will eventually enter Ska Season
* Josiah mentions Travis Barker's autobiography 'Can I Say'
* First mention of a targeted campaign to get Tom on the pod
* They mention there are several great live, VHS-vibe videos of the band performing the song live but do not play them on the episode.