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)October 15, 2006
The Church of the Holy Smokes
The increasing restrictions on smoking in public and private buildings, along with the constant punitive measures taken by state (especially Ohio) governments in taxing smokers above and beyond any other patron of (legal) vice, inspired the idea of making smoking part of a religious rite in order to protect it as a First Amendment freedom.
Thus was born "The Church of the Holy Smokes" and its attendant ballad to the melody of that famous 60s dirge, "House of the Rising Sun." If L. Ron can have a religion, why not smokers?
MIDI for your sing-along pleasure
There are some laws across the land
To take away our smokes
It’s inspired the rise of many a new faith
Our worship is no joke
My mother was a smoker
She came a long, long way
My father was a Marlboro man
Puffed three packs a day
Now we come to where the flavor is
We’d rather fight than quit
Yeah, we’d walk a mile for a Camel, now
Our vices we admit
------ organ solo ------
Oh mother tell your children
Not to take those first few tokes
‘Else they’ll spend their lives in ministry
In the Church of the Holy Smokes
Well, we love those Tiparillos, too
And clove vanilla sticks
We’ll stand outside in freezing rain
To get our nickie fix
The bars, the jails and now our cars
Our desperate prayers provoke
We kneel to Phillip Morris’s shrine
In the Church of the Holy Smokes