By CLTure News

March 26, 2020

By now, you’ve probably heard about Tiger King, the Netflix crime docu-series centered around the life of Joseph Maldonado-Passage (aka Joe Exotic), an eccentric tiger keeper and former operator of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma. The true crime documentary series has been the odd, but much-needed distraction many Americans need as cities across the country are following stay-in-place orders amid the Covid-19 crisis.

The binge-worthy 7-part docu-series features so many outlandish characters and scenarios, but ultimately ends with a murder-for-hire plot by Maldonado-Passage who is now serving a 22-year sentence in prison. Another hilarious twist to the story of Joe Exotic is his run at politics and amateur country music career. His catalog of music includes the seething diss-track “Here Kitty Kitty,” about his animal keeper rival Carole Baskin and the more sentimental, “My First Love.”

For BJ Barham, frontman of Raleigh-based alternative country band American Aquarium, the affectionate anthem-like song, “I Saw A Tiger” inspired him to share a cover with his audience. Barham has been live-streaming shows on the online venue platform StageIt since Saturday, March 21, revisiting American Aquarium albums like 2018’s Things Change. Barham had the internet abuzz with his straight-faced cover of the classic Joe Exotic song.

“This is not the cover many of you want right now, but I can assure you it’s the cover you need. If you’re anything like us (and 75% of my timeline) you haven’t been able to look away from the absolute train wreck that is “The Tiger King” on Netflix,” Barham said in a Facebook post.

The cover has been shared by hundreds on Facebook and Twitter, still trending as many musicians are popping up with Joe Exotic covers.

Listen to BJ Barham of American Aquarium cover Joe Exotic’s “I Saw A Tiger.”

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