By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
May 3, 1999
Prior to heading off on a world tour with Jewel a couple of months ago, singer-songwriter Steve Poltz wrote the tongue-in-cheek “The Star Wars Song.”
” `I’m not a `Star Wars’ fanatic,” says Poltz. “But I wanted to write a song that the whole world could sing along to. Even if people don’t understand English, they all recognize the words Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. It’s a really good song to do live.”
During the ditty, which Poltz performs every night, he describes Luke Skywalker as a “light-saber using, sister-kissing freak” and encourages audiences to imitate Chewbacca’s dual-tone howls, prompting them with the verse, “Go, Chewie, go!”
“The Star Wars Song” isn’t available on Poltz’s album “One Left Shoe.” But there has been interest in releasing the record as a single. It wouldn’t be the first time “Star Wars” inspired a song.
In 1977, Meco Monardo scored a No. 1 hit with ” `Star Wars’ Theme/Cantina Band,” which he was moved to write after seeing the movie . . . 11 times. Backed by 75 musicians, Meco incorporated R2-D2 sound effects and created a kitschy disco number.
And savvy television fans may have figured out that Nerf Herder – which performs the theme song for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” – nicked its name from a line in “The Empire Strikes Back” in which Princess Leia describes Han Solo as a “half-witted, scruffy looking nerf herder.”
Poltz – who co-wrote “You Were Meant For Me” with Jewel and stars in the video – will be touring in Europe when “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” opens on May 19.
