# Song parodies
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 3, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068 "2020-05-03T14:41:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/1 "2020-05-03T14:41:55Z")
Allan Sherman and Weird Al Yankovic made their livings writing and performing song parodies. But what about some others? There were ones my dad sang, and others from military units. Often, one of these ditties will pop unbidden into my head. For example:
To the tune _Wabash Cannonball_: [_Super Skier_](https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=3773) and [_Wreck of the Old 97 (USAF)_](http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiAIR97;ttWRECK97.html).
To the tune of _I’m Looking Over A Four-Leaf Clover_ there’s **Korea** :
I’m looking over, a well fought over Korea that I abhor.
One for the money, and two for the show! Ridgeway said stay, but we want to go.
There’s no use explaining, why we’re remaining,
We got what we were fighting for.
Korea, Korea and diarrhea,
To make the rice grow some more.
Dad used to sing _My Bonnie Has Tuberculosis_:
My Bonnie has tuberculosis.
My Bonnie has only one lung.
My Bonnie can cough up raw oysters,
And roll them around on her tongue.
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### Author:  [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/2 "2020-05-03T15:28:09Z")
Does **Ray Stevens** count?
I don’t know if he made song parodies in the sense of taking a hit song and refitting it with wacky lyrics and sound effects. To my knowledge though, his entire discography is a jokey, musical look at any number of topics du jour.
[The Streak](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtzoUu7w-YM) is probably his most well-known “hit” but a quick look at his anthology reveals he’s touched upon topics such as global warming and presidential politics.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/3 "2020-05-03T15:33:11Z")
Ray Stevens popped into my mind right away because of The Streak. Back in time a little more there was [Spike Jones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Jones). Besides doing satirical lyrics he added a lot of sound effects to the music and his act was padded out with jokes and shtick.
Let’s not forget [Tom Lehrer.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer) Maybe best known for [Poisoning Pigeons in the Park](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhuMLpdnOjY).
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/4 "2020-05-03T15:57:24Z")
Frank Jacobs, who wrote all the song parodies for MAD Magazine, surely deserves mention here.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/5 "2020-05-03T16:07:42Z")
[Bob Rivers and Twisted Radio](https://bobrivers.com/category/twisted-tunes/)
He has put out hundreds of song parodies, including popular songs and Christmas songs. Here’s his latest,
[You Gotta Wash Your Hands](https://youtu.be/RgAbsDKHaW0)
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### Author:  [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/6 "2020-05-03T16:22:31Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> .Let’s not forget [Tom Lehrer.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer) Maybe best known for [Poisoning Pigeons in the Park](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhuMLpdnOjY).
Lehrer wrote his own music, so it wasn’t parody in the sense being used here. Maybe you could say he parodied genres. In any case, that’s what made him far superior to any of these others.
Just changing the lyrics of a famous song is crude, unimaginative, and rarely funny–though I’d say Weird Al does it better than most. The Capital Steps have got to be the lamest, crappiest, most pathetic of all.
Parody has to make a point. Simply changing lyrics arbitrarily is cheap and lazy–and usually just stupid.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/7 "2020-05-03T17:06:06Z")
Well, if we’re including changing the musical genre of existing songs, there’s Dread Zeppelin, who specialize in reggae covers of Led Zeppelin tunes but also work with other classic rock material.
[Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Cheese) do lounge covers of pop songs.
For actual parody there’s the \*\*Walk Hard \*\*soundtrack, comprised entirely of original songs in spot-on styles of popular music from the 50s to the 70s. The quality of the music here is surprisingly high.
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### Author:  [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/8 "2020-05-03T17:11:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> [Poisoning Pigeons in the Park](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhuMLpdnOjY).
Just to elaborate, what made Lehrer so brilliant was that he melded spot-on parodies of specific genres with highly-crafted and aptly aimed satire _ **that was culturally linked** _. “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” was an attack on a certain type of mindless, fluffy music (not really in existence today). The dark narrative of the lyrics was not simply amusing and well written–it was specifically designed to undercut that particularly annoying genre of song. It required a keen musical ability to be able to write an original song like that and also couple it with the verbal satire so well.
Most of these other parodies don’t come anywhere close to such craftsmanship. I would say the music in _Spinal Tap_ does, though it’s mostly just about one type of music.
What makes The Capital Steps so shitty is that the choice of song and topic is purely arbitrary, and the new lyrics are not well written. Most of all, they never have anything insightful or original to contribute with regard to cultural criticism. The only point they ever make is: “Guess what? We watch the news! Isn’t that funny?” No. It’s not. Everyone watches the news.
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### Author:  [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/9 "2020-05-03T17:18:23Z")
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> . . . there’s the \*\*Walk Hard \*\*soundtrack, comprised entirely of original songs in spot-on styles of popular music from the 50s to the 70s. The quality of the music here is surprisingly high.
That could be something that would be worth checking out–from your descriptions it seems it could be closer to what Lehrer did, and not just the typical “parody” of changing lyrics of a popular song.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/10 "2020-05-03T17:35:09Z")
Mark Russell did political song parodies for 40 years - even before the Capitol Steps began. His musical choices were [pretty lame](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB9cy5YkoNo), but he was popular enough to be lampooned by both Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons.
Of course if you want parodies\* of music\*, you have [Victor Borge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmYky_iL2nE) and[PDQ Bach](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68_j6yU4Whg). Among other works, PDQ Bach wrote the\* Missa Hilarious\*, which combined parody lyrics with parody music in a parody of an entire genre. [Here’s an example.](https://sonichits.com/video/P.D.Q._Bach/Missa_Hilarious_(S._N2O)_-_Gloria)
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/11 "2020-05-03T17:40:39Z")
The Four Skins\* recorded an album of medically twisted tunes\*\*, including my favorite:
[“It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Syphilis”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9kwJ2pV4yc&frags=pl%2Cwn)
\*I know, sorry.
\*\*also featuring “It Had To Be Sprue”.
\*\*\*I am fortunate to own the album.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/12 "2020-05-03T17:52:25Z")
> [@guizot](#):
>
> That could be something that would be worth checking out–from your descriptions it seems it could be closer to what Lehrer did, and not just the typical “parody” of changing lyrics of a popular song.
You can listen to most of it on YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhle\_xOp5pD-SQ\_xPTZw3jbw5QKzAFqAf](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhle_xOp5pD-SQ_xPTZw3jbw5QKzAFqAf)
Almost all of it is pretty great stuff. I didn’t realize John C. Reilly was that good a singer.
---
### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/13 "2020-05-03T18:09:47Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#):
>
> Of course if you want parodies\* of music\*, you have [Victor Borge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmYky_iL2nE) and[PDQ Bach](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68_j6yU4Whg). Among other works, PDQ Bach wrote the\* Missa Hilarious\*, which combined parody lyrics with parody music in a parody of an entire genre. [Here’s an example.](https://sonichits.com/video/P.D.Q._Bach/Missa_Hilarious_(S._N2O)_-_Gloria)
Love that PDQ Bach bit, but they tell you it’s Missa Hilarious, and then they give you the Monk’s Song from _Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice_. That’s just a little bit disappointing.
Unfortunately, the Missa Hilarious can’t be linked to online for love nor money. It was recorded on _A Portrait of P.D.Q. Bach_, which is not available in streaming format.
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### Author:  [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/14 "2020-05-03T18:50:00Z")
> [@cochrane](#):
>
> [Bob Rivers and Twisted Radio](https://bobrivers.com/category/twisted-tunes/)
>
> He has put out hundreds of song parodies, including popular songs and Christmas songs. Here’s his latest,
>
> [You Gotta Wash Your Hands](https://youtu.be/RgAbsDKHaW0)
I wrote and recorded song parodies for Bob Rivers, when he was on WIYY in Baltimore in the late 1980s. He writes some of his material, but buys a lot of it, most of which he pays for. 😃
Through the exposure, I almost got signed to a national radio network to do parodies. There used to be more money in them back when you needed musicians to record the instrumental parts. With the advent of karaoke machines, pretty much anyone was able to do them, and in the opinion of some, this led to lowered quality, and lower demand. Sort of like karaoke has helped lower the quality of and demand for live music.
_Mad_’s Frank Jacobs was absolutely an influence on me, along with Tom Lehrer. Lehrer is a good illustration of how song parodies used to be, if not more highbrow, at least more original. Radio stations today would choose a mediocre idea based on a big, current hit than a list of chemical elements set to the melody of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General”.
Weird Al seems to be some sort of supernatural being who has maintained the highest quality in his work since forever. He made a great comment once about how many reviews of his work start out by describing him as a one hit wonder. He’s done more albums than most hall of fame rock bands.
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### Author:  [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/15 "2020-05-03T19:12:24Z")
> [@guizot](#):
>
> …Just changing the lyrics of a famous song is crude, unimaginative, and rarely funny…
Very true. Even [Billy Connolly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epeuVJXOAKM) struggled to make that work.
The taking off of a style or a particular performer offers much more scope for something actually funny. The late, great and very much missed Neil Innes was a master of the form: [Cheese and Onions](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQJ0uEb0c-w); and [a protest song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfTlGMCeuDE).
j
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### Author:  [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/16 "2020-05-03T19:32:48Z")
The [Hoosier Hot Shots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoosier_Hot_Shots) were a country novelty group that performed from the 30s through the 70s. A lot of their numbers were parodies of standards such as [Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU0nzIg9iJs), [My Blue Heaven[URL=“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWbvXKRIszw&t=2s”], The Sheik of Araby](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhqrKB6vYdw), and [Who’s Sorry Now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVlN4FISATg).
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/17 "2020-05-03T19:41:30Z")
It occurs to me that a song parody doesn’t really HAVE to just be the same music with different lyrics. Weird Al’s _Dare to be Stupid_ is like a perfect rendering of a song that might have been put out by Devo.
“I’m Gettin’ Bi” from _Crazy Ex-Girlfriend_ does such a great job of capturing Huey Lewis and the News, that you might have thought Huey wrote it.
But the best I’ve seen so far was last night, when Michaela got me to start watching _SMASH_ with her (a two-season miniseries about an effort to produce Marilyn Monroe musical). The number [“The National Pastime”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsMd-uadvlQ) had been brilliantly parodied by [“The Math of Love Triangles”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck-UhvbCDAk) in _CEx-GF_.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/18 "2020-05-03T20:04:26Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> It occurs to me that a song parody doesn’t really HAVE to just be the same music with different lyrics. Weird Al’s _Dare to be Stupid_ is like a perfect rendering of a song that might have been put out by Devo.
He does a lot of style parodies and completely original songs.
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### Author:  [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/19 "2020-05-03T20:11:45Z")
Roy Zimmerman is a fantastic song parodist. Can’t link from my phone, but one of his is making the rounds right now, and has been linked to on the Dope in a couple of threads, easily found on YouTube: “The Liar Tweets Tonight”. Another wonderful one is a takeoff on Old Man River, named “Old Man Fibber”, about Mitch McConnell - it’s great! (Most of his other songs have original melodies.)
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068/20 "2020-05-03T22:03:10Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> Love that PDQ Bach bit, but they tell you it’s Missa Hilarious, and then they give you the Monk’s Song from _Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice_. That’s just a little bit disappointing.
>
> Unfortunately, the Missa Hilarious can’t be linked to online for love nor money. It was recorded on _A Portrait of P.D.Q. Bach_, which is not available in streaming format.
So THAT’S why I couldn’t remember it from MH. As a way of apologizing, here’s his inimitable [1712 Overture](https://www.tablyricfm.com/1712-Overture-tab-Lyrics-fm-P.D.Q.-Bach).
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-parodies/853068.md?page=2)