# When rock stars get funny **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 26, 2001, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389 "2001-11-26T23:44:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/21 "2001-11-27T14:26:08Z")
Deep Purple’s “Anyone’s Daughter” from _Fireball_ always made me snicker. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/22 "2001-11-27T14:31:59Z")
Pearl Jam often performs unusual covers or cover snippets in concert, such as “Everyday People” or “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. The Who had a few funny songs, like “Boris the Spider” and “Now I’m a Farmer”. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/23 "2001-11-27T14:35:45Z")
**Emerson Lake and Palmer** had a few funny tunes including _Benny the Bouncer_. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/24 "2001-11-27T15:04:55Z")
I once saw Sebadoh play in Hammersmith, with Country Teaser and someone else I can’t remember as support. For the final encore everyone came onstage and played a version of The Stone Roses’ “I Wanna Be Adored” that must have gone on for about 15 minutes. Half way through the Country Teaser singer started signing The Smith’s “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” in a Morrisey voice whilst doing an impression of Ian Curtis’ (Joy Division) dancing. Definitely the funniest thing I have seen on stage. The fact that HKIMN worked over the music to IWBA still confuses me to this day. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/25 "2001-11-27T15:24:30Z")
Speaking of **The Smiths** , I’d say “Girlfriend in a Coma” and “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others” meet the criteria of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/26 "2001-11-27T16:24:35Z")
You could go on forever on this subject, but a few favorites, from bands who’re typically much more earnest: **Aztec Camera** , “Jump”: yes, the Van Halen number. Done as a mostly acoustic, downtempo ballad. **Translator** , “Ronnie Raygun Blues”. A throwaway, but funny nonetheless, particularly from a band that usually didn’t feature witty or clever lyrics. Favorite line: “I like the way his neck skin wiggles when he chews”. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/27 "2001-11-27T16:42:54Z")
**Faith No More**. Listen to the _Epic_ album. There’s some really funny stuff on there. And they used to throw **New Kids on the Block** ’s _The Right Stuff_ into their song _We Care a Lot_ in concert. ---
**Author:** ![Curdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@Curdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curdog)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/28 "2001-11-27T17:18:20Z")
Faith No More also does, both live and on an EP, A perfectly straight version of Lionel Ritchie’s dentist office classic “Easy”, complete with a blown line from the original. All the funnier for being so straight faced! ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/29 "2001-11-27T17:54:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > \*\*Acts like “Weird Al” don’t count since being funny is their act. \*\* I’d like to take issue with this statement in the OP. When has Weird Al ever been anything other than embarrassingly lame? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/30 "2001-11-27T18:43:32Z")
It’s not quite the same as a funny song, but Chris Isaak has an hour long comedy show now, that my fiance and I watch religiously (cause it’s just about the best show we’ve ever seen). Chris appears to be a born comedian; his drummer, Kenny Wayne Sheppard, is also hysterical. In one episode, VH1 was going to do a “Behind the Scenes” with Chris; watching Chris ham it up for them was great; “I don’t do drugs, except marijuana and heroin. But I don’t consider those drugs, 'cause they’re nature’s flowers.” Said dead straight. ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Baroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/76d3ee/32.png) [@Billy\_Baroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Baroo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/31 "2001-11-27T19:05:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*Steve Goodman (“The City of New Orleans”) had a comedy hit or two, including “You Don’t Even Call Me by my Name” and “The Elvis Impersonator’s Song”. > \*\* Also, “Lincoln Park Pirates.” I have fond childhood memories of Bill Stammer (close friend of the family) performing that one for us during family parties. Then he’d do “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” Steve Goodman: we lost him too soon. He wrote the final verse of “You Never Even Call Me…” to contain every element of a perfect country song. Of course you know this if you’ve heard David Allen Coe sing it, because he tells the story. _I was drunk the day my momma got out of prison So I went to pick her up in the rain But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck She got run over by a damned old train…_ ---
**Author:** ![Skerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Skerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skerri)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/32 "2001-11-27T19:11:34Z")
I always loved the song “Hook” by Blues Traveller. The song is beautiful, kind of sappy-love song sounding for a little while. Then comes the hook of the song…It sounds like it’s a love song, but it’s about how artists only have to have a catchy hook in order to sell albums. I tried explaining this to my friends, and they looked at me like I was nuts. (They all thought it was a love song.) ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/33 "2001-11-27T23:59:17Z")
I think that the various funkutations of George Clinton, The Reverend Horton Heat, the Butthole Surfers, and Devo are all more-or-less humor acts, though they are all grossly misunderstood by some. There used to be some _hilarious_ punk bands. D.O.A. and The Meatmen could make a grown man cry with laughter live, and Fear was supposedly financially backed by John Belushi. There is a Satanic ska band called… Mephiskapheles. ---
**Author:** ![SolomonGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SolomonGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolomonGrundy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/34 "2001-11-28T03:18:50Z")
Huh, I just posted this in another thread, but it’s more appropriate here. I’ve only got two albums by **The Cardigans** , so I don’t know if it’s a running gag, but the two I have have light-jazz covers of “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” and “Iron Man.” “Iron Man” in particular is absolutely hilarious. And since they’re known for being goofy, I guess they don’t count, but: the one **Barenaked Ladies** concert I’ve been to was funnier than most of the comedy shows I’ve seen. They segued from one 80’s song to another, my favorite being when one of the guys broke into “The Method of Modern Love” by Hall & Oates, apparently surprising everyone else in the band. ---
**Author:** ![Darkrabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@Darkrabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkrabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/35 "2001-11-28T04:50:53Z")
Anyone familiar with Duncan Sheik? I saw him at his first stop for his “Phantom Moon” tour this year and he closed the show with AC/DC’s “She Shook Me All Night Long”. It was pretty good, too! **DarkRabbit** ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/36 "2001-11-28T13:05:40Z")
Saw **Warren Zevon** perform “What’s New Pussycat” in concert. Quite a bold move on his part. He also recorded an excellent version of Prince’s “Raspberry Beret” with a few members of REM. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Bee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Larry\_Bee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Bee)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/37 "2001-11-28T15:48:05Z")
With titles like ‘They Ain’t Makin’ Jews LiKe Jesus Anymore’, ‘Get your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed’ ‘Mama, Baby, Mama Let Me Jump in Your Pajamas’ and more Kinky Friedman has to be one of the funniest singer/songwriters around. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/38 "2001-11-28T16:08:57Z")
Anyone ever heard the “Modern Lovers” with Jonathan Richman(?) Somewhere I have a couple of ML LPs. “Rockin’ Leprechauns,” anyone? RR ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/39 "2001-11-28T16:25:34Z")
OK, y’all are missing the point of the OP: > [@](#): > > …artists who are **normally not known for being funny** who have recorded stuff like this… > > [my emphasis] ---
**Author:** ![jaimest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@jaimest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaimest)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389/40 "2001-11-28T16:33:15Z")
Laibach ( **the** Slovenian industrial band) did a cover of the Beatles’ _Let It Be_. Not just the song…the whole album…“Dig It” and all! Megadeth did speed metal versions of Rod Stewart’s “I Ain’t Superstitious” and Nnacy Sinatra’s “These Boots are Made for Walking”…complete with Dave Mustaine growling…“Are you ready boots? Start walking!”. And who can forget Sid Vicious’“My Way”… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-rock-stars-get-funny/95389.md?page=3)