Everybody Needs To Leave Me Alone
“A comedic anthem about the exact moment your social battery hits zero while you keep performing pleasantness anyway - written, created and produced end to end.”
The short version
Thirty-second read- The mandate
- Land a joke and a real feeling in the same three minutes, in a format where most comedy songs wear out by the second chorus.
- The insight
- Wrote the song and lyric around one recognizable moment, then built the escalation so the joke earns its ending.
- My role + craft
- Music video direction, Songwriting + production, Comedic writing · for Self-directed original song + music video · 2026. Concept, direction and hands-on execution.
- The result
- A released single and music video written, produced, directed and edited solo.
The craft on this project is traditional: strategy, writing, art direction and production, finished by hand. Where AI carries real weight in my practice is the work around the work - interrogating briefs, drafting and stress-testing copy, exploring visual directions before committing budget, and automating the mechanical middle. The judgment, voice and final calls here are all mine. I break the whole system down on the How I use AI page.
Curious how the whole system works? How I use AI to improve efficiency, creativity and momentum, or see the full toolset.
Land a joke and a real feeling in the same three minutes, in a format where most comedy songs wear out by the second chorus.
- 01Wrote the song and lyric around one recognizable moment, then built the escalation so the joke earns its ending.
- 02Produced and mixed the track, keeping the arrangement tight enough to hold a music-video runtime.
- 03Directed the video concept and visuals, matching comedic timing to the cut rather than to the lyric alone.
- 04Edited and sound-designed the piece, then released it with a poster and short-form cutdowns.
- A released single and music video written, produced, directed and edited solo.
- Proof of comedic voice and timing - the same instincts that make campaign copy and scripts land.
- Another finished piece in a song-led, AI-assisted production pipeline that turns ideas around fast.
Concept, art direction & execution - Shawn Van Daele for Self-directed original song + music video, 2026.