They're Playing My Tune

They're Playing My Tune is the fifth comic strip of the comic book SpongeBob Comics No. 1.

Characters

• Squidward Tentacles
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Eugene H. Krabs
• Sailors
• Pearl Krabs
• Pearl's friends
• Radio station owner
• Mrs. Puff
• Mariachi band
• Sandy Cheeks
• We Love Musictown citizens
• Mayor of We Love Musictown
• Patrick Star
• Gary the Snail
• Police officers

Synopsis

Squidward is annoyed at all the noises in the Krusty Krab, from the customers loudly eating to SpongeBob commenting on his cooking. Squidward pitches an idea to Mr. Krabs to get a music player for the restaurant, and Mr. Krabs agrees after seeing Squidward's graph about music getting more money. That night, Squidward composes a CD filled with him playing classical music with his clarinet.

The next morning, Squidward is ready to play his CD, but Mr. Krabs decides to put on several CDs to see which gain the most profit. Mr. Krabs plays a CD filled with sea shanties and it attracts a group of sailors inside, but they just start fighting, causing Mr. Krabs to kick them out. Pearl arrives and puts her pop music CD on, which attracts a group of hungry teenagers who want to dance. Mr. Krabs asks when they will order, but one teenager comments that they are broke, so Mr. Krabs kicks them out.

Squidward finally puts his CD on, but Mr. Krabs smashes it after no customers arrive. SpongeBob shyly presents a CD that he made to Mr. Krabs, which contains a song of SpongeBob singing about bubbles, sea snails, and jellyfish. Squidward comments that the song is "the worst song in the history of music," but a fish coming inside tells people outside that it's the best song in the history of music, bringing in a lot of customers and causing Mr. Krabs to play it non-stop, to Squidward's annoyance.

One of the customers happens to be a radio station owner, who pays Mr. Krabs money to play the song on the radio. Soon, Squidward starts hearing the song everywhere he goes, so he leaves Bikini Bottom to places where the song won't follow him. However, despite the depths of the Mariachi Trench, the heights of Mt. Unclimbable, and the music hating nature of We Hate Musictown, SpongeBob's song still follows Squidward around.

That night, he hears Patrick sleep-singing the song and decides to get rid of the song. He tries to sneak into the Krusty Krab, but is caught and arrested by police. SpongeBob arrives and asks him why, and Squidward cries, moaning about no one giving his music a chance. SpongeBob drops the charges and helps Squidward write a song to show the officers the next morning, but after hearing it they arrest the CD player, causing Squidward to listen to the annoying noises of the Krusty Krab once again.

Gallery

• File:They're Playing My Tune Comic 1.jpeg
• File:They're Playing My Tune Comic 2.jpeg
• File:They're Playing My Tune Comic 3.jpeg
• File:They're Playing My Tune Comic 4.jpeg
• File:They're Playing My Tune Comic 5.jpeg
• File:They're Playing My Tune Comic 6.jpeg
• File:They're Playing My Tune Comic 7.jpeg
• File:They're Playing My Tune Comic 8.jpeg
• File:They're Playing My Tune Comic 9.jpeg
• File:They're Playing My Tune Comic 10.jpeg

Trivia

General

• When Squidward is buying groceries while being bothered by SpongeBob's song, one of the things he buys is Canned Bread.

Cultural references

• When Squidward is composing music for his CD, he mentions the William Shell Overture (a reference to the William Tell Overture) and the theme from Billy the Squid (a reference to Western outlaw Billy the Kid, and possibly referencing the theme from the 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid).
• One of the places Squidward goes to is the Mariachi Trench, a reference to the Mariana Trench, the deepest trench in the world.
  • The Mariana Trench would later be featured in the episode "Scavenger Pants."

Errors

• In the last panel on page 10, there is no door leading to the kitchen; only a door leading to the bathroom with the leaking toilet.