In 1999, Finnish DJ Ville Virtanen, better known by his stage name “Darude,” released “Sandstorm,” an electronic dance song that would hit the number one spot on the U.K. dance charts and become known all over the world. Now, nearly 20 years later, some guy on YouTube has carved an ocarina out of a potato and performed the song, which has garnered almost 300,000 views in less than a week. Does that mean the song is timeless? You decide.
Of course, it’s not the first time someone has created a novelty version of the song. There’s a metal version, a version created with eight floppy disk drives, and an accordion version from 2016, which looks like it might have been made by the same guy, or at least someone who could pass for his brother.
What makes the potato version truly special is the time this young man spends creating his instrument. Not only do we see him carving his ocarina, but he even whips out his keyboard to make sure it’s tuned properly.
Then, in an amazing display of both skill and lung capacity, he plays an excellent version of the song. And what does he do when he’s finished? He eats the potato of course. Thereby showing us that art, like life, is transitory… or maybe he was just hungry.
