# Novelty or joke songs that are actually pretty good **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2009, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850 "2009-07-22T12:32:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/81 "2009-07-26T09:07:31Z")
Well, no-one here will have heard of the Dutch Drs P., ("Professor P.)"as he sings in Dutch, but he absolutely rocks. This song, [Troika](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4IXKEgE8oM), is a Dutch classic. The music is mock Russian tune, getting faster and faster, with inappropriate cheerful and horror sound effects. The lyrics are about a family in a sled, rushing through a Russian landscape. The sled is hunted by wolves, and the famiy tries to escape by throwing their kids to the wolves one by one, to lighten the load. Here is an attemtp at an [translation in English, read by the translator, on Youtube.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njehKNuuGaY) The fun is the contrast between the bookish singing by the elderly gentleman who sings it and the elaborate, funny and gruesome lyrics. It’s a Dutch thing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Proudest\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/proudest_monkey/32/13257_2.png) [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/82 "2009-07-26T22:50:59Z")
Lots of good youtube and iTunes fodder here! Thanks! Not sure if this qualifies, but I always get a chuckle from \*\*Shaniqua Don’t Live Here No Mo’ \*\*by Little T and One Track Mike. Yo, Shaniqua, I love you . . . call me. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/83 "2009-07-27T00:18:15Z")
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. I rather like the Galaxy Song, too (a different version of ALOTBSOL, of course), Every Sperm is Sacred and the Lumberjack Song. This is one of my recent favourites: [Geek Love Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kx9NVVOU88). ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/84 "2009-07-27T00:32:18Z")
It’s probably a really terrible song, but boy do I love [“Gimme Dat Ding”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEEy615Jzg4)! I had the single as a kid and used to love to dance around to it. The ragtime piano in the middle got me interested in ragtime piano. That’s a fun fan video too! [They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha Ha](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-lJZiqZaGA&feature=related) (the song is played normally first, but after that you can stop it, because then it’s played backwards) Maybe it hasn’t been mentioned because no one thinks it’s an actually pretty good song, but I love it. I think it’s probably inspired a lot of musicians. Kate Bush cited it as her favorite song while growing up. HTR loved it, and wrote a song of her own called “To The Funnyfarm.” The song’s about a dog, but [here’s a decent cover](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0ET4iIpDpo&feature=related), using footage of Heath Ledger’s The Joker. It’s not bad. I owned two Royal Guardsmen albums! Off topic, but even though Rolf Harris is best known (at least in the US) for [“Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D-LmRNdQiQ&feature=related) (which is actually a very sad song, about a dying man’s last wishes) he’s got an enormous catalog of very good and intelligent music. [This is my favorite, “Sun Arise.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwtnBm8glPE) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/85 "2009-07-27T01:02:17Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > It’s probably a really terrible song, but boy do I love [“Gimme Dat Ding”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEEy615Jzg4)! I had the single as a kid and used to love to dance around to it. The ragtime piano in the middle got me interested in ragtime piano. That’s a fun fan video too! More off-topic trivia for oldsters, which I have to share because I’ve been sidetracked from a project I’m working on by watching videos and something good has to come from it. The lead singer of Gimme Dat Ding’s The Pipkins was Tony Burrows, who sang lead on several different hits. Besides “Gimme Dat Ding” he was the voice of… [“Beach Baby”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG8MQ8f4nF4&feature=related) by The First Class (this is of course a Beach Boys cover) [“United We Stand”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=460INShy3BU) by Brotherhood of Man (he’s uh, the male in the duet) [“Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr6H1a7YUac&feature=related) by Edison Lighthouse [“My Baby Loves Lovin”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL0ijo89E9M&feature=related) by White Plains Being so versatile seems to have worked against him though. This according to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Burrows): > [@](#): > > In February 1970, he became the first (and still the only) person to appear on BBC Television’s Top Of The Pops fronting three different acts in one show: Edison Lighthouse (who were number one that week), White Plains, and Brotherhood of Man. Afterwards, he was told that he would be unofficially blacklisted from the programme as listeners might think it was a “fix”, with his appearing so often. Nonetheless, he returned to the show a few weeks later as one member of The Pipkins, a duo - the other member being fellow ex-Kestrel Roger Greenaway. Nevertheless this success worked against him, in that he subsequently made several singles under his own name which were excluded from radio playlists, among them “Melanie Makes Me Smile”, “The Humming Song”, and “Hand Me Down Man”. Ok, back to work with me. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/86 "2009-07-27T01:55:14Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > It’s probably a really terrible song, but boy do I love [“Gimme Dat Ding”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEEy615Jzg4)! I had the single as a kid and used to love to dance around to it. The ragtime piano in the middle got me interested in ragtime piano. That’s a fun fan video too! It’s an earworm, that’s for sure. Really liked the video. Hard to think of some of the songs mentioned as “actually pretty good”. But here’s [one by Todd Rundgren](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7HqqrvMQjg) that is a really beautiful ballad…that is tossed away on a partisan joke, with an obscenity in the chorus to insure that it could never be played on the radio or released on an album without a “Parental Advisory” sticker. (NSFW) ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/87 "2009-07-27T04:59:23Z")
Ah, Ray Stevens. Gotta love a man who can sing about silly stuff and not fall over giggling! ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/88 "2009-07-27T05:49:56Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Jon Lajoie’s [Everyday Normal Guy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PsnxDQvQpw) Looove that!!! I’ve always liked [Mr. Custer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpA_X_7ktnQ). Re: Ray Stevens, he’s good but I would respect him more if he wouldn’t have stolen so much from Brother Dave without giving credit. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/89 "2009-07-27T06:15:48Z")
For sheer earworm value, the catchy [muppet song Mahna Mahna](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXrU1GFqYEU) is the all time best. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/90 "2009-07-27T06:59:11Z")
> [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](#): > > A few **Tenacious D** songs cross the line from amusing novelty tunes to actual _good songs_: > > [Tribute](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5M04_qkRdY) > [Wonderboy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHY5L47tcHk) > > And a surprisingly sweet tune (with not so sweet lyrics): > [Fuck Her Gently](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYvkRZookFM) > > A little obscenity in each, so don’t listen at work, but I mostly avoided the real videos. Jack Black doesn’t have a bad voice when he’s not trying to be a joke, and they’re well-put-together tunes. Jack Black and Kyle (that other dude) make seriously good music, in my opinion. They harmonize amazingly well, and the instrumentals are always ALWAYS creative and different. I don’t like most of their humor, thought. Some other examples of Tenacious D’s fantastic musical talent are “Kyle Took a Bullet For Me” and “The Metal”. Their style is all over the place, and each of their songs are so different from each other that it takes a long time to get tired of listening to them. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/91 "2009-07-27T07:11:52Z")
[United Breaks Guitars](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo) is making the rounds; it sounds like a joke until you find out it’s a true story and it’s pretty good (I do not reccomend it to people who can’t stand country). About any song by Les Luthiers is in danger of being reused for high school festivals, but the most used one has to be their take on [Thales’ Theorem](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo) (lyrics in Spanish, sorry, but it’s just the theorem). ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/92 "2009-07-27T08:33:18Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Chocolate Salty Balls - Isaac Hayes I think most songs from South Park would qualify (one even got an Oscar nom). Ditto The Simpsons. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/93 "2009-07-27T08:37:49Z")
[Prison Bitch](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrLRe6bpMfU) Cibo MAtto- Know Your Chicken ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/94 "2009-07-27T16:56:50Z")
> [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](#): > > A few **Tenacious D** songs cross the line from amusing novelty tunes to actual _good songs_: > > [Tribute](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5M04_qkRdY) > [Wonderboy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHY5L47tcHk) > > And a surprisingly sweet tune (with not so sweet lyrics): > [Fuck Her Gently](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYvkRZookFM) > > A little obscenity in each, so don’t listen at work, but I mostly avoided the real videos. Jack Black doesn’t have a bad voice when he’s not trying to be a joke, and they’re well-put-together tunes. How did I forget Tenacious D? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/95 "2009-07-27T17:12:42Z")
Not so much a song but musical humor with bits of songs - [Anna Russell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Russell)’s humorous-yet- **correct** analysis of Wagner’s Ring Cycle is really damned funny. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/96 "2009-07-27T17:32:21Z")
I would add pretty much the entire catalogs of Kinky Friedman and the Austin Lounge Lizards. They both occasionally succeed at hitting the sweet spot of being both funny and genuinely moving. I’m 41, and Snoopy and His Friends the Royal Guardsmen was my favorite record when I was six. I think everyone (at least of a certain age) knows the songs, but it takes a True Nerd to identify the name of the band! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/97 "2009-07-27T18:01:01Z")
That Goons’ “Unchained Melody” was great, thanks! My favorite Weird Al schtick has to be “ **Bob** ” – Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues”, reworked entirely in palindromes. Has anyone mentioned some of **Zappa** ’s early work? “Absolutely Free”, the Mothers’ second album, includes some terrific “novelty” stuff, like “Call Any Vegetable” and “Status Back Baby”. ---
**Author:** ![baileygrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@baileygrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baileygrrrl)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/98 "2009-07-27T18:34:01Z")
Stutter Rap - Morris Minor and the Majors ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/99 "2009-07-27T18:38:57Z")
And the Macho Man Randy Savage has a rap album out. Yes, you read that right. Is it good, per se? No, but it is pretty funny and surreal. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/100 "2009-07-27T18:53:37Z")
I haven’t check page 2 yet, but I’m surprised “A Boy Named Sue” by Johnny Cash hasn’t been mentioned. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850.md?page=6)