History Main / SongParody

A song parody is a a specific form of parody that involves taking an existing song, keeping the beat and background the same, then rewriting the lyrics (or possibly adding lyrics to a song that originally had none). Sometimes the new lyrics are similar to the original, sometimes they bear little resemblance. The United States Supreme Court case ''Campbell'' v. ''Acuff-Rose Music'' established song parodies as UsefulNotes/FairUse, even when used for profit. Thus, one does not technically need to get permission from the original artist to make a parody, though some (such as Music/WeirdAlYankovic) make it a point to get permission for any parodies.[[note]]Yankovic does this out of principle, i.e. as an act of goodwill towards the artist being parodied to ensure that they don't view the parody negatively. This most famously occurred with rapper Music/{{Coolio}}, who initially expressed displeasure with Yankovic's parody of his song, "Gangsta's Paradise," but the two worked it out, and Coolio extended his apology, stating that he was "being cocky and stupid" and should've embraced what he now viewed as something funny.[[/note]]

* For nearly four decades, the Barron Knights were Britain's answer to Weird Al, regularly releasing parodies of current chart hits and coming out with spookily accurate note-for-note musical pastiche - albeit with different lyrics. [[note]]Music/{{Queen}}'s "Bohemian Rhapsody" became a paean of praise for plus-size ladies - also neatly skewering the preoccupation of "Fat-Bottomed Girls" in a mock-operatic style[[/note]]

* Nobody (in Britain at least) remembers Melanie Kafka's OnehitWonder, "I've got a Brand New Pair of Rollerskates". however, ''everybody'' can sing along with The Worzels' rustic parody ''I've Got A Brand New Combine Harvester'', a song which does nothing to dispel prejudices about people from rural England. It didn't help that one football club in UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry adopted it as the team's anthem.

* The ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS2E1PeterPeterCaviarEater Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater]]" intentionally {{subverted|Trope}} this with its big musical number "We Only Live To Kiss Your Ass", which is not a direct parody, but an obvious soundalike to "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here" from ''Film/Annie1982''. Originally it ''was'' supposed to be a parody, but writer David Zuckerman insisted on making it an original composition since he believed it could get them nominated for an [[UsefulNotes/EmmyAward Emmy]]. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primetime_Emmy_Award_for_Outstanding_Original_Music_and_Lyrics#2000s He proved to be correct.]]

* WebVideo/FoxTale2614's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-VUvui1hHk GET ACRONIXED]]" music video is a parody of ''Music/ThePussycatDolls''' "When I Grow Up".

* ''Series/BillNyeTheScienceGuy'' ended most episodes with parodies of popular music videos; although some were style parodies or completely original tunes.

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' often uses {{Suspiciously Similar Song}}s or InTheStyleOf to parody music, but there are times when they use this trope, such as "Walking In Staten", an affectionate jab about Staten Island to the tune of "Walking In Memphis".
* A common feature in ''Series/SpittingImage''. Perhaps the most (in)famous example would be "Every Bomb You Make", a parody of "Every Breath You Take" from Music/ThePolice, sung by the actual Music/{{Sting}} in exchange of getting copies of every episode of the first series.

** The third is also for ''Big City Greens'', called "Stuck at Home", which is a parody of "Flesh & Bone" from ''[[Film/Zombies2018 Zombies 2]]''. It is a PSA about the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, which shows the Greens stuck at home as well and what they will do to survive through it. This particular installment is notable in being the highest viewed video for the series on Website/{{YouTube}}''.

A song parody is a a specific form of parody that involves taking an existing song, keeping the beat and background the same, then rewriting the lyrics (or possibly adding lyrics to a song that originally had none). Sometimes the new lyrics are similar to the original, sometimes they bear little resemblance. The United States Supreme Court case ''Campbell'' v. ''Acuff-Rose Music'' established song parodies as UsefulNotes/FairUse, even when used for profit. Thus, one does not technically need to get permission from the original artist to make a parody, though some (such as Music/WeirdAlYankovic) make it a point to get permission for any parodies[[note]]Yankovic does this out of principle, i.e. as an act of goodwill towards the artist being parodied to ensure that they don't view the parody negatively, most especially during his row with rapper Music/{{Coolio}}, though the two are now in good terms and Coolio extended his apology, stating that he was "being cocky and stupid" and should've embraced what he now viewed as something funny[[/note]].

* Brazilian musician Falcão reworked Music/PinkFloyd's "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2", [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CxAsGYqgec putting lyrics based on a children's song about]] [[OnceAcceptableTargets throwing sticks at cats]]. He only sings it live, as the band denied its publishing - something Falcão comments with "I won't allow them to record my songs either!"

->'''[[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]]:''' To earn a living by making songwriters look like fools! Diabolical!\\

* SongParody: All of the songs in ''Radio/LandOfTheLost1943'' (with the exception of the often-omitted TitleThemeTune) are parodies, with notable examples being the Bottle Brigade’s marching music (AKA “Pop Goes The Weasel”) as well as the “Spoon Song” (“Who wants coffee, who wants tea, EI-EI-O”) from “Knives Of The Square Table”.

* There is an Undertale parody of the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' song "Stronger Than You" that features Sans narrating his [[ThatOneBoss fight with the player character]].
* This trope is the entire premise of ''WebVideo/TheKeyOfAwesome''.
* Creator/LittleKuriboh has done several song parodies using the cast of ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries''.
-->'''Bakura:''' I challenge you, Pharaoh!\\
'''The Pharaoh:''' [[InsistentTerminology To a children's card game]]?\\
'''Bakura:''' No! A Lady Gaga parody song!

* Some of the stories in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse have come with their own song parodies, including "The Power of Cute Compels You!" the first Team Wondercute story, which begins with "Eye of the Cabbit" to the tune of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger".

* There are several popular ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}''-themed parodies of songs, such as "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPJUBQd-PNM Revenge]]" (parody of "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love") and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_XGxzMrq04 Don't Mine At Night]]" (parody of "Last Friday Night")
* In their reading of ''Fanfic/CurseOfTheDemonPony'', ''WebVideo/AgainAFanficCritic'' and [=RegretfullyYours=] did some song parodies of classic Disney and musical songs to portray the things wrong with the story.

* WebVideo/RandyRainbow makes song parodies that mock UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, among other politicians.
* ''WebVideo/JoJosBizarreAdventureOneCartoonistsDream'' does this with Creator/{{Disney}} songs as part of its FusionFic nature.

* Once Buffalo Sabres fan Melody Martin saw someone joking about making a song about draft prospect Rasmus Dahlin to the tune of "Jolene", she rewrote the Music/DollyParton [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpyPr0hNxg8 tune to do just that]]. It brought her local attention (as well as in Dahlin's native Sweden), and she has since [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPgY_1MU9-M&list=PL1NLwDiR6cVFLCG3KIZyQLR4y1J17OvKJ done other songs]] on the team - usually critical given [[ButtMonkey how the Sabres usually perform]], to the point that when [[https://youtu.be/RvcSmR3G2zw?t=724s added in a mock trade]], Melody commented that she wouldn't be a good fit in a better team because "my brand is singing sad songs about loser hockey" - and the NFL's Bills.
* Every time ''WebVideo/HonestTrailers'' has an episode about a movie that prominently includes either one or several songs (such as movies from the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon), parodies of those songs are featured in the episode.

* The [=YouTube=] channel Founders Sing consists of both original songs and song parodies used to poke fun at political issues, one parody in particular being "We are the Worst" (a spoof of ''Music/WeAreTheWorld'' that has UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, Rudy Guliani, Roger Stone and other infamous GOP figures sing about their faults and how their policies have caused problems for the United States).
* "Creator/GretaGerwig's ''Film/{{Little Women|2019}}''! [[Westernanimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Greta Gerwig's Little Women!]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYa4vIMBNPE Heroes in a hoop skirt! Girdle power!]]"

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': In "The Wedding Reception," first Mittens and later Bolt and Rhino add humorous lyrics when singing the melody to Music/RichardWagner's bridal chorus from ''Theatre/{{Lohengrin}}''.

** The song in Antarctica references "Let It Go," from ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013''.

* ''Fanfic/TotalDramaStranded'': Of sorts, to romance [[spoiler: Desdemona]], Elijah sings Music/{{Rihanna}}'s "Diamonds", changing the line "Shine bright like a diamond" to "She's bright like a diamond."

[[folder: Literature ]]

* There is an Undertale parody of the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' song “Stronger Than You” that features Sans narrating his [[ThatOneBoss fight with the player character.]]

---> '''Bakura''': I challenge you, Pharaoh!
---> '''The Pharaoh''': [[InsistentTerminology To a children's card game]]?
---> '''Bakura''': No! A Lady Gaga parody song!

* Once Buffalo Sabres fan Melody Martin saw someone joking about making a song about draft prospect Rasmus Dahlin to the tune of "Jolene", she rewrote the Music/DollyParton [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpyPr0hNxg8 tune to do just that]]. It brought her local attention (as well as in Dahlin's native Sweden), and she has since [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPgY_1MU9-M&list=PL1NLwDiR6cVFLCG3KIZyQLR4y1J17OvKJ done other songs]] on the team - usually critical given [[ButtMonkey how the Sabres usually perform]], to the point that when [[https://youtu.be/RvcSmR3G2zw?t=724 added in a mock trade]], Melody commented that she wouldn't be a good fit in a better team because "my brand is singing sad songs about loser hockey" - and the NFL's Bills.

* Youtube user [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNb2OL0DfdnnCKwPQkpj8Eg Sim Dane]] is well known for doing this trope with UsefulNotes/FormulaOne as the over-arching central theme. In particular, he did [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIFsYXfOF7S-NKRlWW9CHnefsRVP4heIh Race recaps of the 2020 Season]] to the tune of various popular songs.

-->'''Amy''': He knows when you are sleeping,\\
'''Farnsworth''': He knows when you're on the can,\\
'''Leela''': He'll hunt you down and blast your ass from here to Pakistan!\\
'''Zoidberg''': Oh,\\
'''Hermes''': You better not breathe, you better not move,\\
'''Bender''': You're better off dead, I'm telling you, dude,\\
'''Fry''': Santa Claus is gunning you down!\\
'''Everyone''': Yayyyyyyy!

* Music/WeirdAlYankovic has based his career on this trope.

* Some Website/CollegeHumor sketches are song parodies, such as "[[http://www.collegehumor.com/video/4013249/dont-stop-your-screaming Don't Stop Your Screaming]]" or "[[http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6066326/sing-talk-tik-tok-parody Sing Talk]]".