Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?

Subject: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Johnny J
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 06:08 AM

I don't want to condemn parody songs out of hand. Some can be very clever and pertinent.

However, the great majority of them are fairly trite and an extremely lazy and unimaginative way to get a cheap laugh. If some wishes to compose a funny or comic song, why doesn't he or she at least make an effort to use an original melody or create new lyrics from scratch?

Often, these ditties tend to bastardise well known standards albeit many of which have become slightly hackneyed. Some of them, however, are still well loved by many people and the gleeful mocking of their favourite songs can often be quite offensive to them especially if the contents of the originals had dealt with serious issues which may have been personal to them.

Of course, I consider many songs to be a little bit on the naff side and some of those have indeed been over sung. However, surely the answer is just to leave them alone? Or is the idea to shame other people into not singing them?

No doubt, you'll all tell me that the same goes for parodies too, i.e. if I don't like them. I don't have to listen. Ach well.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 06:33 AM

A LOT of songs that are passed off as 'parodies' are nothing of the kind , just a stolen tune , and a stolen idea . A REAL parody has to closely follow the original lyric , with humourous twists . For an excellent example look at Malcolm Austen's rewrite of 'The Fields of Athenry'which
uses the original structure and most of the original words .

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 06:44 AM

Save anyone looking , here it is :-

NOT THE FIELDS ATHENRY
By M.Austen 1993

By a lonely prison wall
I heard a young girl calling
Michael they are singing it again
And it just goes on and on
And I hate that blooming (bloody) song
I'm so fed-up with the fields of Athenry

ch.
Oh no not the fields of Athenry
If I hear it one more time I'm going to cry
They should ban the flaming (bloody) thing
There are far better songs to sing
I'm so fed-up with the fields of Athenry

By a lonely prison wall
I heard a young man calling
Mary why do you think that I'm in here
I hit the singer with my shillelagh
Now I'm bound for old Australie
But no more I'll hear the fields of Athenry

By a lonely harbour wall
I heard a young girl calling
To a prison ship and saying wait for me
Won't you let me come along
Before they start that blooming (bloody) song
I'm so fed up with the fields of Athenry

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Acorn4
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 07:12 AM

There are really two kinds of parody. One takes the whatever out of the song itself, the classic case being the Billy Connolly "D.I.V.O.R.C.E" take on the Tammy Wynette song. Also the Athenry one quoted.

The other just uses a well known song as an audience will be familiar with it and applies it to a different.

As with all genres there are good, bad and ugly - Les Barker is probably the finest current exponent of the parody. "Stand by your Van" - being another TW classic used for the situation when waiting for the AA man.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: The Sandman
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 07:15 AM

it depends, some of them are crap.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: PHJim
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 08:05 AM

Homer and Jethro did some great (and some not so great) parodies of popular songs. I really enjoyed their version of Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On."

HOMER & JETHRO
I'M MOVIN' ON NO. 2
As recorded by Homer & Jethro
(To The Tune Of I'm Movin' On) Written by Hank Snow

The old hound dog was feelin' fine
Till he fell in a barrel of turpentine
He's a-movin' on, he's a-movin' on
He passed the gate, like an eighty-eight
He's a-movin' on.

There was a smart guy from the city
And he picked up a little stripe'd kitty
He's a-movin' on, he's a-movin' on
We held our nose, while he buried his clothes
We're a-movin' on.

Old Uncle Dan worked on his car
Then he grabbed a-hold of a spark plug wire
He's a-movin' on, he's a-movin' on
He turned it loose, when he felt the juice
He's a-movin' on.

The old Tom cat was a-feelin' mean
When he caught his tail in the sewin' machine
He's a-movin' on, he's a-movin' on
He ripped a stitch, when he hit the ditch
He's a-movin' on.

The old man's face got white as a sheet
When he slipped and fell in his cream of wheat
He's a-movin' on, he's a-movin' on
He flapped his ears, as he shifted gears
He's a-movin' on.

Old Uncle John got awful clean
When his false teeth fell in the washing machine
He's a-movin' on, he's a-movin' on
He just couldn't straddle, that doggone paddle
He's a-movin' on.

We travel a lot to make our showin'
The way we sing we have to keep goin'
We're a-movin' on, we're a-movin' on
We've gotta go, here comes Hank Snow
We're a-movin' on.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: PHJim
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 08:11 AM

The Frere Brothers from Prince Edward County:

Mushroom Plant

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 09:37 AM

Some parodies are enjoyable, but I've quit looking at any parody threads on Mudcat. The probability is that they will be full of toilet humor or contempt for women, and I don't need that.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 09:49 AM

The rubbish ones tend to be only suitable as one-offs, funny the first time they're done and then leave it alone.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 09:53 AM

However, the great majority of them are fairly trite and an extremely lazy and unimaginative way to get a cheap laugh. If some wishes to compose a funny or comic song, why doesn't he or she at least make an effort to use an original melody or create new lyrics from scratch?

Often, these ditties tend to bastardise well known standards albeit many of which have become slightly hackneyed. Some of them, however, are still well loved by many people and the gleeful mocking of their favourite songs can often be quite offensive to them especially if the contents of the originals had dealt with serious issues which may have been personal to them.
I think you need to be clear what it is you're complaining about.
1. Comedy words put to an existing tune (but not mentioning the original)
2. A parody which takes the piss out of the original song, possibly pointing out its mistakes & failures.

In the first case, it may well be that the comic is good with words, but not with tune making. Les Barker commits his poems to print but doesn't state they should be sung to a particular tune, even if it's totally obvious from the resonance of the words.
In the second case, it would be a little pointless writing words to take the piss out of a song, and then using a totally different tune.

Anyway, you don't have to be 'taking the piss' to write a parody. Good parodists will often only use tunes that they already know & love. (it makes it much easier).

I heard a song (a filk, but that's another matter) done for the 2000 UK filk convention. I loved the original, but . . .

The opening lines (and whole premise of the song) was:
"The twentieth century's over, alas.
Oh shed a tear for the days that are gone."

The parody was not long in coming, and matched the number of verses, and most of the rhyme scheme. The parody started:
"The twentieth century's over, Oh no.
For pedants will tell you there's one year to go."

The biggest belly-laugh this got when I performed it in a circle that evening was from the original writer.

You can write parodies, but don't write them off.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Hesk
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 11:04 AM

If a parody is sung at a Folk gathering where the audience are regular, and know each other, it often spells the end of that particular song in its original format. The parody will be remembered and discussed each time the song is sung. If the song has become too frequent, and people are fed up with it, this is fine, but more often than not it is the favourite song of one or more of the participants, and their enjoyment of it is partly spoilt, as a result.
Malcolm has, certainly, done this to a few songs, but he is a particularly clever exponent of the art, and one of the few who can break through my humour barrier.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 11:17 AM

Parodies should closely follow the original.



Let Onions Be

Come all you who would be flatter
Raise your forks and pass the platter
For to live is to grow fatter
While we are together.

cho: Let onions be in all our stews
    Let all our stews be made with wine
    We show them all just how to dine
    We'll end each meal with chocolate.

    Right fol de rol de ri too ra li do
    Right fol de rol de ri too ra li do
    Right fol de rol de ri too ra li do
    While we are together.

Eating and drinking are quite charming
Cakes and ice cream there's no harm in
All these things we take delight in
While we are together.

cho.

Grab the platter as it passes
Join with us at all repasses
Those who diet are but asses
While we are together.

cho.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Jeri
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 11:49 AM

Not a parody, but somewhat about parodies. Nothing like all the regulars in a pub singing the "surprise" punch line along with you. No I can't remember the tune I used. (I only sang it once.)

Funny the First Time
(Me, circa 2006)

Sing, oh sing, that old song once more
Some people aren't sick of it yet
It's like hearing the same joke again and again
From some people I have met
I remember it as clearly as yesterday's lunch
But I'd like the chance to forget

It might have been funny the first time
Whether I laughed, I don't know
It might have been funny the first time
But I heard it so long ago

Poor Mary Ellen was sunk
Then she rose once again
And she's been dragged around, and up follows down
Like a glass of rot-gut gin
The first parody was amusing, perhaps
But it's been a long time since then

And there's holiday cheer, and poor Santa
They only come once a year
But how long can your grandma stay funny
Long after she's squashed by reindeer
The songs might have sleighed a decade ago,
But don't sing that one again here

There's dead dogs in cider, dead people in poop
Dead skunks in the road, and what's more
Can't swing a dead cat without a good song,
And we've got dead cat songs galore
One truth about people - the living - it seems
Is there's nothing as funny as gore.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Alaska Mike
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 11:52 AM

One of my daughters was having trouble passing her driver's test for her license. She was disheartened after failing the test a second time. As we were driving around Anchorage practicing for her third try. She and I wrote this parody to Neil Sedaka's "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do".

Backing Up Is Hard To Do
by Mike Campbell and Tina Campbell - 1994

I turned 16, but I can't go far,
Not until I learn to drive the car.
The driving test gives me the blues,
Cause backing up is hard to do.

My daddy said, "Now don't you cry,
Why don't you give it just another try,
It is a skill that you'll get through,
Though backing up is hard to do."

        They say that backing up is hard to do,
        Now I know, I know that its true.
        I don't want to be dead,
        Instead of backing up I wish that we were going straight ahead.

I beg of you, don't make me cry,
I just don't understand the reason why,
Why I can't circle a block or two,
Cause backing up is hard to do.

Remember when I was just five,
You told me how much fun it was to drive,
Well long ago I trusted you,
But backing up is hard to do.

        They say that backing up is hard to do,
        Now I know, I know that its true.
        I don't want to be dead,
        Instead of backing up I wish t

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 01:43 PM

There are definitely far too many parodies of 'popular culture' songs
inflicted on us by smug condescending upper middle class Oxbridge 'comedy' writers and performers.....

The wanky posh pillocks.

If only Radio 4 would stop encouraging them.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 03:49 PM

Johnny J
If I read your opinion right, you are calling works of art 'lazy' if they are derivative in some way. Well, shall we start by condemning all of Shakespeare's plays, and indeed all folk songs? In order to become a folk song it has to have undergone the folk process.

Parodies overlap quite a lot with burlesques. Parodies can be a skit on the original song but not always, whereas burlesques are. There are many examples of a parody/burlesque having eclipsed the original, i.e., the original has dropped into oblivion and the parody has blossomed. Villikins and his Dinah, for instance, is a burlesque on the old broadside ballad 'William and Dinah'.

Some of the most beautiful works of art are derivative. 'Laziness'? or 'Inspired' more like.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: MoorleyMan
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 06:26 PM

Parodies represent an interesting paradox within the general discipline of songwriting. A good songwriter is not necessarily a good parodist, and vice versa certainly applies too.
I recall an illuminating discussion at a festival songwriting workshop, putting forward several points with which I strongly agree. The theory is that to write a good parody one has first to have a degree of affection and/or respect for the original song, second to be able to closely and intelligently mirror its words and construction, and third to convey a totality of concept with a clear "message" (which may take the form of factual exposition, or satirical commentary, or else just plain playful - but inoffensive - fun with words. And yes, it is possible to skit without taking the p out of the original!).
Far too many so-called parodies are either overly crude (smut for its own cheap sake), or too flimsy to have anything but a very short shelf-life; at the same time, many parodies just don't have the vision to rise above (or bother to creatively expand) an isolated one-liner good-idea buried deep within. I call these Halfway To Parodies, or in the very worst cases Parodies Lost... (puns fully intended!)

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Bert
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 07:29 PM

Sometimes a situation suggests an existing song and it would be really stupid to create a new tune.

A couple of mine that fit that bill are Silicone Cindy and My Cart Has a Mind of Its own.


Silicone Cindy       D

D
You're my Silicone Cindy

The Girl that I desire
                            G
a beautiful celluloid kewpie doll
          A7       D
don't sit near the fire

D         G
Get along home Silicone Cindy
          D
Get along home Silicone Cindy
          G
Get along home Silicone Cindy
    D       A7       D
But don't sit near the fire


They overdid your eyelid tuck
your eyes they stare so wide
They couldn't find anything for your butt
so they use Naugahide

Get along home Silicone Cindy
Get along home Silicone Cindy
Get along home Silicone Cindy
Covered with Naugahide

Your breasts are made of silicone
your hair is nylon twine
your teeth are made of porcelain
the rest of you's all mine

Get along home Silicone Cindy
Get along home Silicone Cindy
Get along home Silicone Cindy
the rest of you's all mine

This surgical augmentation
on you looks really grand
I'll have to try some for myself
now you don't fit in my hand

Get along home Silicone Cindy
Get along home Silicone Cindy
Get along home Silicone Cindy
Now you don't fit in my hand.

Shopping Cart

With apologies to Connie Francis.
Tune "My heart has a mind of its own"


At the local grocery store, I found a shopping cart
But one of its wheels just wouldn't start
although the other three, they all turn left you see
Guess my cart has a mind of its own.

I wanted aisle thirteen to buy some baking goods
but these wheels, they don't turn the way they should
and so I ended up, in personal feminine stuff
Guess my cart has a mind of its own.

The butcher fancies me, each time I pass him by
he looks me up and down and winks his eye.

I tell this cart of mine to find the checkout line
but it wants to go around just one more time.
I've been around this store eleven times or more
Guess my cart has a mind of its own.

Guess my cart has a mind of its own.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: GUEST,DTM
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 07:54 PM

Agree with most of the above points
1) a true parody should match the rhymes in the original song
2) it DOES 'cheapen' the original to a certain degree
3) parodising has spoiled one or two of my favourite songs
3) parodies are not lazy writing, It's more like taking a cheap shot
4) I'm a 'parodist' myself so I'm guilty of all associated crimes, m'lud
5) you must admit that some parodies out there ar REALLY funny
6) IMO, bottom line: all's fair in love and war - and parody writing


"Li'l old rhyme thinker me" ;-)

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 08:20 PM

In the insomniac early hours of the morning, this thread has got me reminiscing.

Here is a barely remembered and reconstructed fragment from an unrecorded song
back in my younger clever arty farty polytechnic student punk band days....

"Hung on a cross for all to see
sacrificed for you and me
below cries a voice in calamity
Jesus where's your trousers..."

A fair effort was made to ensure the entire song was as faithful and respectful as possible to New Testament text.
It may still exist on a scrap of paper forgotten away somewhere.

This is a perfect example of the kind of song established artists live in dread
of seeing rediscovered in the archives
and made a spotlight of on remastered anniversary CD reissues.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: OlgaJ
Date: 20 Aug 14 - 04:59 AM

Amongst some pretty serious original songs I have written the odd parody, usually at the request of my singing family who have ideas but can't put words to tunes. Generally they go down well and are not over-sung. The latest is a parody on a wel known Stan Rogers song and is about the ridiculous number of chefs on TV, though I have tried to keep something close to the original word structure. I won't publish any of my work on here as I will probably be upset by the comments I will receive. These songs tend to go down better at sing-arounds and small gatherings than at big events.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 20 Aug 14 - 11:58 AM

Nicely put, MM.

Okay so you wouldn't bring out the cruder pieces at the WI meeting, but they have had their place in our history. This has all been gone over before. The bawdy repertoire and the out and out filth have played a part in our past and are for some of us at least a part of our folk heritage. Many of these are parodies.

Funnily enough it's often the flimsier pieces that survive. We sophisticated people unfortunately cannot predict what the folk will take on board and perpetuate.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 20 Aug 14 - 12:35 PM

"We sophisticated people unfortunately cannot predict what the folk will take on board and perpetuate."

dead right there..

For instance - the social club singalong favourite:

"Alice... who the f@ck is Alice !!!???"


Do I need to link it ?... oh, ok, I'll link it...........

Alice

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Aug 14 - 12:39 PM

You can get anything you want...

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: GUEST,DrWord
Date: 20 Aug 14 - 04:39 PM

odd that, tho' jethro burns gets a nod here,
no words on the brilliant send-ups (Word Crimes|Blurred Lines, &c., &c.) of Saint Parody, Weird Al!
keep on pickin'
dennis

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: GUEST,DrWord
Date: 20 Aug 14 - 04:46 PM

i' fact, I'll be ripping on Homer&Jethro meself as I compose attack ads during the looming--thirteen months and counting--canuck election...

Come listen to my story 'bout a man named Steve
None of it is made up, but it's hard to believe...


etc. back to the tenor
dennis

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Aug 14 - 06:02 PM

here's one that is VERY well done:

THE EENSIE-WEENSIE SPIDER


parody of the Mary Ellen Carter
Words: Bob Blue et al
Music: Stan Rogers


The eensie-weensie spider went up the water spout
Down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
And the eensie-weensie spider climbed again
She wouldn't let the elements distract her from her goal;
The purpose of her struggle was embedded in her soul.
Now, see the sun shine down on beasts, on women and on men
And like the eensie-weensie spider, rise again!


Chorus:

Rise again, rise again!
She will not let misfortune keep her from doing what she can,
So whether your legs number two, or four, or eight, or ten,
Be like that eensie-weensie spider, rise again!


This eensie weensie metaphor's a lesson for us all -
We cannot be defeated if we rise each time we fall,
And if you think this story's one you learned too long ago,
Then think about some other ones you know.
You know the myth of Sisyphus, and you know Jack and Jill
It's such a potent image going up and down a hill,
So every time you fall, or lose a lover or a friend,
Be like that eensie-weensie spider: Rise again!


Chorus


Perhaps you think this allegory goes a bit too far
Climbing up a pipe is not like reaching for a star
But whether it's a water spout or mountain that you climb
You've come this far; indulge me one more time.
It could be said that each of us climbs up a water spout.
The downward pull of gravity is not what it's about:
The upward pull of hope is what will save us in the end.
Be like that eensie-weensie spider: Rise again!


Final Chorus:

Rise again, Rise again!
Never let misfortune keep your from doing what you can,
And whether your legs number two, or four, or eight, or ten,
Be like the eensie-weensie spider: Rise again!

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 20 Aug 14 - 08:00 PM

I think Leadfingers had it when he said that true and best parodies are those that change the fewest words from the original song. I wouldn't really class that last song above as a parody: apart from using the same tune and Rise Again, it is nothing like the original song. It's funny enough, but not a parody.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: LadyJean
Date: 20 Aug 14 - 09:42 PM

I write. I've been making up parodies as a sort of five finger exercise since I was a teenager. It's a way of keeping my verbal skills in shape when I'm not turning out my forgettable prose.

Here's one to Get Along Home Cindy Cindy

       The S.U.V (Pronounced Suvey)


My neighbor bought a Suvey. It gave me quite a shock.
Cause when he tried to park the thing, it took up half the block.

chorus: Gas it up Suvey suvey
       Gas it up Suvey suvey
       Gas it up suvey suvey
       And then you have to pay.

And if you see that suvey, you'd best leave it alone.
He passes on the right hand side, while talking on the phone

         Gas it up etc.

The Suvey hit a Cooper. It did it once before.
The Suvey has a tiny scratch. The Cooper is no more.

          Gas it up etc.

The Suvey hit ah hairpin curve, rolled on it's back and died.
The inusrance wouldn't pay up, "cause they called it...suveycide.

    I'd suggest fleeing for your life rather than singing the chorus again.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: kendall
Date: 21 Aug 14 - 06:38 AM

I like parodies. My brother complained about "She thinks I steal cars". As far as I can see, they don't ruin the original, they are two different songs.

Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing, "onward" the sailors cry, carry the twit who thought he was King, over the sea to Skye.
You fled the fight fast to save your own ass...
You fled Scotland's shore, dressed like a whore...
You went back to France, you sing and you dance with no thought of Flora's fate, .....your men want you back...and Flora is on the rack...

One problem with parodies, it is easy to forget large chunks of the lyrics.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Aug 14 - 12:05 PM

". I wouldn't really class that last song above as a parody.....It's funny enough, but not a parody."

Hmmm... well, as we see above, 'parody' has become as broad a term as 'folk'. I consider THE EENSIE-WEENSIE SPIDER to be a parody of a genre.... that of overly-sentimental, 'inspirational' songs which move into the "Oh No, Not Again!" category for many..... such as "Kilkelly, Ireland" and "Danny Boy" and "Fields of Athenry"..... and using "Mary Ellen Carter" as a vehicle.

Like 'folk', it is a 'herding cats' problem to pin it to a simple definition.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: The Sandman
Date: 21 Aug 14 - 01:38 PM

but they can use someone elses creativity to produce something that denigrates the original.should parodies hand over copyright royalties to the original?

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: The Sandman
Date: 21 Aug 14 - 01:39 PM

for exanple stand by your van.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 21 Aug 14 - 01:45 PM

Well, I can say that when our Christmas Band recorded a parody of It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas (parody title I'm Beginning to look a lot like Santa)I made sure the song author (of the parody) got full royalties and also licensed the original through the Harry Fox Agency, so the original composers got paid as well, and listed all the credits in the notes. I can't speak for everybody, but that's what we did.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: mg
Date: 21 Aug 14 - 05:09 PM

I would hope they would give the original author royalties but I don't know the law. I would prefer to never hear a parody more than once and only then if the singing was mediocre that evening...I hate it when they overtake a session where the singing is beautiful and it becomes a race to see who can be the most clever...I have no problem with that..more power to them..but they can often making the singing less pretty. I prefer them in music camps etc. to have their own workshops and all those who enjoy them can sing to their hearts' content.

Subject: RE: Parodies, a clever idea or lazy humour?
From: GUEST,TomC
Date: 21 Aug 14 - 05:43 PM

I agree that most parodies have a short shelf-life, but there are a few that go on to greater fame. I wrote one based on Country Joe MacDonald's "Fixing To Die Rag" called "Fixing To Buy Rag" (what we as citizens could do to heal from 9/11) for a local satirical review in 2003. It still works for current events and it looks like it will never go away completely. By the way, MacDonald's website contains many parodies based on this song and he even encourages the writers to upload them to his site.