That’s a novelty song? We made it the second dance at our wedding reception!
Also “She’s Vibrator Dependent”, “Stuffin Martha’s Muffin”, “Pirate Radio”…
I don’t know how to define “novelty song” either.
“Fire Water Burn” by Bloodhound Gang
“David Duchovny” by Bree Sharp
“Scurvy” by Captain Bogg and Salty
“Dingo” by Chub
“Tiger Woods” by Dan Bern
“The Picard Song” by DarkMateria
The Star Trek songs by James Lileks
“Still Alive” by Jonathan Coulton and Ellen McLain (from Portal)
“Detachable Penis” by King Missile
“Flower” by Liz Phair
Then there’s the category of ironic covers:
“I Will Survive” by Cake
“Bombtrack” by Duckmandu
“Baby Got Back” by Jonathan Coulton
Anything by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
“Straight Out of Compton” by Nina Gordon
I’m not even going to start listing mash-ups that combine songs chosen for their wrongness together.
“Roland the Roadie and Gertrude the Groupie” by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show.
“The Masochism Tango” by Tom Lehrer.
A whole lot of songs by Spike Jones and the City Slickers. “My Old Flame”, “Beetlebum”, “Pal-Yat-Chee”, “You Always Hurt The One You Love”, and many others.
Waaaaaay back in 1992, Dr. Demento featured a song that I still remember, even if I don’t remember who did it. It was a parody of Glinda’s “Come out, come out” song from the Wizard of Oz, except it was about Clinton.
o/ Come out, come out, wherever you've been. 'Cause being a liberal's no longer a sin. We bring you good news, or haven't you heard? When he fell out of Arkansas a miracle occurred. o/
I seriously considered using this at my wedding, but I wasn’t sure if many people would find it humorous (including my husband)!
My brother, my cousin, and I went through a great Ray Stevens phase when we were teenagers. My most fondly remembered is the one about the pirate who wants to sing and dance (hmm, I see it is called The Pirate Song), and of course The Mississippi Squirrel Revival. We were all amused as adults when the cousin moved to Pascagoulah, that sleepy little town.
There was a Ray Stevens song that consisted of nothing but (not real) chickens clucking and crowing the tune of “In The Mood”. Every time I hear that damn thing I see a fully realized Muppet Show sketch in my head…
“Roomful of Clues” by Doug and the Slugs
“Lonesome Cowboy Bert” by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention
“Magdalena” also by FZ&MoI
“You’re Breakin’ My Heart” by Harry Nillson
“Take 54” also by HN
“Faraway Eyes” by The Rolling Stones
If you can find "You Don’t Have To Call Me Darlin’ " by David Allen Coe on a jukebox anywhere, people will sing along, sometimes a the top of their lungs.
Actually, it’s You Never Even Called Me By My Name. It’s sometimes referred as “The Best Country Song in the World” because of the last verse. Just about all of DAC’s songs would fit into this category, albeit the majority would have parental warning stickers.
One song that came to mind was Scatman by Scatman John. Not a “novelty” song in the sense of some of the others posted here, but it certainly is novel.
Out of curiosity, I looked up the background, and it’s actually pretty amazing: Scatman John, aka John Paul Larkin, was an American jazz musician who suffered from severe stuttering all his life. While initially a jazz pianist, in his 50’s he discovered that he could parlay his stuttering into an innate talent for scat-singing, and went on to release three albums. The lyrics to his initial hit “Scatman” were meant to inspire children who stuttered. He was the recipient of multiple awards for his community outreach before he passed away in 1999.
Asylum Street Spankers
If You Loved Me (“You’d sleep on the wet spot; you’d buy my tampons,” etc.)
Austin Lounge Lizards**
The Shallow End of the Gene Pool
Teenage Immigrant Welfare Mothers On Drugs
Merchant’s Lunch
Will There Be Banjo Players in Heaven?
The Bobs
Kill Your Television (lyrics from bumper stickers)
Meat on the Moon
Elwood P. Decker
Spray
Too Cool to Care
Buchanan & Goodman
Flying Saucer, Parts 1 & 2
Christine Lavin
What Was I Thinking?
Nobody’s Fat in Aspen
Da Vinci’s Notebook
Internet Porn
Dierdre Flint
The Boob Fairy Never Came for Me
Edd Byrnes & Connie Stevens
Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb
Hudson & Landry
Two Top 40 DJs (yes, it got airplay on Top 40 stations with a sense of humor)
Here’s a video of Steve Goodman singing A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request on one of the rooftops overlooking Wrigley Field. It’s a great song; a lifelong Cubs fan describes his ideal funeral, designed to commemorate the heartaches that his loyalty has brought.Goodman was diagnosed with leukemia in his early 20’s, and knew he was living on borrowed time. He died at 36. Some of his ashes are scattered on the field behind him in the video.
Another favorite group is Uncle Bonsai. I’ve always thought they should be a favorite of Tom Lehrer fans; they have some of the same playful cleverness in their lyrics. Bonsai songs tend to span the satire/sentimental spectrum; occasionally at either extreme, often somewhere in the middle.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned Ween yet. The obvious: Voodoo Lady, Push th’ Little Daisies. Other gems: Help Me Scrape the Mucus Off My Brain, The Stallion pt3, Spinal Meningitis, etc. They are brilliant and talented (and yet often lowbrow) satirist/mimics of almost every musical convention ever.