Matt: [00:00:00] Hey there, rock and rollers. Here on Podcast Awesome we talk about icons, design, tech, business, and nerdery with members of the Font Awesome team. But every so often, we include fun episodes just for the heck of it by taking a deep dive into one of those funny or oddball icons we've created. I'm your host Matt Johnson, and on this episode we'll be covering Cowbell Circle Plus.
And when we're done, you'll all be wearing gold plated diapers.
"The" Bruce Dickenson: Babies, before we're done here, y'all be wearing gold plated diapers.
Matt: What does that even mean? Okay. Many of you automatically get the reference for this icon,
but for those of you who are scratching your heads, what could it mean that we need a new shipment of cowbells for the farm? The, the cowbell volume needs to be increased. So farmer Ted doesn't lose track of old Betsy. Nope. The icon is in reference to the iconic SNL skit from 20 plus years ago, starring Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken.
But before we jump into that story, maybe we should back up a little bit because you dear podcast, awesome listeners have a voracious appetite for knowledge just like we do. So we've gotta ask some deeper questions. Where did the cowbell originate, and where does the cowbell make appearances in disparate cultures across the globe?
This is the story behind the Cowbell Circle Plus icon.
Okay, so first, maybe [00:02:00] we should jump right into the history and craft of cowbell making. We dug real deep for this one. The first and most obvious use of the cowbell was a sort of analog bovine GPS tracker, so farmers could keep track of where their cows were out in the pasture or the hillside. There's also fun.
Of uses of the cowbell related to cow raids in Ireland? Yes, cow raids.
What's going on out there?
Matt: You see, before cowbells became a staple percussion instrument making appearance in 1970s, rock anthems
cowbells were used. By farmers to alert them to cattle raids and according to medieval list.net, in Ireland and Scotland, cattle weren't just for milk production or burgers with apologies to the vegetarians in the house or pet ownership. Squeeze
Squeeze! And you just feel better.
Matt: They were basically currency and status symbols. And as such, herds of cattle were targets of theft. In fact, cattle rating was so common the entire wars were fought over possession of a particularly handsome cow as seen in the cattle raid of Cooley. And no, I'm not going to try and Cooley in the original old Irish, but anyway, you can probably see where this is going.
If you put cowbells around the necks of your cattle, when a cow theft is going down, the cowbell is sort of the medieval equivalent of the emergency alert system.
This is only a test the.
Matt: Of course, crafty thieves found ways to muffle cowbells with pieces of cloth so they could be more stealthy in the [00:04:00] raid.
But of course, this then necessitated as centuries old arms race to come up with the best crafted cowbells, so as to avoid the next big cattle heist. Now, that's a Netflix documentary series in the making. If I ever heard one. But all this clinging and clinging created other problems too. Like noise pollution again, according to medieval list.net, in the late medieval period villages in Germany, Switzerland, and France, the municipalities sometimes restricted how often cowbells could ring and how loudly the laws got.
Specific too, as the man started coming down on the people and started restricting the size of cowbells and the materials used to construct them, it was like history's first cowbell zoning laws. Imagine the medieval town council
Alex's Swiss, Alter-ego Twin Brothers: Alright Hans. No cowbells bigger than 5" in diameter. Yeah, and only between sunrise and sunset. We can't have insomniac cows ruining our beauty sleep. And no excessive clanging during church services.
We can't have insomniac cows. We would, in our view, but no excessive clanging during church services.
Matt: Ironically, some of these towns would later become known for their expert cowbell craftsmanship. Cowbells have also played a part in superstitions In many cultures around the world, in the alpine regions, large cowbells were used in ceremonial parades and winter festivals to bless the coming year.
For our purposes though, and you knew this one was coming, we made the cowbell Circle plus icon as a way to celebrate the comedic genius of the Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken skit. To tell us a little bit more about the making of the icon. Here's Senior Icon Designer Jory Raphael Jory. I just had to know the story behind the Cowbell Circle plus icon.
Mm-hmm. What, what can you tell me about the making of that [00:06:00] icon?
Jory: Uh, about the more cowbell icon? Mm-hmm. Sure. We, um, you remember the Saturday Night Live sketch?
Matt: I do. Yeah.
Jory: So we thought it'd be a cool icon to have.
Matt: OK, great. Thanks for your time. Appreciate it.
So the cowbell circle plus icon, uh, based on that, uh, fantastic SNL skit. Tell me a little bit about the story behind
Jory: the be of the icon, if you would. Yeah, so we, uh, it's a story as old as time, Matt and when we've had many times on this podcast, um, we made that icon 'cause we thought it would be funny.
Mm-hmm. That's it. And it is funny, we were making some music icons. And we added a cowbell icon, and then we added a more cowbell icon and that's it. So, um,
yeah. Okay.
Matt: Well, I mean, it's a good icon to have. Yeah, I like it. I mean, I don't know how people are gonna use it, but um, I'm sure there's probably some kind of use for it. I just, uh, I just want to thank you for your time to talk about the. Making up the icon just means a lot to me. Thank you.
Thank you, thank you. Thank you for making the icons.
Okay, thanks Jory for that info. And to get to the specifics, the legendary more cowbell SNL skit originally aired on April 8th and the year 2000 during season 25. Episode 16 of Saturday Night Live in the Sketch Walken plays the Bruce Dickinson.
My name is Bruce Dickinson. Yes, THE Bruce Dickenson.
Matt: Yes, the Bruce Dickinson. The Bruce Dickinson, a fictionalized version of a record producer who insists that Blue Oyster Cult's recording of Don't Fear the Reaper needs — you guessed it — more cowbell, baby [00:08:00] Will Ferrell playing fictional cowbell enthusiast Gene Frankel steals the show by aggressively and absurdly playing the instrument by exploring the space by dancing and gyrating as he's wearing an I fitted shirt.
That highlights his dad bod.
Of course, the skit was an automatic classic and the phrase, "guess what, I got a fever nd the only prescription is more cowbell!"
Matt: It quickly became one of the most quoted lines in SNL history, so from medieval cattle wars to Swiss art forms to iconic rock songs. The cowbell has had one of the weirdest and most endearing careers of any simple tool.
What started as a farmer's hack to keep track of wandering livestock has become a global symbol of tradition craftsmanship, and darn good late night TV comedy. So the next time you hear the iconic cling of a cowbell, take a moment to appreciate its rich history, deep cultural roots, and completely unshakeable ability to make people smile.
Or you know, when you hear the deep resonance strike of a cowbell, you can demand more of it, of course. And maybe you've seen a good use of the cowbell Circle plus icon, or maybe you yourself have used it in a project. So whatever the case may be, we'd love to see the cowbell Circle plus icon in its native habitat.
So feel free to leave a comment and, uh, or hit us up on the socials and, uh, give us more information on where we can find your use of the Cowbell Circle Plus icon. So some deep cuts in underappreciated cowbell moments appear on Fool for the City by Fog Hat in 1975. Hey [00:10:00] ladies by the Beastie Boys from 1989 from Paul's Boutique.
You got another thing coming from Judas Priest from 1982. Come on and love me by KISS from 1975, stone Cold, crazy from Queen in 1974. Okay, so you get the picture. There was a lot of cowbell in, uh, in seventies Rock, you know. Good stuff. Good stuff. Alright, so, uh, I guess that's about all we can really say. I mean, there's probably more we could say about the, the cowbell, um, but for our purposes we're done for now.
This has been another episode of Podcast Awesome. And we like to do these occasional video episodes and add some fun visuals and all that stuff. So thanks Isaac for, uh, his extra video chops and editing for helping to put together this podcast and as always, podcast Awesome. Is produced and edited by this guy right here, Matt Johnson.
And the podcast awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin. The music interstitials were done by Zach Malm and Audio Mastering was done by Chris Enns at Lemon Production.
