# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/61 "2024-06-27T18:50:24Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Bob Dylan had a lot of them. Most people think of him as the profound and eminently serious songwriter, but he had a lot of funny and silly songs, mostly absurdist, especially in the sixties. One of the silliest even was one of his rare single hits, “Rainy Day Women #12 and 35”, which was built on the double meaning of “to get stoned”. I think his funniest song was “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream”, which was both silly and a great satire on America, just like “Motorpsycho Nightmare”, “Talking World War III Blues”, “Tombstone Blues” (“the sun’s not yellow, it’s chicken”) and maybe the best of the bunch, “Maggie’s Farm”. A good list, and I’ll add “If You Gotta Go, Go Now” which is both funny and a primer on getting consent for sex about 40 years before it became a thing. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/62 "2024-06-27T19:16:37Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > A good list, and I’ll add “If You Gotta Go, Go Now” which is both funny and a primer on getting consent for sex about 40 years before it became a thing. Yeah, that’s also a very funny song, and I didn’t catch the consent aspect before, a good observation. But it reminded me of another funny Dylan song in a similar setting, “Fourth Time Around”, which is an obvious parody of “Norwegian Wood”. John Lennon was intimidated and a bit pissed off by it. For me it’s a hilarious song about a piece of gum. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7wSIboHqtXY/maxresdefault.jpg "Bob Dylan - Fourth Time Around (Official Audio)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wSIboHqtXY) ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/63 "2024-06-27T19:31:56Z")
> [@solost](#): > > That interpretation had not occurred to me, but it makes perfect sense. Anybody else pick up on that? Is it like a “well, duhh” kind of thing to everybody else? Yeah, I thought it was obvious (not to rub salt) from the repeated lyrics “They’ll stone you when you’re…” It didn’t sound like people would run up and offer you some weed. Really, only the “Everybody must get stoned” sounds like a double meaning: both getting attacked for living your life and getting high because fuck the dudes attacking you. ---
**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 27, 2024, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/64 "2024-06-27T19:41:41Z")
**Draft Dodger Rag** by Phil Ochs, serious subject done humorously. > **[Draft Dodger Rag](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T9MHFldX1E%2F)** > > Provided to YouTube by Rhino/ElektraDraft Dodger Rag · Phil OchsI Ain't Marching Anymore℗ 1966 Elektra EntertainmentVocals: Phil OchsWriter: Phil OchsAuto-ge... ---
**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 27, 2024, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/65 "2024-06-27T20:24:07Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Yeah, I thought it was obvious (not to rub salt) from the repeated lyrics “They’ll stone you when you’re…” It didn’t sound like people would run up and offer you some weed. Well, in my defense, the oft-repeated chorus is: _So I would not feel so all alone_ _Everybody must get stoned_ So sharing some weed as a social activity was apparently _ **one of** _ the meanings, even, perhaps, the primary meaning. Just not the only meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/66 "2024-06-27T23:14:05Z")
Quinn the Eskimo? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/67 "2024-06-28T06:47:27Z")
**Tribute** by Tenacious D. **Peaches** by Presidents of the United States of America. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/68 "2024-06-28T16:31:16Z")
Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend.” The video and the tone-deaf singing both contribute to its silliness. Oh, snap! ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/69 "2024-06-28T16:54:15Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Quinn the Eskimo? “Quinn the Eskimo” on the surface is a silly song but it’s really a satire of organized religion. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/70 "2024-06-28T17:20:33Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > “Quinn the Eskimo” on the surface is a silly song but it’s really a satire of organized religion. Wait, what? I did a bit of googling… there’s a case to be made that it’s about heroin. And, is ‘cup of meat’ a thing, or did it just rhyme with something. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/71 "2024-06-28T17:24:16Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > And, is ‘cup of meat’ a thing, or did it just rhyme with something. That’s just Dylan playing with words and being absurdist, like he often did at the time (compare the line “The sun’s not yellow, it’s chicken” from Tombstone Blues I already quoted earlier, or the “motorcycle black madonna two-wheeled gypsy queen” from Gates Of Eden). ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/72 "2024-06-28T18:40:42Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > And, is ‘cup of meat’ a thing, or did it just rhyme with something. It’s there for the rhyme. (That said, I think “_cut_ of meat” makes more sense and keeps the song’s meter but who am I to question the writing abilities of a living legend and Nobel Prize winner?) And I stand by my argument about “The Mighty Quinn” really being about religion and the overeagerness of people to embrace self-declared gurus. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/73 "2024-06-28T18:48:18Z")
The flip side of Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks is called Put the Bone In. No, it’s not about that… it’s a bone for a dog that got hit by a car. ---
**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 28, 2024, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/74 "2024-06-28T18:57:19Z")
**Dead Skunk** by Loudon Wainwright III ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/75 "2024-06-28T19:51:56Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > And I stand by my argument about “The Mighty Quinn” really being about religion and the overeagerness of people to embrace self-declared gurus. Except it appears to be actually about Anthony Quinn in a movie as an Eskimo. Also from that period is "Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread and a song about being drunk and needing to use the bathroom “Please Mrs. Henry.” BTW there is a movie called “Quinn the Eskimo” about a cop named Quinn on a Caribbean island. The only connection to the song is that some of the cast sing a verse at a bar. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/76 "2024-06-28T19:56:45Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > “Quinn the Eskimo” on the surface is a silly song but it’s really a satire of organized religion. Wow- I have no idea where you got that. The lyrics say otherwise. Wiki doesnt mention anything liek that. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/77 "2024-06-28T20:04:56Z")
I can see it referring to all types of hopium, not just organized religion. Waiting for something that will save your life but will almost certainly never come. Then again it could indeed just be a silly song. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Undeposable\_Hand](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_undeposable_hand/32/8502_2.png) [@The\_Undeposable\_Hand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Undeposable_Hand)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/78 "2024-06-28T20:08:11Z")
The whole oeuvre of the band Cake ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/79 "2024-06-28T20:09:50Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > And I stand by my argument about “The Mighty Quinn” really being about religion and the overeagerness of people to embrace self-declared gurus. One of the reasons I love Bob Dylan and Tom Waits lyrics is that they can be used to mean totally different things according to how the listener feels at the time. Decades ago in a Tom Waits forum, a respected participant talked about a specific line in a song. He had met old Tom and asked about it. He shared Tom’s reply. Meanwhile, another respected participant had an old copy of an interview where a totally different meaning was given by Tom. It means whatever you think it means. ETA: too busy to find cites, but Dylan has given multiple differing explanations about Quinn ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/80 "2024-06-28T20:45:28Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Decades ago in a Tom Waits forum, a respected participant talked about a specific line in a song. He had met old Tom and asked about it. He shared Tom’s reply. Meanwhile, another respected participant had an old copy of an interview where a totally different meaning was given by Tom. It means whatever you think it means. I totally believe this. I heard Eddie Vetter in 3 different interviews give 3 different explanations for to origin of the name Pearl Jam. I’ve also heard Sir Paul give differing accounts of the meaning of Blackbird. In my younger days I sought to be a famous artist. As such, I’ve had a few openings. One of my favorite things was to stand within earshot and listen to people assign meanings to my paintings that I didn’t intend. I used to think that kind of thing was BS but I’ve come around to it. > [@NDP](#): > > And I stand by my argument about “The Mighty Quinn” really being about religion and the overeagerness of people to embrace self-declared gurus. I’m not arguing the point, would just love to hear your breakdown. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341.md?page=5)