Great Parodies

Subject: Great Parodies
From: GUEST,bernieandred
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 03:54 PM

In the non musical threads there's something about fish & chip shops being 150 years old, & someone reminiscing about Hollands meat pies.
Probaby the best parody that I ever heard was Les Barker's ode to Hollands meat pies, to the tune of the Everly Bros "Ebony Eyes".
This has everything that the perfect parody needs, in my humble opinion.
It sticks very closely to the original rhymes, then makes humour out of the over the top sentimentality of the original, & the recitation in a fake American accent, by Les is the icing on the cake.
Any body like to nominate their "Best" parody??
Max Boyce did a great job with Johnny Mathis's "12th of Never" & also "Deck of Cards". Any others?

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 05:09 PM

Anything by Sid Kipper, probably the Whistling Monologue if that can be called a parody, Wild Mounting Time?
Selby folksinger Mike Soar wrote a brilliant parody of Banks of the Sweet Primroses about going for a vasectomy. Wish I had got the words off him before he passed away.

BTW 'Deck of Cards' IS a parody of a parody of a parody......

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 05:56 PM

Two of the very best came from Bob Blue: Eeensie Weensie Spider and Their Way.

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Leadfingers
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 06:28 PM

The late (And STILL sadly missed) Dave Houlden of Maidenhead was THE man for parodies ! Was known , on more than one occasion , to hear a song early in the evening and concoct a parody and sing it later the same evening !

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 06:50 PM

If not parodies, then odd lines thrown in on the spur of the moment. Years ago, after the 1,342nd repitition of "Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore," we threw in: River Jordan is deep and wide, Halelujia,
                      Clean rest rooms on the other side, .....

We also cobbled together a parody of Scotch & Soda specifically because one of our dates - a traditional singer - hated the song so and made such a public issue of it that we dedicated it to her. She loved it!

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Acorn4
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 07:29 PM

Les Barker has a host of them, all brilliant, but one of my favourites of his is a less well known ones:-

No one sings a shanty like Sinatra sings a shanty - Haul away!

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Genie
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 10:25 PM

I like the parody of Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing On My Mind" that was written for his 60th birthday:   "I Don't Know What Was The Last Thing On My Mind."

Then we must not forget the takeoff on "Dona Nobis Pacem" that goes
"Don't I
Know this
Possum, possum?
Don't I
Know this
Po-o-o-os-sum?

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Surreysinger
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 11:03 PM

"Then we must not forget the takeoff on "Dona Nobis Pacem" that goes
"Don't I
Know this
Possum, possum?
Don't I
Know this
Po-o-o-os-sum? "

Eminently forgettable, I would have said!

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Genie
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 11:12 PM

I've forgotten many a parody, but not that one. LOL

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Smokey.
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 11:18 PM

Mrs. Ackroyd's "Quasi B. Goode" - "He could ring them bells like playin' a guitar".

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 02:51 AM

Les Barkers ' Roseville Fair ' is brilliant.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: GRex
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 04:46 AM

I love Shep Woolley's "Bicycle Pump".


             GRex

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: beeliner
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 08:40 AM

IMHO, Lewis Carroll was one of the the greatest parodists of all time, at least in the English language.

According to Carroll annotater Martin Gardner, the two Alice books contain ten poems that are definitely parodies and four more that bear the earmarks of parodies with the originals apparently lost.

Of course, most modern children - and adults, especially in the USA, have never heard the originals and are thus unaware that the poems are parodies.

Nearly all have been set to music at one time or another.

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 09:16 AM

Let us not forget, that parody writers are putting their flesh, on someone else's skeleton.
When you bear this in mind, there are a lot of really crap parodies around.
Some of the ones mentioned are excellent, but it's not as easy to do as some people seem to think it is.

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: beeliner
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 09:56 AM

"...there are a lot of really crap parodies around...."

The only one I ever wrote falls into that category for sure. Still, the people I performed it for seemed to enjoy it.

That was a long time ago, and I only remember parts - I never even wrote it down.

My source was Eddie Dean's "(I Dreamed of a) Hillbilly Heaven"

(sung) I dreamed I was thar, in Hayshaker Hades,
Oh, what a hell of a night!

(spoken) Last night I dreamed I croaked and went to Hayshaker Hades, and who was thar to meet me at the gate but the old Oklahoma cowboy/philosopher Pretty Boy Floyd...He introduced me to Wile E. Coyote...
[It eventually concludes with a list of the names in the great book of infamy]...Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew, Roy Cohn, Bob ________ (myself)...
Bob _________?? Well, that's when I woke up, and you know, I'm damn glad I did, because,(sung)I dreamed I was thar...etc.

Pretty bad, eh?

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Acorn4
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 01:22 PM

There are two kinds of parodies - one where it's actually taking the mickey out of the song - the Billy Connolly D.I.V.O.R.C.E being a classic example, the other when you are just using the song, because people are familiar with it, and you are turning it to parody something else, not making any kind of comment on the song that is being used. The Les Barker "Nolans and Elton John" being an example of this.

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 01:33 PM

"The Lily of the Net" by Holly Tannen is without question the funniest and most skilfully written parody I have ever heard.

(Parody of "Lily of the West", for those unfamiliar with it )

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Ron Davies
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 02:00 PM

I really like "Sloop John A".   Is that one of Les Barker's?

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: jacqui.c
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 02:07 PM

Les Barker's 'Custard Creams' - based on 'John O' Dreams.

The Cady's 'Mama Fried' (Mama Tried) and 'Shorts and a Gun' (Fox On The Run).

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 02:49 PM

OOps! How could I forget Les's wonderful parodies? Got all the books but far better to hear him perform them.
Earwig-O, Earwig-O, Earwig-O........

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 06:51 PM

Another inspired Les Barker product: Hard Cheese of Old England

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Clontarf83
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 11:14 PM

Tommy Makem's evisceration of Galway Bay was worth the final verse

On her front she has tatooed a map of Ireland
And when she takes her bath on Saturday
She scrubs the Sunlight soap around by Claddagh
Just to watch the suds go down on Galway Bay

Mudcat song library had some classics such as "walking round in womens underwear" (winter wonderland)

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Genie
Date: 17 Jan 10 - 04:18 AM

"Women's Underwear" is one of the best parodies ever.

So is "You Can't Keep Me From Singing."   (I also love Betsy Wellings's "How Can I Keep From Purring.")

Then there's the Christmas classic "Chipmunks Roasting On An Open Fire." And in the same vein, "All God's Critters Got A Place In The Fire."

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Acorn4
Date: 17 Jan 10 - 04:44 AM

Another LB favourite of mine is the one about waiting for the AA :- "Stand by your Van".

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Micca
Date: 17 Jan 10 - 05:39 AM

Worthy of a mention are the wonderful parodies of Malcolm Austin(Mudcats own Trayton) For songs like

" Oh No Not the Fields of Athenry
If I hear it once again I think I'll cry
It just goes on and on
How I hate that bloody song
I'm so fed up with the fields of Athenry"

and

" In the West-end of Hayes lived a working man
He said I can't fly but my Moggie can
and when my cat gets fre, He comes flying back to me
Lifted up on next doors toe!

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Leadfingers
Date: 17 Jan 10 - 06:04 AM

I spun a coin re Trayton and Dave H and decided on Dave
Malc is indeed an excellent parodist

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Genie
Date: 17 Jan 10 - 06:21 AM

If you do a forum search for "parod" you'll get a list that will probably jog your memory (and maybe introduce you to some new gems).   I wouldn't say they're all true "parodies." Some are just funny songs set to familiar tunes, others have pretty much entirely new lyrics but with a few puns on the original lyrics thrown in, and still others really do parody both the lyrics and the concept of the parodied song.

Anyway, among the ones I think are the real treasures are:

"Would You Like To Play The Guitar" - Pat Donohue's parody of "Swingin' On A Star"

"The Eensy Weensy Spider" - a true parody of "The Mary Ellen Carter"

"The Murderous Toy" - takeoff on Paxton's "Marvelous Toy," of course.

and an oldie but goodie from the 1920s (I'm told):

"Georgie On The IRT" - parody of "Engine 143"

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: jacqui.c
Date: 17 Jan 10 - 09:07 AM

'When Some Men Sing' - Malcolm Austin.

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: kendall
Date: 17 Jan 10 - 09:18 AM

The Folkie (The Boxer) has always been my favorite.
Mama fried is a close second.

Have you seen the parody on Skye boat song in the DT?

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 17 Jan 10 - 04:56 PM

Then there is the wonderful take-off on Chattanooga Choo Choo ---Pullman Porter holds a wild cat and says to the passenger (who, in the song, had left his shoes out to shined and they were ruined by said cat)"...pardon me but isn't this the cat that chewed your new shoes".

Also---not a parody but a brilliant work---Carmen Jones following the music and plot line of Carmen about a soldier, a girl, and a boxer. Lyrics by Hammerstein.

Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Paul Reade
Date: 17 Jan 10 - 06:22 PM

Someone I heard recently sang:-

"All around my hat I will wear the green willow
All around my hat for a twelvemonth and a day
And if anyone should ask me the reason why I'm wearing it
They can mind their own f***ing business, 'cos it's my f***ing hat"

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Acorn4
Date: 17 Jan 10 - 06:56 PM

the "All Around my Hat" was Ade Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds.

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 17 Jan 10 - 07:18 PM

Ron Davies - yes, Sloop John A was Les Barker, and I've heard Hilary Spencer sing it. She sang it at a party for a significant birthday of the Admiral, and I have to say that Maidenhead folk club has enjoyed many wonderful parodies from Dave Houlden and Malcolm Austen. Including Oh no, not the fields of Athenrye, and What shall we do with the octopus's leg(s).

Kitty

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: mousethief
Date: 17 Jan 10 - 07:31 PM

Don't know if any of these count as great but I'd like to think one or two are okay. parodies by moi.

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Sarah the flute
Date: 18 Jan 10 - 03:33 PM

My favourite is

The trains of Waterloo

(parody of the Plains of Waterloo )

Sarah

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Genie
Date: 18 Jan 10 - 05:25 PM

Alex! Where the heck have you been for so long??!

Yes, you do write marvelous parodies.

And if anyone checks Aine's old "Song Challenge!"s they'll probably find many wonderul parodic gems there.
Not all SongChallenge! entries are parodies but many are.

(I did some of my best work for Aine's SongChallenge!s too.   Probably because Aine gave us such great springboards with those wacky news stories. LOL)

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Bert
Date: 18 Jan 10 - 05:35 PM

Wow Mouse, I loved "Don't think Once" It really should make this list of greats.

Don't forget Seamus Kennedy and McDonald's Deformed Farm.

And Don't Know What was the Last thing on my mind is by Hot Soup.

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: mousethief
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 01:23 AM

Thanks Bert, Genie! Happy to be here! :)

O..O
=o=

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Genie
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 02:04 AM

Welcome, Mr. MThief, and welcome back!!

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 02:52 AM

The ' All Around My Hat ' parody was around years before Ade and the Bad Shepherds.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Acorn4
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 06:14 AM

Just finished this one so thought I'd post it up as the thread is running:-

It goes to the tune of "Wild Mountain Thyme"

1. Oh, those teenage years are coming
And my jeans they are descending,
And that wild waist band
Is towards my ankles heading
Cool dude, yo! Cool dude, yo!

Chorus:-

And we'll all look pratts together
Like we've crapped ourselves big time
And it don't look none too clever
Jeans slung lo, jeans slung lo!

2. With the crotch around my knees
On a downward journey going
What happens if I sneeze?
And my underpants are showing
Cool dude ,yo, cool dude, yo!

Chorus:-

And we'll all look pratts together

3. With one arm around my lassie,
And the other to my kecks a clinging
Oh, cruel will be my fate
If my mobile phone starts ringing
Cool dude, yo! Cool dude, yo!

Chorus:-

And we'll all look pratts together

4. With my sideways baseball cap,
I will surely wind up my mother
"You can't go out dressed like that!"
But I'll just say "Am I bovvered?"
Cool dude yo, cool dude, yo!

Chorus:-

And we'll all look pratts together

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Mr Happy
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 07:11 AM

One've my all time favourites is the Bohemian Rhapsody parody oft performed by Muppett at folkie gatherings all over northern England.

Dunno who wrote it but its brill!

Naan-aa, just killed a man
Poppadom against his head
Had lime pickle, now he's dead.
Naan-aa, dinner just begun
But now I'm going to crap it all away.
Naan-aa, ooh-ooh
Didn't mean to make you cry,
Seen nothin' yet just see the loo tomorrow,
Curry on,
Curry on,
'Cause nothing really madras.

Too late, my dinner's gone
Sends shivers up my spine
Rectum aching all the time.
Goodbye every bhaji, I've got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and use loo.
Naan-aa, ooh ooh,
This Dopiaza's mild,
I sometimes wish we'd never come here at all...

Dink, dink, dink, dink, dink, dink, dink, dink,

I see a little chicken tikka on the side,
Rogan Josh, Rogan Josh pass the chutney made of mango.
Vindaloo does nicely
Very very spicey ME!
Biryani (Biryani)
Biryani (Biryani)

Biryani and a naan, (A vindaloo loo looo...)
I've eaten balti, somebody help me
She's eaten balti, get her to a lavatory
All stand well back
'Cause this loo is quarantined.
Here it comes,
There it goes,
Technicolour yawn.
I chunder
No!
It's coming up again (There she goes)
I chunder
It's coming up again (There she goes)
It's coming up again, (Up again)
Coming up again (up again)
Here it comes again (No no no no no non o no no No).
On my knees,
I'm on my knees,
I'm on my knees
Oh there she goes
This vindaloo is about to wreck my guts
Poor me... Poor me... Poor me!

(Guitar solo)

So you think you can chunder and still it's alright?
So you want to eat curry and drink beer all night?
Ohh maybe, now you'll puke like a baby,
Just had to come out,
Just had to come right out in here....

(Guitar solo)

Korma, saag or bhuna, Balti, naan, bhaji.
Nothing makes a difference
Nothing makes a difference to me
(Anyway, my wind blows).

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Den
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 09:33 AM

Leprosy,
There are pieces falling off of me
I'm not half the man I used to be
Oh I believe in leprosy.

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: clueless don
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 09:42 AM

I once was told of Joe Hickerson singing a song that began

Christians roasting on an open fire,
Lions nipping at their toes.

I have never heard the whole thing.

Don

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: kendall
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 11:24 AM

How could I forget Seamus' McDonald's deformed farm? It is SICK and very funny too.

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Genie
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 03:54 PM

Sunday I was singing on a memory care unit at the Kline-Galland (Nursing) Home in Seattle and when I did one of their favorites, "Anniversary Song," one of the very elderly women residents said she knew another verse. She proceeded to sing:

"Oh, how we danced on the night we were wed!
We danced and we danced, 'cause the room had no bed!"

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: GUEST,Bill the sound
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 05:14 PM

Grandfather's Ferret words by Derek Jolly is a classic.

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Songbob
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 05:21 PM

I recall that our late friend Mary LaMarca penned a beautiful opus about the Ring Cycle, to the tune of "Barret's Privateers," that was a wonder, plus having all the main plot points from the bloody story!

I did a quick search, and can't find it, alas. It'd be a good addition to the DT, says I. Ditto her contribution to a 2000-election shanty by the Civil Serpents, "AN ELECTION SHANTY," which is in the DT.

And Joe Hickerson's not-quite-complete parody of "The Christmas Song" goes:

Christians roasting on an open fire,
Lions nipping at their toes.
Pagan carols being sung by a choir,
While Romans raffle off their clothes, everybody knows
When Nero played his violin,
Ancient Rome was all a-glow.
One dead Jew, or an Arab or two,
Hari Krishna to you.

As you see, it misses the bridge part of the original.

Bob

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Genie
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 06:53 PM

I'm kind of partial to "The Last Of Garnet's Homemade Beer." ("Garnet" in this case being Garnet Rogers, I assume.)

It's the kind of parody that plays on the words of the original (in this case "Barret's Privateers") but is not a parody of the story or concept of the original.

Another good one of that sort is "The Idaho Spud."

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: GUEST,JimP
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 09:09 PM

My friend Bob Kanefsky mashed together "Nobody's Moggy" and "No Man's Land" for the following:

Nobody's Moggy Lands

After all, they're on the same album, right?

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 20 Jan 10 - 01:06 AM

Try this one out. It's Sandy Andina's parody of Michael Smith's song "The Dutchman".
It's called "The Conman"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul2DutAljzs

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: GUEST,wanderer
Date: 20 Jan 10 - 09:44 AM

Some more of Muppett's stuff include, the Yorkshire version of a John Denver classic, Country Road, called Clogged up Road.

The Song he put together to encourage his grand daughter to eat her tea, Sit down & eat yer tea, to the tune of sit down next to me by James.

Also heard him do Ghost Chickens in the Sky, although not his, he's put his own mark on it.

Then of course there's The Rap version (with all the actions)of Ilka Moor bar tat and the Ragga version (with dance) of The Wild Rover.

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: RWJ
Date: 20 Jan 10 - 02:19 PM

Seeing Bill Cadick in Les Barkers set on the Sunday morning after Bills birthay bash performing cusard creams at Redich festival was memoroable !!!

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: GUEST,wanderer
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 06:36 AM

Mr. Happy's version of Old Mcdonald's farm

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 07:59 AM

wanderer's right about Mr Happy's 'Old MacDonald', as I've mentioned before in other threads.

This has reminded me of a parody of 'Ruby, Don't Take You Love To Town' which I wrote a few years ago and can't find a copy of now.
All I can recall is the beginning:

Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Crewe

You've sanded down your face and stuck your hairpiece on with glue,
Ruby, are you contemplating travelling to Crewe?
And getting pissed on Pernod in the way you always do?
Oh Ruby, don't take your love to Crewe...

I may take that as the starting point and write it again. Often results in a better song, I find.

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Mr Happy
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 09:13 AM

...........& there's the hilarious 'D'ye want your old Lavvy washed down!!'

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: melodeonboy
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 07:18 PM

"Shelves of Herring" (Shoals of Herring) - Fred Shroers (I think!)

"Why is it always Dairylea?" (Why does it always rain on me?) - Shirehorses

"BSA Bantam 1963" (Vincent Black Lightning 1952) - Dave Taylor

"Oh, No, Not The Fields of Athenry; If I hear it one more time, I think I'll die" - M. Austen

Subject: RE: Great Parodies
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 22 Jan 10 - 12:48 AM

Speaking of Old MacDonald, Doug Hamilton once offered up this one.

Old McDonald Had a Form

Old McDonald had a form…E I E I O
And on that form he had some blanks…E I E I O
With a blank blank here and a blank blank there
Here a blank there a blank
Everywhere a blank blank
Old McDonald had a form…E I E I O

Old McDonald had a form…E I E I O
And on that form he had instructions…E I E I O
With a "write this here" and a "write that there"
Don't do this, do do that
Fill it in in triplicate
Blank blank here, blank blank there
Here a blank there a blank, everywhere a blank blank
Old McDonald had a form…E I E I O

Old McDonald had a form…E I E I O
And on that form was legalese…E I E I O
With a whereas here and a wherefore there
Heretofore, notwithstanding
Yadda, yadda, yadda
Write this here, write that there
Don't do this, do do that, fill it in in triplicate
Blank blank here, blank blank there
Here a blank there a blank, everywhere a blank blank
Old McDonald had a form…E I E I O

Old McDonald had a form…E I E I O
And on that form were intrusive questions…E I E I O
With a "Where were you" and a "what did you"
"Who did you do it to, and are they going to sue you?"
Whereas here, wherefore there
Heretofore, notwithstanding
Yadda, yadda, yadda
Write this here, write that there
Don't do this, do do that, fill it in in triplicate
Blank blank here, blank blank there
Here a blank there a blank, everywhere a blank blank
Old McDonald had a form…E I E I O

Old McDonald had a form…E I E I O
And on that form there were disclaimers…E I E I O
With a "we don't know" and a "we can't say"
And if we knew anything, you couldn't sue us anyway
Where were you, what did you
Who did you do it to, and are they going to sue you?
Whereas here, wherefore there
Heretofore, notwithstanding
Yadda, yadda, yadda
Write this here, write that there
Don't do this, do do that, fill it in in triplicate
Blank blank here, blank blank there
Here a blank there a blank, everywhere a blankity blank blank blank
Old McDonald had a form…E I E I O



© 2002 Douglas Hamilton