# 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:** 5
**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, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/81 "2024-06-28T20:48:23Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > (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?) Maybe he misspoke while recording it? Because you’re right, that make much more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/82 "2024-06-28T20:53:50Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Modern Major-General’s Song Every Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera had one of these (I think Ruddigore might have had two, but I’m not interested enough to check); they are called patter songs. They were not intended to be silly per se, they were written for a particular performer (who was copied by his successors in those roles) to showcase his ability to enunciate lyrics rapidly but clearly so the audience could catch every word (Gilbert insisted on that). They often contain deep and important themes from the show (“My eyes are fully open to my awful situation” or “When you’re lying awake with a dismal headache and repose is taboo’d by anxiety”) and only occasionally have jokes (“This particularly rapid unintelligible patter isn’t generally heard and if it is it doesn’t matter.”) There, more than you ever wanted to know. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/83 "2024-06-29T01:23:56Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me Why do you think this song is silly? ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/84 "2024-06-30T05:43:34Z")
30,000 Pounds of Bananas. In real life, the fatal truck crash was no laughing matter–but the song made it sound silly. ETA–not sure if Chapin was kidding about this, or serious. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/85 "2024-06-30T11:33:25Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > but who am I to question the writing abilities of a living legend and Nobel Prize winner? Well, I think people don’t question because they’re afraid they’ll sound ignorant. “What, you didn’t _get_ it?” No one will ever admit that they don;t understand a Dylan (or whatever) piece because they’ll lose face. But sometimes, even living legends, geniusses and Nobel Prize winners make bad songs. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/86 "2024-06-30T11:56:25Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > > [@NDP](#): > > > > (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?) > > Maybe he misspoke while recording it? Because you’re right, that make much more sense. - Dylan? Make _sense_? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/87 "2024-06-30T16:29:13Z")
In 1979 this song was a breath of fresh air for a kid who hated disco and punk: [Girl of My Dreams](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U59z_KhAbnI) by bram Tchaikovsky Two decades later I realized it’s about a sex doll. Still sounds great though! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/88 "2024-06-30T17:27:14Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Jimmy Webb, the original songwriter, did a live performance with Paul Schaffer’s band on one of Letterman’s final shows that was simply great. I watched that, just to see if they’d sing “MacArthur’s Park”. I read long ago that after every take, Richard Harris, reprimanded, would say “I did that? Every single time? Huh… Well, maybe I won’t next time.” And then he did. So Jimmy Webb gave up and left it in. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/89 "2024-06-30T17:42:02Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Inca Roads, by Frank Zappa? > Like a lot of Phish songs, it’s very sophisticated musically, but the lyrics are goofy. So, like every other Frank Zappa song? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/90 "2024-06-30T18:44:26Z")
I’m missing it—left what in? ---
**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 30, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/91 "2024-06-30T19:32:23Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Maybe he misspoke while recording it? Because you’re right, that make much more sense. This song wasn’t recorded in a studio for some big record, it was recorded in the basement at Woodstock, just fooling around. “Cup of meat” makes perfect sense when another song recorded at the same time talked about a bottle of bread. Plus, if you’ve heard as many versions of songs as I have, you know he changes lyrics all the time. He also makes mistakes, which get left in if the version is good enough. There is a mistake in “Hard Rain” and one in “Like a Rolling Stone” if you listen hard enough. While reading the big, fat book from the Dylan archives, I found that the way he writes is to write verse after verse and then pick the best ones for a song. Which must be how the verses in “All Along the Watchtower” got gloriously out of order. Probably none of us could write this way, which is why we aren’t Dylan. ---
**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 2, 2024, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/92 "2024-07-02T00:31:43Z")
So true. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/93 "2024-07-02T00:33:19Z")
Judy in Disguise! ---
**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:** [July 2, 2024, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/94 "2024-07-02T01:35:48Z")
Nice one! ETA: When John Fred misheard the Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper album track of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” — he thought Paul McCartney was singing “Lucy in disguise with diamonds” — he decided to create a send-up of the Fab Four’s work. It’s a parody! ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/95 "2024-08-07T04:59:14Z")
I was thinking about starting a silly songs thread, but then I found this one. Why was I thinking about that? Because today I somehow came upon this: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/W8ws_66ag2k/maxresdefault.jpg "Pineapple Princess") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8ws_66ag2k) Annette Funicello had a minor hit with “Pineapple Princess”, and I suppose we would call it a novelty song. I’m not sure why, but the style, the beat and the lyrics struck me as so funny I listened to it three times while continuously laughing. It’s so sweet and fun I can’t really mock it. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/96 "2024-08-07T08:14:37Z")
What about, “Coconut,” by Nilsson? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/97 "2024-08-07T09:30:10Z")
Considering [the songwriters’](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Brothers) wider oeuvre, catchy and silly is to be expected. ---
**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:** [August 7, 2024, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/98 "2024-08-07T10:48:20Z")
You mean it’s not a traditional song of Hawaii? That album cover lied to me. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/99 "2024-08-07T17:13:41Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > MacArthur Park’s metaphor about a cake left out in the rain is fairly silly. Hey, that came out while I was in junior high. It was deep, man. I submit **The M.T.A. Song**. Serious and deliberately silly. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341/100 "2024-08-07T17:40:05Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I submit **The M.T.A. Song**. Serious and deliberately silly. What I came to post. Was written as a mayoral campaign song protesting “exit fares” on the Boston transit system, where in certain circumstances (crossing transit zones) you had to pay to get off the train. I got stuck with one in the 80s taking the Red Line to Quincy. Fortunately I was able to come up with the necessary change, which is why I am no longer on the train. Silly in the _reductio ad absurdum_ sense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-songs-that-are-probably-not-joke-songs/1003341.md?page=6)