Jonathan Coulton was once a mild-mannered computer programmer. But when his first child was born, he decided to quit his day job and pursue a career as a musician.
From September 2005 to September 2006 he released "Thing a Week"--a podcast where he posted a new piece of music every week. Some were inventive covers, but most were original songs written and produced by him in his little apartment "studio" in Brooklyn.
"Thing a Week" endeared him to high-tech, geeky, podcast fans, as he wrote surprisingly emotive songs about robots, monsters, and mad scientists. Among this random bunch of geeky songs he penned a beautiful song about parenthood. At DadGifts, this is right up our alley!
"You Ruined Everything" was released August 18, 2006.
In his own words, here’s what Jonathan says about writing the song:
"I was having a conversation with a friend who had recently become a parent, and she reminded me of something I had forgotten about since my daughter was born. She was describing this what-have-I-done feeling - I just got everything perfect in my life, and then I went and messed it all up by having a baby. I don't feel that way anymore, but the thought certainly crossed my mind a few times at the beginning. Eventually you just fall in love and forget about everything else, but it's not a very comfortable transition. I compare the process to becoming a vampire, your old self dies in a sad and painful way, but then you come out the other side with immortality, super strength and a taste for human blood. At least that's how it was for me. At any rate, it's complicated."
Here's a video of Jonathan performing this song live at Temple Bar, Santa Monica, CA on October 9 2006.
Jonathan Coulton (known by his fans as JoCo) now has released over a dozen albums, tours widely, records with Aimee Mann, John Roderick, and John Hodgman and is the musical co-host on NPR's game show Ask Me Another. He even has a yearly musical/geeky ocean cruise called the JoCo Cruise.
You can find his music, much of it free at https://www.jonathancoulton.com
