# Silly songs that are (probably) not joke songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [June 26, 2024, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341 "2024-06-26T02:41:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/21 "2024-06-26T15:09:46Z")
Does eat oats? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/22 "2024-06-26T15:13:00Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > On the same note, “Short People” is another good example of the OP’s request; a serious song that **sounds** silly, because Newman is trying to point out how ridiculous racism and bigotry are by making up nonsensical stereotypes about a completely inoffensive group, but it just sounds like he’s really pissed off about short people for no good reason and that’s funny. I think _Short People_ is pretty well known to be sarcastic rather than silly. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/23 "2024-06-26T15:14:41Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > because Newman is trying to point out how ridiculous racism and bigotry are by making up nonsensical stereotypes about a completely inoffensive group Except that there actually are people prejudiced against short people; at least, against short men. (and the inoffensiveness of a group has nothing to do with whether there’s prejudice against them.) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/24 "2024-06-26T15:15:11Z")
Everything Is Beautiful ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/25 "2024-06-26T15:18:22Z")
My Girl Bill Modern Major-General’s Song ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/26 "2024-06-26T15:21:22Z")
Chick-a-Boom (Don’t You Just Love It) by Daddy Dewdrop ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/27 "2024-06-26T15:38:44Z")
[Rosie](https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858509791/) by Jackson Browne. Silly double entendre, sure, but I doubt he was joking about the actual point of the song: that, even as a famous musician, he ended up settling for spending the night with Rosie every now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/28 "2024-06-26T15:44:42Z")
Surfin’ Bird is typical of many dance songs that don’t have to worry about being serious. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/29 "2024-06-26T15:46:34Z")
Undercover Angel, Alan O’Day ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/30 "2024-06-26T15:49:40Z")
I first heard the song Tempted, by Squeeze, while playing Grand Theft Auto (it was part of the playlist of one of the in-game radio stations). The lyrics were pretty silly so I thought the song was a joke, like all those “Maibatsu” car commercials they played on those stations. Then I found out it was a “real” song. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/31 "2024-06-26T15:52:52Z")
I felt the same way the first time I heard Don’t Worry, Be Happy. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/32 "2024-06-26T16:10:30Z")
Steve Fisk - “Donna Summer on the Radio” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gHAepBz__CI/hqdefault.jpg ""Donna Summer on the Radio" by Steve Fisk") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHAepBz__CI) I dunno, maybe it’s an experimental joke. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/33 "2024-06-26T16:44:19Z")
I always thought the Crash Test Dummies song “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” sounded kind of silly. In fact what I heard it for the first time I wasn’t sure it wasn’t a Weird Al song. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/34 "2024-06-26T17:01:21Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me I heard (but of course can’t find a cite) that Mac Davis wrote this song because someone told him that a song needed a “good hook” to be successful. So he wrote a song about being hooked. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/35 "2024-06-26T17:03:05Z")
Back in 1998 Marillion released a song called “Costa del Slough/Under the Sun.” It’s a more sarcastic than silly take on climate change. The polar ice is melting 'Suits me fine We go to the beach On the Northern Line We watch the sea Comin’ up the street Under the sun ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/36 "2024-06-26T17:28:24Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I always thought the Crash Test Dummies song “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” sounded kind of silly. In fact what I heard it for the first time I wasn’t sure it wasn’t a Weird Al song. I can believe that, but I’m just checking to make sure it wasn’t actually [Weird Al’s version](https://youtu.be/dU95v23MQ4c) that you heard. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/37 "2024-06-26T17:30:59Z")
It wasn’t. I’ve heard both songs. I was aware of Weird Al’s version when I first heard the Crash Test Dummies version, which is exactly why I was confused. Then I slowly came to the realization that the song I was hearing _wasn’t_ the joke version. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/38 "2024-06-26T17:53:45Z")
Lou Reed did a lot of songs that could fall into that category. I was thinking of [The Power of Positive Drinking](https://youtu.be/P0F45-Fyl2E?feature=shared)\*, but there’s plenty on Transformer that is in a similar vein - New York Telephone Conversation, Vicious and debatably several others. It goes back to Velvet Underground days as well. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1PreKtsgoUM/maxresdefault.jpg "I'm Sticking With You") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PreKtsgoUM) j ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/39 "2024-06-26T17:58:53Z")
Ahem. Ooops. The \* was - “When I exit I’ll go out gracefully, shot in my hand” - which was, broadly speaking, what he did. j ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/40 "2024-06-26T18:25:24Z")
**Werewolves of London** by Warren Zevon **Tequila** by The Champs **Dirty Water** by The Standells [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341.md?page=3)