# Artists who parodied their own work **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2022, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323 "2022-01-06T14:02:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/61 "2022-02-03T18:59:11Z")
Best self-parody ever has to be [Randy Newman’s](https://youtu.be/bPagzl4EQ4Q?t=28) in The Simpsons. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/62 "2022-02-03T19:18:52Z")
Over the years, Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels did a number of commercials riffing on their characters. This one was probably the weirdest: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/n5vHYpjaUko/hqdefault.jpg "LONE RANGER - JENO'S PIZZA ROLL") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5vHYpjaUko) And then there was Jay Silverheels’ appearance on _the Tonight Show_: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RwwUuxV9It4/hqdefault.jpg "Kemosabe: Tonto (Jay Silverheels) - Tonight Show 1969") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwwUuxV9It4) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/63 "2022-02-03T19:29:33Z")
Very obscure. In _Phineas and Ferb_ Dan Povenmire wrote a song called “Boat of Romance” which was a reference/ parody of Love Boat. While doing _Milo Murphy’s Law_ they wrote a parody of that song called “Toboggan of Love”. Since Weird Al Yankovic does the voice of Milo he sang the song as well. So, they literally “Weird Aled” themselves. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/64 "2022-02-03T20:16:41Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > This one was probably the weirdest: One of Stan Freberg’s finest. Another of his commercials where a famous person parodied their own work was the Ann Miller commercial for Great American Soups [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/swDzAPvj6k8/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGGUgWChRMA8=&rs=AOn4CLADTGmdX6hH71Z9YBjYSktVRj0R_A "Great American Soups") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swDzAPvj6k8) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/65 "2022-02-03T20:28:10Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > This one was probably the weirdest: It helps you understand it if you realize that this commercial was itself a parody of the Lark cigarette commercial where they played the William Tell overture while a truck rolled by asking people to “show us your Lark pack!” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6dz567QQJNs/hqdefault.jpg "Vintage 60's and 70's Commercials - LARK CIGARETTES") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dz567QQJNs) Eventually they eliminated the William Tel Overture and substituted their own music – probably on account of the Stan Freberg Pizza roll commercial [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Sox5JVZ0teQ/hqdefault.jpg "1968 Lark Cigerette Commercial - No More William Tell Overture - Hal Linden Voiceover") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sox5JVZ0teQ) Once upon a time there were TV commercials advertising cigarettes. Full-page magazine ads and billboards, too. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/66 "2022-02-03T21:15:42Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > This is like the way the oft-noted resemblance between RHCP drummer Chad Smith and actor Will Ferrell led to this hilarious Tonight Show skit: That was freaking epic. And the cow bell was a parody within a parody. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/67 "2022-10-20T05:51:45Z")
I found this… its elvis costello parodying his song “the angels want to wear my red shoes” with elmo [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KxardpBReQc/maxresdefault.jpg "Sesame Street: Elvis Costello & Elmo Sing a Monster Went and Ate My Red 2") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxardpBReQc) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/68 "2022-11-16T14:24:38Z")
Daniel Craig is a good sport. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lsJyZYtNJnw/maxresdefault.jpg "Belvedere Vodka Presents Daniel Craig as you’ve never seen him before.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsJyZYtNJnw) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/69 "2022-11-16T16:13:53Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Weird Al Yankovic has done parodies of Weird Al parodies on The Simpsons and 30 Rock. And of course he parodies himself plenty in his new self-written parody biopic “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”. He mocks his whole shtick in the “Eat It” bit, probably the funniest joke of the movie: Al decides to become a “serious artist” and write original songs, coming up with “Eat It” a _ **totally original** _, _ **not at all** _ parody song, which he is very proud of. Then his manager calls him up and says Michael Jackson decided to do a parody of his song, called Beat It. And Weird Al flies into a rage. “He took my _ **totally original** _ song and just changed the words to it? How the hell can he do that? Isn’t that against the law?!?” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/70 "2022-11-16T16:36:27Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Best self-parody ever has to be [Randy Newman’s](https://youtu.be/bPagzl4EQ4Q?t=28) in The Simpsons. Hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/71 "2022-11-16T18:25:42Z")
Nitpick: That was _Family Guy_, not _Simpsons_. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/72 "2022-11-16T19:33:39Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Roger Moore also parodied himself in _North Sea Hijack_ (aka _ffolkes_). It was not a comedy, but his character was the Anti-Bond. ffolkes was quite good. > [@pjd](#): > > The Traveling Wilburys were pretty much parodies of themselves. Here I disagree. They were more or less just having fun. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/73 "2022-11-16T20:18:57Z")
Very obscure: a Sesame Street video (back when they were actual videotapes) we owned had parodies of rock songs and singers. One, for example, was entitled “Cooperation” and was a knockoff of the Stones’ “Satisfaction.” Also on that tape was a little number about varying geometric forms called “Hip to be A Square” and sung by Huey Lewis himself. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/74 "2022-11-16T21:47:41Z")
Lots of singers have appeared on _Sesame Street_ doing altered versions of their own hit songs. [Feist counts to 4](https://youtu.be/fZ9WiuJPnNA) [Nora Jones, Don’t know Y](https://youtu.be/FEzxchU4RU) [Spin Doctors two princes](https://youtu.be/7AVuvbFD3gU) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/75 "2022-11-16T22:06:43Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/J9G1FhQUnSo/maxresdefault.jpg "Sesame Street: Happy Furry Monsters Song with R.E.M") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9G1FhQUnSo) ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/76 "2022-11-23T18:59:02Z")
The movie “Young Doctors in Love” had several actors from the soap General Hospital send up their own characters. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/77 "2022-11-24T14:31:42Z")
At the end of Sting’s “Love is the Seventh Wave,” he sings, “every breath you take, every move your make, every cake you bake, every leg you break,” in a bit of a parody of “Every Breath You Take.” That drove me nuts for years, as I could have sworn I heard it on the fade-out of the original, but was never able to find it there. Well, that’s why. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/78 "2022-11-24T14:53:27Z")
Matthew Fisher, former organist for Procul Harum, put out a solo album, including “Going for a Song,” which is about a musician who is tired of playing a song over and over again in every concert. He quotes the organ part of “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/79 "2022-11-24T18:43:54Z")
James Taylor makes fun of himself and his audience in the song “That’s Why I’m Here”. The lyrics are about meeting up with long-lost friends and swapping stories of what’s happened in life. In the first verses, the friends talk; Then James answers sarcasticly, referring to himself, and those silly folks who come to his concerts : "Oh, fortune and fame’s such a curious game- Perfect strangers can call you by name. And pay good money to hear “Fire And Rain” Again and again and again " ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/80 "2022-11-24T20:11:14Z")
That was amazing; Roger and Pete looked like they were really enjoying themselves. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323.md?page=5)