I liked Mark's song--it was a very good one.

As someone who grew up in a house where musical (and poetical) literacy was a given, parodies were viewed as an expression of wit and intellect that refered back to the original in at least subtle ways beyond the tune. Yes, I get the words to parodies stuck in my head over the top of the original words, but that may be because the parody is a better song. :)

No one has mentioned the absolute master of parody, Tom Lehrer.

SRS