A few years ago, a friend of ours received a spam email that boasted, "My shaft is extremely preponderant!" Thinking that line was funny, he emailed it around to some of our friends who, in turn, agreed. One said it sounded like it could be a song title from rock indie sensation Guided By Voices.

And so it began.

This young man wrote lyrics, picked up his guitar, dusted off/learned how to use Garage Band, and went to work. Thus he created the Guided by Voices version of My Shaft is Extremely Preponderant.

Here are the lyrics:

My shaft is extremely preponderant than the average person's shaft
you laughed and then asked me for guidance, now there's silence and a gasp
is it really, really, really all that?

why yes, but who are you that you'd want to know
get in line cuz this ain't no coney island freak show

My shaft is extremely preponderant than the average person's shaft
you laughed and then asked me for guidance, now there's silence and a gasp
is it really, really, really all that?

in fact, get your souvenir while they last
it's a limited offer and they're going fast

But it didn't end there. Soon, all of our friends on the email thread started making up their own versions of "Shaft". The following is a sample of some of the songs. Please do enjoy. There's something for everyone.

1. My Shaft Is Extremely Preponderant - the Guided By Voices version by Chris Powers

2. Shafterpol - the Interpol version by Michael Boyd

3. 80's Shaft - the 80's take on the Shaft song by Jon Quinn

4. Shaft Gordon - a play on the Flash Gordon song by Jon Quinn

5. Meta Shaft - inspired by the Isaac Hayes song of the same name by Michael Boyd

6. Shaftira - the Shakira version by Katharine Heller

7. 60's Shaft - the 60's take by Chris Powers

8. Shaft The Musical - the Broadway Musical version by Jon Quinn and Katharine Heller

9. My Thrash is Extremely Preponderant - the Heavy Metal version by Brett Gustafson