Bug Music in Johnson County

Bugs are always music to our ears here at Johnson County Exterminating because they give us the opportunity to grow our symphony of satisfied customers. Throughout human history, bugs have always inspired the arts such as literature and movies, even some early cave paintings in France have depictions of humans gathering honey. When it comes to music, author and musician David Rothenberg has recently put out a book with an accompanied cd entitled “Bug Music” (April 2013, St. Martin’s Press) in which he makes the claim that the rhythm and noise of insects are perhaps the earliest influence on human music. It just makes sense that ancient humans would have beat their drums along with the chirping of crickets or maybe fashioned instruments the way that insects make their music rather like the use of a bow over strings creates sound like a the cricket rubbing its legs together. David Rothenberg’s insights are quite fascinating and the cd includes the use of bug sounds set to music which becomes a favorite of entomologists and music-lovers alike. Some of our other favorites include the song “Ugly Bug Ball” sung by Burl Ives and written by Robert Shermann. This appears on Walt Disney’s “Summer Magic” program that used to be on Sunday nights on the Wonderful World of Disney and can now be found on YouTube. It is so fun for children that we include it in our PowerPoint presentation when we speak to students about bugs at your local schools. Who could ever forget the song “Doomsday: The Bugs are Taking Over” by Elvis Costello or Bobby Gentry’s song “Bugs” which is this author’s personal favorite. In it she sings of how bugs are everywhere and a “sure fire way to pass the time of day you fold up a newspaper and swat ‘em”. This song truly captures what a nuisance insects can be but if you find yourself heading for that newspaper too often- of course, give us a call, we can do quite a bit better than that and the silence of bugs can be music to many ears. Still, it’s easy to see how bugs have inspired music and whether it’s Rimsky Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee”, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, The Beatles, or even the heavy metal band Wasp, post and let us know what insect music inspires you!