# Music that sounds like a parody, but is the real thing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341 "2013-02-14T23:09:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/41 "2013-02-15T17:59:48Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > Taylor Swift’s ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’. The first time I heard it, I thought… that CAN’T be a real song. That song doesn’t bother me so much as her (latest?) release. It starts off with some maudlin lengthy spoken-word intro where you can guess the second half of each sentence given how trite and cliche it is. Shit like “How can the devil be pulling you towards someone who looks so much like an angel” and “the worst part of it wasn’t losing him, it was… [come on say it with me] LOSING ME :rolleyes:” It’s like someone set out to intentionally write the worst sappy teen-diary crap possible as a joke and it somehow made it into the song/video. ---
**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 15, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/42 "2013-02-15T18:06:36Z")
> [@alphamatix](#): > > I always thought that Wonderful Christmastime was someone’s bad imitation of Paul McCartney and was shocked to find out the truth. (I absolutely despise that song.) ISTR him saying at some point he’d written the thing because 1) he had a brand new synth he was playing around with and 2) he was really stoned at the time. > [@steviep24](#): > > David Lee Roth was a parody of himself I think. Songs and music videos like “Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody” and “Goin’ Crazy”. Yeah, a 1980s hair band singer doing covers of 1920s songs is weird enough (VH also did an a cappella version of “Happy Trails” on their Diver Down album IIRC), but the videos were definitely played for comedy. Justin Bieber always sounds like a parody of himself (baby baby baby). ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/43 "2013-02-15T19:13:03Z")
> [@steviep24](#): > > David Lee Roth was a parody of himself I think. Songs and music videos like “Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody” and “Goin’ Crazy”. agree! Did he do a remake of California Girls too? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/44 "2013-02-15T19:52:52Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > agree! Did he do a remake of California Girls too? Yep! I remember that one…he was some kind of bus driver in the beginning in a white uniform. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/45 "2013-02-15T20:00:25Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > Taylor Swift’s ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’. The first time I heard it, I thought… that CAN’T be a real song. > > Unfortunately, it was. I was going to mention the same song. I thought it was a parody of angsty teen pop. Complete with the spoken riff mid song, “then I was like, then he was all, then I was all, then he was like…” ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/46 "2013-02-15T20:16:20Z")
[Crash test dummies: Mmm, mm, mm](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeAaTr2HYoc) ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/47 "2013-02-15T20:38:28Z")
I Want To Be Evil - Eartha Kitt I Wanna Be A Cowboy - Boys Don’t Cry I Wanna Be Sedated - Ramones I Want My Baby Back - Jimmy Cross List Courtesy of Dr. Demento. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/48 "2013-02-15T20:39:41Z")
One of my favorites is [Because I Got High-Afroman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeYsTmIzjkw) ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/49 "2013-02-15T20:45:34Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > One of my favorites is [Because I Got High-Afroman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeYsTmIzjkw) On a side note, Afroman looks like he may be a vampire with those canines! I was gonna suck your blood, but then I got high ---
**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:** [February 15, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/50 "2013-02-15T22:36:03Z")
> [@steviep24](#): > > David Lee Roth was a parody of himself I think. Songs and music videos like “Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody” My parents, who were around for the original, actually bought a David Lee Roth album because of this! ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/51 "2013-02-15T22:39:05Z")
Judy Garland, **Live at Carnegie Hall** , perhaps because it’s been parodied by a thousand drag queens. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/52 "2013-02-15T23:40:07Z")
Most country music. I understand “Okie from Muskogee” was written as a parody, but the audience it was first performed for reacted so favorably to it that Merle Haggard had to pretend it was straight-on. Then there’s stuff like “The Fightin’ Side of Me,” that’s so self-contradictory, it’s difficult to believe it isn’t the same sort of situation… ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/53 "2013-02-16T00:05:22Z")
I think Meat Loaf kind of falls into the category of almost-parody. His songs are just so over the top and often emotional and over-sung that they sound like a parody of other songs. But I love it! I agree with Lady Gaga entirely. Her entire shtick is just to make fun of pop and pop stars, and her music is just as cliche and over the top pop as you can get. That being said, it’s incredibly good and her persona is incredibly well done. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/54 "2013-02-16T03:34:47Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > “[Rosecrans Boulevard](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9euxTl8unC8)” sounds like an over-the-top parody of “MacArthur Park,” complete with unrhymed poetic lyrics. It’s serious and was written by the same songwriter (and is even worse). I don’t remember if he performed the first one, but I saw Jimmy Webb in concert a year or so back, and although he talked about it, he **did not** perform _MacArthur Park_. He implied that it was deliberately over-the-top, but carefully, because we can assume that more than one person at a Jimmy Webb concert absolutely loves that song. > [@drewtwo99](#): > > I think Meat Loaf kind of falls into the category of almost-parody. His songs are just so over the top and often emotional and over-sung that they sound like a parody of other songs. But I love it! Actually, Meatloaf and Jim Steinman went from record company to record company trying to get someone to take _Bat Out of Hell_ seriously. Finally, they started on producers, and got to Todd Rundgren, who was everywhere at the time. Todd fell in love with the songs because he thought they were a pants-pissingly funny parody of Bruce Springsteen. He wound up paying all the production costs out of his own pocket, and as a result owned a good percentage of the album as his fee. The royalties paid for his rock and roll lifestyle for many years. (I’ve never heard Todd asked directly about it, but they has a number of female friends in common - Patti Smith, Lynn Goldsmith - and were both hanging around _Max’s Kansas City_ at the same time. Todd is very sarcastic, and I suspect they got on like two tomcats in a sack.) ---
**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 16, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/55 "2013-02-16T04:35:24Z")
BG’s _Bling Bling_, particularly the chorus: Everytime I come around your city bling bling Pinky ring worth about 50 bling bling Everytime I buy a new ride bling bling Lorenzos on Yokahama tires bling bling Sure, you can sing or rap about anything, but pinky rings? And while he’s a talented rapper, Lil Wayne sounds humorous to me. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VqjB_31IQKA/hqdefault.jpg "BG - Bling Bling") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqjB_31IQKA) ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/56 "2013-02-16T04:44:53Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I don’t remember if he performed the first one, but I saw Jimmy Webb in concert a year or so back, and although he talked about it, he **did not** perform _MacArthur Park_. He implied that it was deliberately over-the-top, but carefully, because we can assume that more than one person at a Jimmy Webb concert absolutely loves that song. > Actually, Meatloaf and Jim Steinman went from record company to record company trying to get someone to take _Bat Out of Hell_ seriously. Finally, they started on producers, and got to Todd Rundgren, who was everywhere at the time. Todd fell in love with the songs because he thought they were a pants-pissingly funny parody of Bruce Springsteen. He wound up paying all the production costs out of his own pocket, and as a result owned a good percentage of the album as his fee. The royalties paid for his rock and roll lifestyle for many years. > > (I’ve never heard Todd asked directly about it, but they has a number of female friends in common - Patti Smith, Lynn Goldsmith - and were both hanging around _Max’s Kansas City_ at the same time. Todd is very sarcastic, and I suspect they got on like two tomcats in a sack.) Haha thanks for the story. That’s very entertaining. Sometimes I wonder if Steinman really takes himself as seriously as he seems to in interviews and in his actual songs, or if he is just having fun with people. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/57 "2013-02-16T11:48:24Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > I Want To Be Evil - Eartha Kitt Actually, _ **anything** _ by Eartha Kitt. Also, [Maurice Chevalier](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyBffCiGr8c). ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/58 "2013-02-16T12:25:38Z")
My understanding is that _Gangnam Style_ is a parodying of K-Pop music in general as well as the trendy residents of the Seoul suburb in question - but it’s intended to be a “serious” (albeit fun) song. Given than Psy has released at least five K-Pop albums before pwning the world’s music charts with _Gangnam Style_, I’d say he (and the song) qualify for inclusion here. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/59 "2013-02-17T00:59:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > How about _Lovin’ You_ (is easy 'cause you’re beautiful) by Minnie Riperton. Complete with tweeting birds in the background. > > [Lyrics to Loving You – Minnie Ripperton | Cold Feet](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/coldfeet/lovingyou.htm) Does it change your thoughts about the song when you know it’s not something she’s singing to a lover, but to her (then) infant daughter (Maya Rudolph, of SNL fame, among other things). ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341/60 "2013-02-17T01:27:11Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Haha thanks for the story. That’s very entertaining. Sometimes I wonder if Steinman really takes himself as seriously as he seems to in interviews and in his actual songs, or if he is just having fun with people. I [found the reference](http://www.29-95.com/music/story/defense-bat-out-hell): [QUOTE=Todd Rundgren] “I thought it was a parody of Bruce Springsteen. Oddly enough the world took it seriously. There’s this big, fat, operatic guy doing totally over the top, over-wrought, drawn-out songs. All this bombast. It was like Bruce Springsteen squared. I was just chuckling the whole time, and I’m still chuckling. I can’t believe the world took it seriously.” [/QUOTE] …all the way to the bank. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-sounds-like-a-parody-but-is-the-real-thing/650341.md?page=4)