# Any singers who have covered parodies of their own work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 19, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162 "2007-08-19T18:33:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/21 "2007-08-20T03:00:28Z")
I know that the Crash Test Dummies have performed “Headline News” with Weird Al a few times. ---
**Author:** ![Barrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Barrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrington)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/22 "2007-08-20T04:49:14Z")
Sting parodied himself on Dire Straits’ _Money for Nothing_, the “I want my, I want my, I want my MTV” part being a piss-take of his own “Don’t stand so, don’t stand so, don’t stand so close to me” in the Police hit _Don’t Stand So Close To Me_. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/23 "2007-08-20T05:04:54Z")
[QUOTE=cochrane] Don McLean says when he performs “American Pie”, he sometimes accidentally starts singing Weird Al’s “The Saga Begins” instead. Which was based on the “American Pie” melody. [The Saga Begins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saga_Begins) [/QUOTE] This was great. Weird Al is a genius. And the Deaf Karaoke with David Armand and Natalie Imbruglia was also really good. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/24 "2007-08-20T13:08:17Z")
David Wilcox has an unlisted track on one of his CD’s where he does, not a parody per se, but a version of Eye of the Hurricane that is much, much less tear-jerking than the original…whole different style. I was horrified at first, becasue I love that song, but now I really love the “countrified” unsentimental version as much as the original. ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/25 "2007-08-20T13:41:40Z")
Well, Randy Bachman wrote and recorded “_You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet_” as part of BTO. Burton Cummings then did a sort of lounge lizard version of the song on one of his solo albums. I believe it was meant to be a spoof, or a shot, as the two were on more or less on the outs with each other at the time. I saw them (friends again) in concert a while back and they played the song mostly straight up except for a few bars of the lounge lizard version. Randy didn’t seem to mind that version at all. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/26 "2007-08-20T13:53:08Z")
Not so much a parody, but the Barenaked Ladies song “Brian Wilson” gets performed by Wilson himself quite often. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/27 "2007-08-20T14:10:49Z")
This is so outrageously obscure that isn’t even funny, but after an extremely long pause on the last song of their album _Rock Solid_, The [Limestones](http://www.thelimestones.com/) from St. Olaf add computer effects onto one of their earlier songs – it’s a parody of sorts. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/28 "2007-08-20T14:16:34Z")
I’m sure some Broadway performers have covered [Forbidden Broadway](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Broadway) and their parodies of their works. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/29 "2007-08-20T18:05:00Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] I know that the Crash Test Dummies have performed “Headline News” with Weird Al a few times. [/QUOTE] I would _so_ want to see that. Gerardo performed in the video of “Taco Grande,” Al’s parody of Gerardo’s “Rico Suave.” ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/30 "2007-08-20T18:44:07Z")
Pat Benetar was a guest on Howard Stern’s radio show once and performed a parody version of “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” Curiously, though, she refused to sing the actual lyrics to the song, stating that she had sung it a bazillion times before and never wanted to sing it again. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/31 "2007-08-20T18:44:27Z")
How about the bluegrass version of [Jump](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUynbNnRF0A)? Maybe not really a parody, though. ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/32 "2007-08-20T18:49:18Z")
[QUOTE=HelloNinja] Not so much a parody, but the Barenaked Ladies song “Brian Wilson” gets performed by Wilson himself quite often. [/QUOTE] That’s hilarious. Maybe they can get Yoko Ono to cover the tune they did about her. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/33 "2007-08-20T19:15:25Z")
[QUOTE=Lunar Saltlick] That’s hilarious. Maybe they can get Yoko Ono to cover the tune they did about her. [/QUOTE] _Be My Yoko Ono_ by Barenaked Ladies _Be My Yoko_ by The Bobs _I Won’t Be Your Yoko Ono_ by Dar Williams She could almost get an album out of it. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/34 "2007-08-20T19:21:47Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] She could almost get an album out of it. [/QUOTE] Shhh. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/35 "2007-08-20T22:28:21Z")
[QUOTE=Barrington] Sting parodied himself on Dire Straits’ _Money for Nothing_, the “I want my, I want my, I want my MTV” part being a piss-take of his own “Don’t stand so, don’t stand so, don’t stand so close to me” in the Police hit _Don’t Stand So Close To Me_. [/QUOTE] Sting also has some fun with The Police’s biggest hit, “Every Breath You Take,” at the end of “Love Is the Seventh Wave” off his solo _Dream of the Blue Turtles_ album. Instead of the usual lyrics of EBYT, he sings: _Every breath you take, Every move you make, Every cake you bake, Every leg you break…_ ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/36 "2007-08-21T00:05:53Z")
The Circle Jerks appeared in the movie **Repo Man** doing a lounge act version of their own hardcore punk song “When the Shit Hits the Fan.” ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/37 "2007-08-21T00:24:22Z")
Dan Rather good-naturedly sat in with R.E.M. on [“What’s the Frequency Kenneth”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3vn_YQ1vTE), which was a spoof of his immortal line. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/38 "2007-08-21T00:40:35Z")
Dread Zeppelin was partly a tribute band and partly parody. They were famous for their reggae covers of Led Zeppelin songs with an Elvis sound-alike singing lead. However, for their third album, **It’s Not Unusual** , they mostly abandoned the Zeppelin covers in favor of songs by the Bee Gees and other artists. One of the songs on that album was “Taking Care of Business” featuring Randy Bachman on vocals. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/39 "2007-08-21T00:45:24Z")
Tori Amos originally recorded “Professional Widow” as harpsichord-rock. I don’t know if “parody” is quite the word for it but it got lifted and remixed as a very different-sounding “house” dance number by umm somebody-or-other [Googles:::: Armand van Helden, whoever that may be]. Having heard what they did with it, she released her own version based on that, on _Tales of a Librarian_. ---
**Author:** ![Barrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Barrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrington)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162/40 "2007-08-21T00:57:48Z")
Another one: at least once, Stevie Wonder guested with Coolio, singing _Gangsta’s Paradise_, which is, of course, based on Stevie’s _Pastime Paradise_. Not exactly a parody, but not far off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-singers-who-have-covered-parodies-of-their-own-work/416162.md?page=3)