# Best Song Parodies Of All Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2003, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266 "2003-06-25T11:24:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df788c/32.png) [@And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/And_that_s_the_bottom_line)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/1 "2003-06-25T11:24:40Z")
One of my favorites has always been **Rice, Rice, Gravy** making fun of Vanilla Ice’s **Ice, Ice, Baby**. I also love Weird Al’s **Amish Paradise**. **In Living Color** has had some great song parodies as well. What do you think is the best song parody of all time? ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/2 "2003-06-25T11:51:22Z")
A group called **Extempo** did a wonderful parody of **Isn’t it Ironic?** by Alanis Morissette, called **Isn’t it Bionic?** It’s basically a Paean to the 70s T.V. show “The Bionic Man” and all the spinoffs (they even get Max the Bionic Dog in there). Barry ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/3 "2003-06-25T12:03:56Z")
Not a specific song parody, but Chris Morris’ “Motherbanger” is so good a style parody of The Pixies it’s almost scary. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/4 "2003-06-25T13:41:46Z")
[Allan Sherman](http://members.aol.com/sillysongbook/SHERMAN.htm) was the king of the song parody. I suppose his best known was "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (Letter From Camp)’, which was a parody of Amilcare Ponchielli’s “Dance Of The Hours”. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/5 "2003-06-25T13:59:19Z")
Next to Sherman, there was Frank Jacobs, who created hundreds of song parodies in Mad Magazine and made the use of them legal. And don’t forget Spike Jones, who parodied a lot of classical pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/6 "2003-06-25T14:04:38Z")
I have a few thoughts on song parodies. The good ones, I think, parody two things at once, the original song and the subject matter; so it’s hard to pull off. First of all, as for any parody, you really have to know what you’re talking about; when you only have one or two things to say about it, it shows. Picking the right song is important. You want something with lots of lyrics, and ideally not too long of a chorus, because you shouldn’t be repeating yourself too much. For this reason, songs from musicals are great - especially that ubiquitous Major-General’s theme song. It’s also really hard to make sad music work as a parody. I personally think it’s a really good idea to include little snippets of the original lyrics here and there without overdoing it. Some parodies either completely ignore the original lyrics and use only the melody, while some use the original lyrics except for just a few words. Parodies with lyricless songs, like classical pieces, can’t do this; I really consider them more “parodies set to music” than “song parodies” I guess. I think Weird Al best lives up to what I like, although you can see I have some pretty specific ideas about it. “The Saga Begins” and “All About the Pentiums” are his best parodies, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/7 "2003-06-25T14:10:49Z")
I vote for **Negativland** ’s demolition of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/8 "2003-06-25T14:12:24Z")
Amish Paradise, All about the Pentiums, Smells Like Nirvana. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/9 "2003-06-25T14:36:56Z")
“The Devil Went Down To Jamaica” by David Allen Coe. It’s a parody of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” By Charlie Daniels. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/10 "2003-06-25T14:47:58Z")
I always liked Cheech Marin’s “Born in East L.A.” From a craft standpoint, I think Weird Al’s “The Saga Begins” is as good a parody as he ever did. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/11 "2003-06-25T15:30:44Z")
Don’t forget [Walt Kelly’s classic carol, “Deck Us All With Boston Charlie”](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_188.html) … the only song parody to be the topic of a column by Cecil. I have a fondness for Kelly’s others carols, as well: ::: singing ::: Good king Saurkraut, look out! On your feet, uneven. ---
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/12 "2003-06-25T17:00:51Z")
Weird Al is a pretty good parody artist, especially on songs like Smells like Teen Spirit where the beat of song is there, and the lyrics aren’t directly taken from the originial ones yet sound similar. The same with The Saga Begins, but less so with the actual music and more so to the rhythm of the originial song. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/13 "2003-06-25T17:34:30Z")
Weird Al did a song, I’m not sure if it’s a parody of anything except the whole Star Trek genre, and I can only recall a little snippet: “Klingons on the forward bow, forward bow, forward bow, Klingons on the forward bow, SCRAPE 'EM OFF, JIM!!” But I used to roll every time I heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/14 "2003-06-25T17:49:18Z")
I love Weird Al’s parody of Greg Kihn’s “Our love’s in Jeopardy” (“I lost on Jeopardy”) ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/15 "2003-06-25T17:52:57Z")
Like many others, I’ll go with the stuff made by Weird Al Yankovic, except I think his best are “Spam,” a parody of “Stand” by R.E.M., and “Gump,” a parody of “Lump” by the Presidents of the United States of America. ---
**Author:** ![Lucki\_Chaarms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lucki\_Chaarms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucki_Chaarms)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/16 "2003-06-25T17:54:22Z")
I think Weird Al’s most clever to date would be “Bob”. It’s not exactly a copy of anything, just a dead-on parody of Bob Dylan’s lyrical, musical and vocal style. And it passes the key test: does it make people who LOVE the song/person/band being parodied laugh a lot? [Check out the lyrics here](http://www.lyricscrawler.com/w/Weird_Al_Yankovic/Bob.html) LC ---
**Author:** ![Trafalgar\_Laura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trafalgar_laura/32/2907_2.png) [@Trafalgar\_Laura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trafalgar_Laura)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/17 "2003-06-25T18:01:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*Next to Sherman, there was Frank Jacobs, who created hundreds of song parodies in Mad Magazine and made the use of them legal. > > And don’t forget Spike Jones, who parodied a lot of classical pieces. \*\* I had forgotten about him - thanks for the reminder! I can still remember most of the words to “Goodbye, Julie”, a song about Julius Caesar’s assassination done to the tune of “Hello, Dolly”. Hysterical stuff. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/18 "2003-06-25T18:16:52Z")
There was a National Lampoon album many years ago, sorry I can’t recall the name, but it was chock full 'o evil parodies. My favorite was one of John Lennon called Magical Misery Tour. It started: “I resent performing for you f@ckcers, tell me what do you know…” and ended with screams of "genius is paaaiiiiiin!’ Just hilarious. Oh, it also had a great Bob Dylan one: “the spangled dwarf with his bow-tie the infantry that don’t ask why…”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Iguana\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@Iguana\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iguana_Boy)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/19 "2003-06-25T18:22:06Z")
If you want a really good parody of Bob Dylan, check out Neil Innes’ “Protest Song”… ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266/20 "2003-06-25T18:50:53Z")
Speaking of Neil Innes, how can we forget The Rutles? “Ouch! You’re breaking my heart…” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-parodies-of-all-time/184266.md?page=2)