Leafs fan spoofs Gotye in 'franchise that I used to know' video

Disgruntled Leafs' fan Andrew Damelin felt the need to spoof a hit break-up song - namely Gotye's Somebody that I used to know - to properly express his feelings toward the team that broke his heart.

"Now and then I think of 1967," begins Damelin, his body a blank canvas to be covered in Leaf's memorabilia.

That, of course, was the year the Toronto Maple Leafs beat their archrivals, the Montreal Canadiens, to secure the Stanley Cup in a game that is now hockey lore.

The team hasn't been able to repeat that feat since the 60s, which is at least one reason Damelin says his song is about, quite simply, "one man's torture as a Leafs fan."

"You didn't have to break my heart. The disappointment is enough to drive a sane man crazy. I just can't take it anymore. Now you're just a franchise that I used to know," he concludes.

The aspiring sports caster's version of the song, A Franchise that I used to know, is now generating lots of attention (much of it bitter sweet) across social media platforms.

•  "I love the Leafs too! But these [verses] are all seriously true! [Michael] Komisarek is worthless. And you can't build a team around [Phil] Kessel and that's Phaneuf (enough) about it!" - ThisAccountIsBaned
• "Love the song. Have to be a diehard leaf fan to make this." - 81Drizzt.
• "The chagrin of being a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Gotye-style. It's pretty smart (except for that part at 2:24)." - Leslie Stojsic
• "Leafs fan does Gotye parody. This is super weird, really creepy and also pretty clever."- Conor McKenna
• "I hate Gotye. I will kick the radio when that song plays but this version speaks to me." - Matt Day

Leafs aside, Damelin has managed to score points for himself with the parody, which has had over 42,000 views since it was posted July 12.

Damelin, who works as an accountant, expected about 1,000 page views. "I swear I did not think this was going to have any type of mass appeal. I thought my friends on Facebook would like it," he told CBC News.

Damelin's video is far from the first Gotye parody. It's not even the first to focus on a Canadian hockey team.



"At the time I had no idea there were all these parodies of it, I swear," he said of the other videos.

The North York resident has been selected as a finalist in theScore's contest to find Canada's Next Top Sportscaster.

Do you have a favourite parody video? Is it over the top, a la ''Weird Al" Yankovic, or is it a shoe-string rendition like Damelin's?

Please share your best song spoof suggestions in the comment thread.

And while we're on the topic of shareable videos, we invite you to check out our ultimate Summer YouTube playlist, which we built with the help of the CBC Community.