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January 24, 2007
How to Write a Song Parody - Kind of
I grew up reading MAD magazine and always looked forward to the editions that included song parodies. I probably didn’t understand most of the jokes and may have been unfamiliar with the original songs, but I was fascinated with the genre nonetheless.
Years ago, I would write or sing song parodies to friends and family as entertainment or a way to break up a monotonous day at work. Unlike Weird Al, I stayed away from food themes and usually wrote about sports, personal anecdotes (self-effacing), and kids. When the Peterson case became my main focus on the blog, Geragos and Company provided a plethora of fodder for musical spoof. It seemed as though every day I’d think of a song that would crystallize my opinions better than prose.
Often you can put things in a song couched in music and rhyme that you can’t “type out loud”, as the saying goes.
So you want to know how to write a song parody? There are some tips I can offer after writing some 300 or so over the past few years. I’m not sure it’s a technique that can be taught in a short blog entry, but allow me to share some of my tools.
Song parodies are inspired by many things: something in the news, a quote, celebrity malapropos, or just a theme like the Star Wars marathon I watched last year.
Before I write the song parody, I think about one or two lines I want in the song. The meter of those lines (for example, "buying a wrench in Bakersfield”) makes me think of how that rhythm exists in the encyclopedia of songs in my idiot savant archives. That line made me recall the Gerry Rafferty song, "Baker Street." And the song was born.
When I read all the things Vero had in her garage and other places (for the pack rat theme), the song, "My Favorite Things”, a song comprised of verses of lists, was a natural.
With the pack rat song, I copied all the things Vero had mentioned and put them in a document. Then, I organized them by syllables that would match the original song meter and arranged them in a sort of theme (weapons, collectibles, kid stuff, lawn equipment, jokes) and rhymed them.
Sounds simple enough, right?
But, I have a few shortcuts. Aha! There is a rhyming dictionary online that I use to give me a list of words that rhyme with any given word, like "magic." The rhyming dictionary will give me one-, two-, and three- (or four-) syllable words that rhyme with any given word. This truncates the process from the old days, when I would go through the alphabet in my mind searching for a good rhyme. With the rhyming dictionary, I can find a rhyme first and write the line around it.
Yes, it takes a certain natural ability to do this, but there are tools you can use to make things a little easier.
Once you have the first couple of verses written, it's a good idea to test them with the music. Find a midi (another shortcut: midi search engine online), and find a good one. This may use all the time you saved with the rhyming dictionary, but it's fun. It’s important to have the right midi. I know some of you read the lyrics without the midi, but I think the midi enhances the experience.
Your new lyrics may look good on paper, but they have to pass the sing test. If you can't sing them easily, you have to rewrite them. This is one of the "art'" parts of the song parody. The other "art" part is condensing the story you want to tell within the confines of the song. I can't teach you how to do that; it's kind of like The Force. You either have it or you don't.
You can't just squish a bunch of words in there and call that a song, even if one or two lines rhyme. That's not a song. It's a gobbledy-gook.
Another issue is using the right song. You have to find a song that has the same tone (flavor, idea) as the lyrics you want to use. You aren't parodying the song itself, you are borrowing the melody like a suit and dressing something else in it. You still have the suit. You have to make the suit fit your new character.
Thus, if you are imitating something sad, you use a song that works with that idea. For example, in the Laci tributes, I used bittersweet show tunes ("They Can't Take That Away from Me”, and "These Foolish Things") to convey the idea. You wouldn't use "I Want to Hold your Hand" for a song about Laci.
Another example: the "One Note Samba." The repetitive but amusing melody that listed all the things Peterson had growing up reflected his penalty phase strategy, but also lent a little levity to the situation, along with a catchy Latin beat to make it fun and easy to sing.
Another thing that I try to do (and sometimes have to alter, but rarely) is to stay within the exact rhyming scheme of the original song. You have to keep the original lyrics handy to make sure you are rhyming the right words in the right lines and using words that make sense in the context of your song.
It’s important to try and write the lines with exactly the same rhythm, rhyme structure, pace and theme.
Any chance you get, throw in a surprise joke just to crack yourself up. If you laugh, someone else will laugh. You hope.
Posted by lorelei at 08:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (379)January 19, 2007
Look in the Wabash River?
Another young college boy is missing from leaving a party early Sunday morning on the campus of Purdue University.
LINK TO STORY (Thanks, Vero, for the heads up.)
Wade Steffey certainly fits the profile of other young men found drowned in waterways in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana since the mid-90s. He's a little younger than the average age of 21 or college junior, but he's an athlete, an Eagle Scout and attending Purdue on a scholarship. Obviously, this isn't a kid who would "disappear" or leave town on a Greyhound headed to Las Vegas.
After researching the area around West Lafayette and Lafayette, Indiana, my first hunch is that Wayne is in the Wabash River, victim of a serial killer or copycat who recently made a possible appearance in his old stomping grounds, La Crosse. Wayne's body will be found with an unusually high alcohol level, he may have his wallet in his pants, and he will likely be missing some personal items. A hat or cell phone may be found on the banks of the river. And, ultimately, the autopsy will reveal that there was no "foul play."
I hope I'm wrong.
Posted by lorelei at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (127)January 04, 2007
The Aladdin Factor
Earlier in December, I read a book by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, authors of the “Chicken Soup” series, entitled The Aladdin Factor. After emerging from a 10-month, soul-sucking journey down the rabbit hole of 9/11 conspiracies and research on religion, symbols and myths (an adventure that made me more paranoid and cynical than was probably good for me), I switched gears and began to focus on how I could improve my life and change the world through the law of attraction. The Aladdin Factor was one of several books I procured to provide a road map.
One of the simplest concepts in the book involves asking for what you want. Sounds easy enough. You may think you ask for what you want, but in reality you probably believe that your closest friends and family can anticipate your needs; they should know you well enough to read your mind, and if they really loved you, they would already be doing what you want them to do, right? Wrong.
How many times have you silently accepted what people did, what you were served in a restaurant, or swallowed your dissatisfaction with a product or service merely because you didn’t want to “make waves” or appear ungrateful, boorish or (god forbid) greedy? Probably more times than you’re willing to admit. The Aladdin Factor discusses all the cultural and psychological barriers we build that prevent us from asking for what we want, and you’d be surprised at how many will apply to your particular habits. As a salesperson, I’m not afraid to ask for an order, but in other areas of my life I often resigned myself to getting less, getting ripped off, or getting the shaft. That was just “life in the big city,” right? Wrong.
There are seven exercises in the book designed to train you to “clarify your vision” in all areas of your life, make lists of ideal circumstances, create a “Perfect Day Fantasy”, stretch your imagination, and create your dreams. The main exercise requires you to make 101 wishes – yes, 101. It’s not an easy task. I’m only up to #64, and I’ve been working on it for weeks. Interspersed with practical advice and tools to reprogram your thinking is a sort of cheesy fairy tale about Aladdin and a magic lamp that reads like a children’s story. Like all of Canfield’s work, this book is a fast read with simple concepts; but, often the simplest concepts are the most powerful.
Thus, my New Year’s resolution is to know what I want and know I am worthy of it. Adding passion, action and persistence, I should manifest all these things with practice and belief. According to the principles in the book, when my beliefs match my desires, when I act “as if” I have already accomplished my goals, when the emotions I feel vibrate with magnetic force, I will attract the ways and means to achieve anything I desire. Ask for what you want, that’s all; then, see what happens.
Posted by lorelei at 08:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (167)