By “song parodies”, I mean where someone writes new lyrics to an already-existing song tune. (I don’t mean where someone writes a song in the style of another - I often enjoy those.)
I guess I don’t like song parodies because they strike me as being kind of unoriginal (in some cases, it’s like someone wanted to write a song, but wasn’t able to write a new tune, so maybe I see writing different lyrics to an existing tune as being lazy? Maybe it’s just my “musician” side.) Also, I find that a lot of these new sets of lyrics are just plain bad, or at least, not as good as the original.
I mostly agree with you. Song parodies can occasionally be good if they are vicious enough (Spitting Image style) but I could never understand why Weird Al Yankovic was supposed to be some kind of brave, subversive comic genius for rewriting popular songs so that they’re about cheddar cheese or something.
It all depends on the person doing the parody. The Capitol Steps, for instance, have been doing terrific political-oriented song parodies for 20 years, mostly because their song choices are inspired (I just saw one about the last year’s Republican campaign that started with Romney and a song from The Book of Mormon)
Forbidden Broadway also has some excellent parodies, though you have know about the Broadway shows they parody to understand how great they are.
Allan Sherman also was very good, though I suppose you had to be Jewish to understand.
Though I agree that Yankovic is pretty lame; he usually just puts food items in place of the lyrics. It’s just lazy songwriting.
Some of Weird Al’s songs are about TV. In fact, Yankovic was upset that his record label released a compilation album called “The Food Album” because it was put out to meet fiscal projections and Yankovic thought that food was a cheesy* subject for a compilation.
No pun intended.
Anyway, I love parodies. I grew up on Allan Sherman and I saw Weird Al’s first TV performance on Tom Snyder’s Tomorrow Show. I snatched up his first album when it was released. I don’t think musicians who perform parodies are lazy. A good parody shows appreciation of the original source. Many of the musicians whose songs Al have parodied are flattered that their songs are popular enough to get the Weird Al treatment. Some, such as Mark Knopfler and Greg Khin have even agreed to perform with Weird Al in his parodies.
Bob Rivers is another one who produces some of my favorite parodies. I like his Christmas parodies in particular, especially “I Am Santa Claus” and “Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire.”
JayJay was a man who liked to hear new lyrics
To so many older songs.
He really liked to listen to those funny singers,
Listen to them all day long.
Get back, get back,
get back to parodying songs.
Not to mention that he doesn’t always parody particular songs, but will often do original songs in the style of another artist. (I once counted, and IIRC came up with around a half-and-half split of parody versus originals.) He’s extremely clever and talented, and his band is fantastic.
Not in so many words, but the media always made a HUGE deal out of “will Celebrity X give him permission to do a parody or not…” “will Celebrity X get offended or not…” blah blah blah. All that for extremely affectionate parody songs that wouldn’t be out of place on the Muppet Show. (I don’t deny he’s musically talented though)
Proof that Yankovic is a wimp. There’s no legal reason whatsoever for him to ask permission (reiterated in the case of Campbell v. Acuff-Rose, though the legal concept dates back to ASCAP’s suit against Mad Magazine in the 1960s*); if he were a real satirist, he’d sing the damn songs, anyway.
*Frank Jacobs is the one who deserve the applause for this; Yankovich is just a second-rate Jacobs.
Bwuh? I’m hardly a Weird Al afficianado, but of his most popular parodies: “White & Nerdy,” “All About the Pentiums,” “I Lost on Jeopardy,” “Amish Paradise,” “Like a Surgeon,” “The Saga Begins,” “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Gump,” “Another One Rides the Bus,” “Eat It,” and “Fat,” only those last two can maybe kinda sorta be qualified as “putting food items in place of the lyrics.” I mean, you really have to be fucking kidding me to say that’s what he’s about.
There may be no legal reason for Al Yankovic to ask permission, but I don’t think it makes him a wimp. I think it shows that Al has class. He’s a gentleman.
Nothing against Mad’s song parodies or Frank Jacobs. I loved all of that. I love song parodies, but really, they should be funny. Not merely different.
I’ve written a few song parodies myself. Is it being a cheat or lazy to do so? I admit that thought has crossed my mind, but not enough to stop me from writing them. I enjoy doing it, and I’m not hurting anybody. My talents don’t extend to musical composition, so I have to borrow the melodies.
He does. He just doesn’t put them on an album. But he will perform them live and release them online for free. A couple of examples are a parody of “Live and Let Die,” entitled “Chicken Pot Pie,” which Paul McCartney refused permission for as he is a vegetarian, and “You’re Pitiful,” a parody of “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt. (Blunt himself gave Al permission to do a parody of the song, but the record label blocked it.)
And Jimmy Page is an avowed Weird Al fan. He gave permission for Al’s band to sample “Black Dog” for the song “Trapped in the Drive-Thru.”
I’m with the OP, and especially as it pertains to the Capitol Steps. Take away the famous tune and their songs are lyrically inept–obvious and unremarkable. The fact that the lyrics are sung to some unrelated melody doesn’t automatically make it funny or clever.
For skilled parody the gold standard is Tom Lehrer, who composed his own music.
In fact, Yankovic was upset that his record label released a compilation album called “The Food Album” because it was put out to meet fiscal projections and Yankovic thought that food was a cheesy* subject for a compilation.
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