# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/101 "2009-07-27T19:12:37Z")
Several Weird Al songs are very good, including many parodies (though since he didn’t write the music for those, I’ll keep them out of this thread). I think that **Hardware Store** is simply brilliant. Wonderful rhythms and timing, and just infectious. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/102 "2009-07-27T20:21:08Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > 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. _“The story opens in the Rhine River. In it.”_ ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/103 "2009-07-27T21:39:27Z")
Flanders and Swann - _The Gnu Song_; _Have Some Madeira, M’dear_ Harnick’s _Merry Minuet_ > [@](#): > > The whole world is festering with unhappy souls > The French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles > Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch > And I don’t like anybody very much. Lotsa material from revues. _The Boston Beguine_ (From _New Faces of 1952_) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc5eqmucGl4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc5eqmucGl4) _Lizzie Borden_ (ibid.) (cover by Chad Mitchell Trio) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wlO-J0v9ZY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wlO-J0v9ZY) > [@](#): > > Oh, you can’t chop your Momma up in Massachusetts > And then blame all the damage on the mice. > No, you can’t chop your Momma up in Massachusetts, > That kind of thing just isn’t very nice. _The Borgias Are Having an Orgy_ > [@](#): > > The Borgias are having an orgy; > There’s a Borgia orgy tonight, > And isn’t it sickening > We’ve run out of strychnine; > The gravy will have to have ground glass for thickening… > > We’re pushing some people > We know off a steeple; > It should be a wonderful sight. > We’ve bricked up some cousins of ours in a wall; > Their agonized cries won’t disturb us at all > As we sit here sipping our wormwood and gall— > (It’s delicious!) > At the Borgia Orgy tonight… _April in Fairbanks_ > [@](#): > > April in Fairbanks, > There’s nothing more appealing. > You 'll find your blood congealing > In April in Fairbanks. > Bright Arctic moonlight illuminates the ice-floes > When ev’rybody’s breath shows > In April… > > Subzero weather > Will turn your skin to leather > Your jaws will lock together > In April in Fairbanks. > North Polar breezes will sing you a cadenza > And bring you influenza > In April ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/104 "2009-07-28T00:34:26Z")
> [@Jman](#): > > Several Weird Al songs are very good, including many parodies (though since he didn’t write the music for those, I’ll keep them out of this thread). > > I think that **Hardware Store** is simply brilliant. Wonderful rhythms and timing, and just infectious. My favorite of Al’s originals is [“My Baby’s In Love With Eddie Vedder”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eXyDp__hzo) from his album “Running With Scissors” . It’s a Cajun (Zydeco?) tune, and works completely apart from the lyrics. Update: I have to say, Al’s band is easily the most musically nimble around. Who else can go from Metal to Rap to Polka to Country to Folk to whatever…in the same concert? ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/105 "2009-07-28T01:41:51Z")
[Harvey and Sheila](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roAWodrsZXI), by Allen Sherman. \*Harvey and Sheila Harvey and Sheila Harvey and Sheila Flew TWA They bought a house one day Financed by HFA It had a swimming pool Full of H2O Traded their used MG For a new XKE Switched to the GOP That’s they way thing go.\* ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/106 "2009-07-28T02:10:39Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > [Harvey and Sheila](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roAWodrsZXI), by Allen Sherman. …which is just [“Hava Nagila”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hava_Nagila) with different words. I assumed the OP was about _original_ novelty or joke songs and specifically excluded parodies. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/107 "2009-07-28T16:20:38Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > I’m 49 and this is the first time I’ve run into anyone else who had heard of the > Royal Guardsmen. 🆒 I’m 45. I loved this album as a kid; my sisters and I would play this and act it out all day long. I still have it today. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/108 "2009-07-28T18:25:38Z")
Just wanted to throw my support in for Tenacious D as being musically talented as well as hilarious (assuming your sense of humour leans a certain way). I also like The Lonely Island. How on earth has Flight of the Conchords not been mentioned here yet? Or have they? ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/109 "2009-07-28T18:41:34Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > The Royal Guardsmen put out four LPs in the '60s: _Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron_, _Return of the Red Baron_, _Snoopy and His Friends_, and _Snoopy for President_. All of which were released on a pair of CDs in 2001. Good God. I mean, I like _Snoopy versus the Red Baron_ myself. And _Snoopy’s Christmas_ is OK to hear once a year, right before _Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer_. But **four albums**? They milked the joke for _four frigging albums_? By the end, were they singing _Snoopy Takes a Dump_? :eek: 😕 :eek: > [@SurrenderDorothy](#): > > I like the songs from A Mighty Wind. > > Especially the Kiss at the End of the Rainbow one. I like _Potato’s in the Paddy Wagon._ It’s better folk than a lot of real folk! ---
**Author:** ![SmashTheState](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@SmashTheState](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmashTheState)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/110 "2009-07-28T19:21:31Z")
“[The Element Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYW50F42ss8)” by Tom Lehrer “[The War of 1812](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7jlFZhprU4)” by Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie “[Big Joe Mufferaw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k7WSx7dKCo)” by Stompin’ Tom Connors “[The Richter Scale](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsaimKXsOvw)” by the Quidnuncs “[Opblaaskrokodil](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CGbhtltSW4)” by Ome Henk Anything by [Richard Cheese](http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Richard+Cheese&search_type=&aq=f) “[Rasputin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvDMlk3kSYg)” by Boney M “[Kung Fu Fighting](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TId2NDiuu2s)” by Carl Douglas “[Killer Klowns](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA0qBexxBqE)” by the Dickies “[Rocked by Rape](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_bHToNnP8s)” by the Evolution Control Committee The Theme to [M.U.L.E.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEaBDzp4T7g) (I don’t know if it has a name) by “[All the Nations in the World](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xit7xBgNqJQ)” by the Animaniacs “[All the Words in the English Language](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Etjd0lEpkk)” by the Animaniacs “[These Are the Daves I Know](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmQRmHgExV0)” by Bruce McColloch “[Bats in the Belfry](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5wPcEEFA70)” by Napoleon XIV “[The Ballad of Irving](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U077BiDMmPE)” by Frank Gallop “[Boot to the Head](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Y6231uAmo)” by the Frantics “[Rodeo Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5JSUUTO_9I)” by the McLean Brothers “[Invasion of the Gabber Robots](http://www.allyourbasearebelongtous.com/flash/)” by the Laziest Men on Mars “[Green Eggs and Ham](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMQMmp4JubY)” by Moxy Fruvous “[Bananaphone](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpvcyJ5fKuA)” by Raffi “[Camel Toe](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3I64m0x6wI)” by Fanny Pack “[Barbie Girl](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEzh10_xoqw)” by Aqua “[The Philosopher Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1MgCV6uGuc)” by Monty Python “[The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny](http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/showdown)” by Lemon Demon ---
**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:** [July 28, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/111 "2009-07-28T19:37:04Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Good God. I mean, I like _Snoopy versus the Red Baron_ myself. And _Snoopy’s Christmas_ is OK to hear once a year, right before _Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer_. > > But **four albums**? They milked the joke for _four frigging albums_? By the end, were they singing _Snoopy Takes a Dump_? :eek: 😕 :eek: Heh. No, they stopped recording new Snoopy material after “Snoopy for President” (released summer of '68) until they did “Snoopy vs. Osama” (single, 2006). They did re-edit the first three songs to sound like a news broadcast; these were released on _Snoopy and His Friends_ and re-released on _Merry Snoopy’s Christmas_. The fellows from Florida typically filled out their albums with original songs (e.g.: “It’s Sopwith Camel Time”, “Airplane Song (My Airplane)”, “Shot Down”, “Down Behind the Lines”, “Baby Let’s Wait”, “Any Wednesday”) and covers (e.g.: “Biplane ‘Evermore’”, “Bo Diddly”, Road Runner", “Gimme Some Lovin’”, “Li’l Red Riding Hood”, “The Jolly Green Giant”, “Alley Oop”, “The Ballad of Bonnie & Clyde”, “The Battle of New Orleans”, “Honey”, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”). Yeah, they mostly recorded covers, probably because none of their non-Snoopy stuff went very far. Their only non-Snoopy song in the top 40 was “Baby Let’s Wait” whereas “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron” peaked at #2. “Return of the Red Baron” also made the top 40, “Snoopy’s Christmas” was the big Christmas hit of 1967, but the fad was over by “Snoopy for President”. ---
**Author:** ![I-VI-ii-V](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c89c15/32.png) [@I-VI-ii-V](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I-VI-ii-V)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/112 "2009-07-28T20:02:38Z")
[“I Don’t Need a Bag”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cOuyEXq7qg) by The Abe Lincoln Story. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/113 "2009-07-30T02:36:37Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > …which is just [“Hava Nagila”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hava_Nagila) with different words. I assumed the OP was about _original_ novelty or joke songs and specifically excluded parodies. Weird Al is mentioned enough in the thread I didn’t see that it mattered. Not heard everything they’ve done, but Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie - The Canada Song, is pretty good. Do believe that’s original. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/114 "2009-07-30T03:16:41Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > Weird Al is mentioned enough in the thread I didn’t see that it mattered. Well, Jman did say at the top of this page, “Several Weird Al songs are very good, including many parodies (though since he didn’t write the music for those, I’ll keep them out of this thread).” ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/115 "2009-07-30T03:35:26Z")
My favorite Christmas song is by Weird Al: Christmas At Ground Zero. ---
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/116 "2009-07-30T16:21:49Z")
> [@MrSquishy](#): > > How on earth has Flight of the Conchords not been mentioned here yet? Or have they? I didn’t see it and I did a ctrl+f for it. I particularly enjoy “Most Beautiful Girl In the Room” (You’re so beautiful…like a tree!), “Ladies of the World” (All you lady-man ladies!), and '“Business Time” (You know when I’m down to my socks, it’s business time). All these can be enjoyed via youtube. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/117 "2009-07-30T18:56:35Z")
Almost anything of P.D.Q. Bach’s that Peter Schickele has “discovered”. I am particularly fond of “The Abduction of Figaro” and “Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice (an opera in one unnatural act)”. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/118 "2009-07-30T23:48:03Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Well, Jman did say at the top of this page, “Several Weird Al songs are very good, including many parodies (though since he didn’t write the music for those, I’ll keep them out of this thread).” Well, my bad there as I find I scan threads like these more for titles than overall comprehension. However, the distinction wasn’t made in the op. Oooh… Avenue Q’s [Internet is for Porn.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-TA57L0kuc) Loved the whole production. ---
**Author:** ![bauble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@bauble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bauble)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850/119 "2009-07-31T03:35:08Z")
Just off the top of my head (I don’t think anyone’s beaten me to them…apologies if they have): [The Ballad of Barry Allen by Jim’s Big Ego](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odU1bHaYNDQ) [Whatever Happened to the Chainsaw Juggler by the Four Postmen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v25EcnLREh4) [Great Idea for a Song by Worm Quartet](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3XOQWUuKQU) (not the best recording) [Robot Cat by Logan Whitehurst and the Junior Science Club](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i55yC-GcguU) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-or-joke-songs-that-are-actually-pretty-good/503850.md?page=5)