# Cases where the parody are more well known than the Original **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465 "2016-02-18T17:52:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/101 "2016-02-21T23:22:24Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Most young’uns now are probably more familiar with “Monty Python’s Holy Grail” than they are with the actual Arthurian legends or the knights of the round Similarly, most people below the age of 35 probably don’t realize “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” is at least partially a satire of 50s biblical epics like “Ben Hur”. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/102 "2016-02-22T00:40:23Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > That’s understandable; it’s an entirely different kind of movie altogether. > [@Nametag](#): > > It’s an entirely different kind of movie. > [@slitterst](#): > > It’s an entirely different kind of movie. It’s an entirely different kind of movie. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/103 "2016-02-22T01:33:08Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > _Northanger Abbey_ is in part a parody of Gothic novels. It isn’t Jane Austen’s most famous work, but it’s probably more famous than the novels it parodies, like _The Castle of Otranto_ (1764) by Horace Walpole and _The Mysteries of Udolpho_ (1794) by Ann Radcliffe. Those were at least remembered by people who studied Gothic literature, but (according to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northanger_Abbey#Allusions.2Freferences_to_other_works)) some of the other novels mentioned in _Northanger Abbey_ – like _Castle of Wolfenbach_ and _Necromancer of the Black Forest_ – were so thoroughly forgotten that they were believed for some time to have been parody titles invented by Austen until their rediscovery by Austen scholars. > [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Most young’uns now are probably more familiar with “Monty Python’s Holy Grail” than they are with the actual Arthurian legends or the knights of the round table. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are referenced so often in pop culture that I’d be surprised if many people saw _Holy Grail_ without having at least some passing familiarity with Arthurian legend. However, I could believe that more people alive today have seen _Holy Grail_ than have read _Le Morte d’Arthur_ or any of the earlier tales. And _Holy Grail_ does in many ways specifically parody tropes from the medieval tales, not the general pop culture understanding of King Arthur. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/104 "2016-02-22T01:58:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Who’s more well known might be a split decision right now with the new tv series and the flop of the most recent movie, but many people aren’t aware that _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_ started out as a parody of _Daredevil_. Quite a lot was taken from Daredevil/Elektra, including the canister that blinded Murdock being the same one that mutated the turtles and “Splinter” being an obvious joke reference to “Stick”. But the whole thing was also a parody of four trends in comic books at the time: teenaged heroes (e.g. Teen Titans); mutants (e.g. X-Men); ninjas (including Elektra); and anthropomorphic characters (e.g. Usagi Yojimbo). Mashing them all up into one ridiculous unified entity was a stroke of genius. In turn, the TMNT spawned [a number of parodies itself](http://www.thegeektwins.com/2010/10/5-best-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtle.html). On another topic, the first time I watched _Wreck-It Ralph_ and saw Alan Tudyk’s name in the end credits, I suddenly realized he’d been doing Ed Wynn the whole time. Wynn’s vocal stylings (probably most familiar from _Mary Poppins_, where he played the floating, giggling Uncle Albert) have lived on beyond their originator. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/105 "2016-02-22T02:51:36Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > You might want to look up the definition of “parody.” Printing a famous poem with funny illustrations isn’t parody. It can be. Robert Crumb did some “Classic Comix” during his WEIRDO period, undercutting the meanings of various works without much changing the text. His version of Boswell’s “Life of Samuel Johnson” was particularly brutal, though his Krafft-Ebing’s “Dementia Sexualis” was pretty good too. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/106 "2016-02-22T13:49:47Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Why would they lie? Lots of songs have been recorded in a single take. And it happens to be kind of song (like “Wild Thing”) that sounds better the worse you play it. Because it’s a better story than “the manager wanted us to do a cover so we said okay.” And yeah, it’s not exactly rocket science, but they had to come up with an arrangement for the song. It isn’t just that they claimed to have recorded it in a single take; they claimed _it was the first time they played it_. > [@](#): > > Also, Metallica never lied about Diamond Head cover songs being their own. They’ve always been very upfront about how their style was inspired by the NWOBHM scene. I didn’t say they lied. I said they only recently started talking about it. There are lots of interviews with Lars where he admits that they let people believe it was their own song early on. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/107 "2016-02-22T16:47:15Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > You might want to look up the definition of “parody.” Printing a famous poem with funny illustrations isn’t parody. Hey, be nice. It’s an entirely different kind of movie. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/108 "2016-02-22T16:49:07Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Because it’s a better story than “the manager wanted us to do a cover so we said okay.” And yeah, it’s not exactly rocket science, but they had to come up with an arrangement for the song. It isn’t just that they claimed to have recorded it in a single take; they claimed _it was the first time they played it_. > > I didn’t say they lied. I said they only recently started talking about it. There are lots of interviews with Lars where he admits that they let people believe it was their own song early on. Please direct us to any of their interviews. And again, what is “recently”. The original release of Garage Days Revisted shows that they credited the correct songwriters. Also, [this link](https://metallica.com/tour/12436) is to a show in 1992 where they had diamond head on stage with them to perform Am I Evil? (this footage was released on their first Fan Can) I wouldn’t say 1992 is recent. [The Actual Performance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M8F0LBweQY) ---
**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 22, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/109 "2016-02-22T19:11:44Z")
Hundreds of years from now cartoon characters will be wearing fruit covered hats, how many will know who Carmen Miranda was? ---
**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:** [February 22, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/110 "2016-02-22T19:24:42Z")
> [@edwards\_beard](#): > > Please direct us to any of their interviews. And again, what is “recently”. The original release of Garage Days Revisted shows that they credited the correct songwriters. > > Also, [this link](https://metallica.com/tour/12436) is to a show in 1992 where they had diamond head on stage with them to perform Am I Evil? (this footage was released on their first Fan Can) I wouldn’t say 1992 is recent. > > [The Actual Performance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M8F0LBweQY) While I listen to Metallica, I’m hardly an expert on them, and I knew from the early 90s that that song was a cover, as well as “Helpless,” another Diamond Head cover from Garage Days Re-revisited. If it was a “secret,” it was an open one. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/111 "2016-02-22T19:55:57Z")
A relatively ancient example: the Scottish ballad “the Twa Corbies” is, apparently, a cynical parody of the English ballad “The Three Ravens”. In the original, three ravens discuss eating the dead body of a knight, but remark that the body is too well guarded by the knight’s loyal hound, hawk and “lemman” (mistress) - the latter herself dies of grief, after burying him. In the parody, two crows discuss eating the dead body of a knight, and note that the coast is clear - as his body has been deserted by his hound, hawk and lady: “His lady’s taen another mate, So we may mak our dinner sweet.” They then discuss, in detail, how they will eat his body (and use his hair for nest-building). > **[The Three Ravens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Ravens)** > > "The Three Ravens" (Roud 5, Child 26) is an English folk ballad, printed in the song book Melismata compiled by Thomas Ravenscroft and published in 1611, but it is perhaps older than that. Newer versions (with different music) were recorded right up through the 19th century. Francis James Child recorded several versions in his Child Ballads (catalogued as number 26). > The ballad takes the form of three scavenger birds conversing about where and what they should eat. One tells of a newly slain kn... I have known “The Twa Corbies” for years, and only learned that it was a parody of the more saccharine ballad fairly recently. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/112 "2016-02-22T20:55:29Z")
Groucho Marx’s walk was supposedly a mockery of an 1890s fad among upper class East Coast young men. Nowadays it’s also an exercise, named for Groucho. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/113 "2016-03-02T19:06:34Z")
\*The Man With The Golden Gun \* is much more famous than _[The Man With The Golden Arm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_with_the_Golden_Arm)_ ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/114 "2016-03-02T19:14:50Z")
> [@edwards\_beard](#): > > Please direct us to any of their interviews. And again, what is “recently”. The original release of Garage Days Revisted shows that they credited the correct songwriters. > > Also, [this link](https://metallica.com/tour/12436) is to a show in 1992 where they had diamond head on stage with them to perform Am I Evil? (this footage was released on their first Fan Can) I wouldn’t say 1992 is recent. > > [The Actual Performance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M8F0LBweQY) The term I used was “relatively recently,” which is to be fair probably misleading. I should have said something more like “after they got big.” The last interview I remember it being mentioned in was the NWOBHM episode of _Metal Evolution_. I’ll try to find a YouTube link to that segment. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/115 "2016-03-02T19:26:54Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Is Deadpool a parody of Deathstroke? I know Deathstroke, but I missed that Pool was a parody. He’s not. He was a ripoff, who was developed into a humorous character in part to move him away from 'Stroke. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/116 "2016-03-02T19:44:14Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Alan Sherman’s songs are better-known to one generation of kids than the classical pieces they parody (“Hello Fadduh, Hello Muddah” et al), but that was an isolated, localized effect. Whenever I hear “Taste of Honey” by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, my mind immediately goes to Allan Sherman’s “Waste of Money”. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/117 "2016-03-02T20:11:54Z")
“The Old Dope Peddler” by Tom Lehrer is a parody of “The Old Lamp-Lighter”, which has almost completely faded from view. > **[The Old Dope Peddler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Dope_Peddler)** > > "The Old Dope Peddler" is a satirical song by Tom Lehrer. It was on Lehrer's first album Songs by Tom Lehrer from 1953, and a new live recording on Tom Lehrer Revisited in 1960. > The song is a parody of a popular tune well known at the time titled "The Old Lamp-Lighter" by Charles Tobias and Nat Simon, a hit first for Kay Kyser in 1947, and continued to have popular new recordings to 1960. The verses of the original asserted that > It goes on to say that if there were sweethearts in the dark, "... > **[The Old Lamp-Lighter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Lamp-Lighter)** > > "The Old Lamp-Lighter" is a popular song. The music was written by Nat Simon, the lyrics by Charles Tobias. The song was published in 1946. > The lyrics sentimentalize and memorialize the profession of lamplighters, who walked city streets at dusk turning on the gas-powered streetlamps and turned them off again at dawn. > Several versions of the song made the best-seller charts in 1946-1947. The most popular recording, by Sammy Kaye (vocal by Billy Williams), was released by RCA Victor Records as ... ---
**Author:** ![norvalnormal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@norvalnormal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norvalnormal)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/118 "2016-03-02T20:56:16Z")
_Our Gang_’s Alfalfa singing “Just an Echo (woo hoo)” onstage to woo (who?) Darla–took me a half century before I heard the “straight” original version … ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/119 "2016-03-02T21:15:38Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > “The Old Dope Peddler” by Tom Lehrer is a parody of “The Old Lamp-Lighter”, which has almost completely faded from view. > > [The Old Dope Peddler - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Dope_Peddler) > > [The Old Lamp-Lighter - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Lamp-Lighter) It’s just as well. Every time I hear that old song (usually a version by someone like Vaughn Monroe) I break down. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465/120 "2016-03-02T21:16:58Z")
> [@norvalnormal](#): > > _Our Gang_’s Alfalfa singing “Just an Echo (woo hoo)” onstage to woo (who?) Darla–took me a half century before I heard the “straight” original version … You mean the version in which the frog accompanies Alfalfa? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-where-the-parody-are-more-well-known-than-the-original/746465.md?page=7)