Line #21 Main/FoodSongsAreFunny


1	->''"Is it going to be about food?"''
2	-->-- '''[[{{Music/Nirvana}} Kurt Cobain]]''', in response to Music/WeirdAlYankovic asking to parody "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
3
4	For whatever reason, singing about food is funny.
5
6	It's not really clear why; it's just one of those things. Perhaps it's because eating is (almost) always an entirely pleasurable/joyous experience, but also mundane. Perhaps it's just because eating is such an everyday activity that making a ''song'' of it [[MundaneMadeAwesome sounds ridiculous]]. Perhaps--again--it's just one of those things.
7
8	Subtrope of OdeToFood.
9
10	----
11	!! Examples
12	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT4OqWAlbfw "Slurf Song"]] by Michael Hurley and The Holy Modal Rounders is about various kinds of food. It's also pretty hard not to laugh--or at least crack a smile--while listening to it.
13	** NOTE: The second-to-last verse may or may not be safe for work, depending on where you work.
14	* Food is a major theme for Music/WeirdAlYankovic: His first single was "My Bologna", a parody of "My Sharona". His BreakthroughHit was "Eat It," a food-related parody of Music/MichaelJackson's "Beat It" from ''Music/{{Thriller}}''. He's made no less than ''ten'' songs about food, and has a whole [[http://www.amazon.com/Food-Album-Weird-Al-Yankovic/dp/B00000I024 compilation album of them]]--and that album doesn't include "Girls Just Want to Have Lunch" (A [[StylisticSuck deliberately terrible]] SelfParody). When Weird Al asked Music/{{Nirvana}} if he could parody "Smells Like Teen Spirit", they actually asked if the parody was going to be about food (they didn't mind that it was mocking the Mondegreen lyrics). In his later years, Al often lampshades, [[SelfDeprecation mocks]], or subverts his tendency to make songs about food (most prominently "Foil", which starts out talking about food [[HalfwayPlotSwitch then takes a wild right turn]] into ConspiracyKitchenSink).
15	* "Food, Glorious Food" from ''Theatre/{{Oliver}}'', the musical adaptation of ''Literature/OliverTwist''. A bunch of starving workhouse boys sing of having all the food they want. In this case, though, it's arguably serious, since the singers are starving and food is clearly something they greatly desire.
16	** Taken even further in ''[[WesternAnimation/IceAgeTheMeltdown Ice Age 2]]'', where it was sung in anticipation by hungry vultures.
17	* FatBoys' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDPk6OQkpeI "All You Can Eat"]].
18	** The Fat Boys did at least two other ones (and probably more): [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKQtcirM26M "Burger Pattern"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdnLhN4SeYY "One Billion,"]] both for ''Series/SquareOneTV''. In the first they get 15 burgers, a shake & fries; in the second they talk about ordering one billion cheeseburgers.
19	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmK0bZl4ILM "Carrot Juice Is Murder"]] by Music/TheArrogantWorms. A parody folk song about the oppression of various veggies... "I've heard the screams of the vegetables..."
20	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BILAFuSi-i0 "Toast"]] by Heywood Banks. The comedian's classic song skit. This live version with bonus verse.
21	** Played with in his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-ksuOaI61g "Big Butter Jesus."]] A song about a giant real-life Jesus statue which Heywood explains looks like he's made of butter. Many butter puns ensue. "Oh, spread the word!"
22	*** [[https://youtu.be/XWF8_rZnwLA Live version]] with an additional verse, after said statue was struck by lightning and destroyed.
23	* There is also another song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfMmPpNhOVM "Toast"]] by a band called Streetband. It's rather funny by itself, and downright hilarious if your a little kid, but what makes it is the fact the singer is a very young (no pun intended) Music/PaulYoung!
24	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTpUVAcvWfU "Fish Heads"]] by Barnes and Barnes. A strange, but somehow earwormy song about, well, fish heads.
25	* "Abbondanza" and "Sposalizio" from ''Theatre/TheMostHappyFella''.
26	* Anyone wanting a cake with an unsual taste? The villains from ''[[ComicBook/{{Asterix}} Asterix and Cleopatra]]'' are making a nice [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PezO_Vmqhgg arsenic cake]] for the queen. Oh, and while you're at it, try also to listen to the song in the different languages. The same movie also has a song about healthier (by comparison) food, involving beer, boars and cheese.
27	* Just about anything sung by {{Literature/Redwall}}ers.
28	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
29	-->'''Homer:''''' "I like pizza,''\
30	''I like bagels,''\
31	''I like hot dogs with mustard and beer!''\
32	''I'll eat eggplant,''\
33	''I could even eat a baby deer''"
34	* ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'': The two big comedy numbers are "The Worst Pies in London" and [[TheSecretOfLongPorkPies "A Little Priest"]].
35	* The old folk song/shanty [[http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/shanty/capecodg.htm "Cape Cod Girls,"]] which makes fun of the Cape Cod diet of...well...cod.
36	* "Lunch Lady Land" by Creator/AdamSandler, from his time on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''
37	** "The Thanksgiving Song", also by Adam Sandler on ''SNL''
38	--->Turkey for me / Turkey for you / Let's eat the turkey / In my big brown shoe / Love to eat the turkey / At the table / I once saw a movie / With Creator/BettyGrable
39	* In E.R. Eddison's ''Literature/TheWormOuroboros'', General Corund sings the "Song of the Chine"[[note]]A bilateral rib rack including the backbone[[/note]] which discourses about how pork is better than poultry.
40	* An awful lot of songs by Music/ShonenKnife. ("Kappa No Ex" is about cucumber extract, of all things, and there's a song that goes "Banana chips for you, banana chips for me, banana chips in the afternoon, banana chips with tea...") They were once asked why they wrote so many songs about food and somebody in the band said that they liked writing about what made them happy, and food was what made them happy. OK, that works....
41	* "Peaches" by Music/ThePresidentsOfTheUnitedStatesOfAmerica, which is a song about a man who wants to move to the country and eat large quantities of peaches. ("Millions of peaches, peaches for me.") Interestingly, in 1996 this song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
42	* In ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'', it's mentioned in connection with opera that Sam Vimes is moderately uncomfortable with any song more complex than "Where Has All The Custard Gone? (Jelly's Just Not the Same)".
43	* From ''Series/ThirtyRock'', Jenna's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2iqxQcx-NY "Muffin Top."]]
44	* ''Series/TheAquabatsSuperShow'':
45	** "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, burger rain, burger rain..."
46	** "The Good Life" from "Laundry Day!" is mainly about eating donuts and pastries.
47	* From Private VideoGame/{{BEMANI}} Academy: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w9sI1MqYXc "How to Cook Delicious Rice and the Effects of Eating Rice"]] (also known as simply "Okometal" or "Rice Metal"). A heavy metal song that ''instructs you on how to cook rice.'' No really, the first verse is actual rice cooking instructions, and the refrain is about how awesome and nutritious rice is.
48	* Depending on how you view it, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5lhjYzbfco "The Roast Beef of Old England"]] either averts this or plays it straight. Without question, the song's sentiment is deeply and honestly held, but its origins in the humorous and rather light ''Grub Street Opera'' make it rather clear that it's supposed to be taken lightly and you're supposed to laugh a little.
49	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8huXkSaL7o Spam song]] from Monty Python?
50	* Various ''Series/SesameStreet'' song parodies; which, being ''Series/SesameStreet'' usually manage to be funny ''and'' educational, like "Healthy Food" to the tune of "Walk This Way" or "Cereal Girl" to "Material Girl". Or else they're [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qTIGg3I5y8 just funny.]]
51	* "Motorway Food" and "Vodka and Toblerone" by Music/MitchBenn.
52	* "Aussie Bar-B-Q" and "Great Aussie Take-Away" by Music/EricBogle.
53	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'''s "Be Careful What You Eat" which is about the ingredients in junk food.
54	* "Kraft Dinner" by Music/{{Annihilator}} is Jeff Waters' tribute to the Canadian delicacy (which he had to live off of to pay for rent and rehearsal space). It's one of band's shorter songs, but features a wicked guitar solo and a high-pitched voice at the end saying "Kraft dinner is full of love and butter!" [[note]]For those outside of Canada; "Kraft Dinner" is ''Kraft Macaroni & Cheese''.[[/note]]
55	* "Milk (Ode To Billy)" by Music/{{Anthrax}} from the ''Attack Of The Killer B's'' compilation, and "Cupajoe" from ''Volume 8: The Threat is Real''. Both are rapid-speed thrash tunes about really wanting the titular beverage, with the first in reference to Billy Milano of the Stormtroopers of Death, and the second being 46 seconds long.
56	* Creator/SandraBoynton did "Faraway Cookies" (a goofy love song to the cookie jar) and "O Lonely Peas" (a kid talking to the peas he refuses to eat).
57	* A few of the music video segments on ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'' were themed around food- "Bushel Full O' Yum" (a Motown-esque number about jelly beans), "Chunky" (a hard rock song about eating, painting your room, and covering the moon with chunky peanut butter- it's every bit as ridiculous as it sounds), and "Piece O' Cake" (a jazzy song about well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin cake]])
58	* Music/CaptainBeefheart's "Kandy Korn" from ''Music/StrictlyPersonal''.
59	* Music/TheBeatles had a song called "Savoy Truffle", which was, among other things, Music/GeorgeHarrison's humourous ode to Music/EricClapton's chocolate addiction. The song can be found on ''Music/TheWhiteAlbum''.
60	* Music/FrankZappa:
61	** "Mr. Green Genes" from ''Music/UncleMeat'', where a long list of absurd things (greens, shoes, socks, trucks, truck drivers,...) that you can eat are described.
62	** "The Dangerous Kitchen" from ''Music/TheManFromUtopia'', about the dangers of disgusting, stale and/or rotting food in the kitchen, stuff you can cut your fingers on and all the things that you can step on and/or slip over.
63	** "Call Any Vegetable"...or "Burnt Weeny Sandwich"...etc. Due to the intimidating [[ArchivePanic breadth of Zappa's back catalogue]], an exhaustive list could jeopardize the integrity of the TV Tropes server (or the reader's patience).
64	* The Music/{{Slayer}} parody "Seasoning the Obese" by the Stormtroopers of Death, [[IAmAHumanitarian though its subject matter is a little different from the rest of the examples]].
65	-->'''DO YOU WANNA FRY!?'''
66	* Chris Yacich's "I Like Bananas (Because They Have No Bones)".
67	* ''The Mighty Lunch Hour'' program, playing at noon throughout TheEighties on Boston classic-rock radio station WBCN, began each episode with a lunch-themed parody song.
68	* One ''Anime/DragonballZ'' CharacterSong for [[ProudWarriorRace Vegeta]] is entitled ''Vegeta-sama no O-ryouri Jigoku'' (Vegeta's Cooking Hell), in which he very enthusiastically (and sometimes violently) narrates the process of making ''okonomiyaki''. At the end though, it turns out he forgot the mayonnaise.
69	* Larry Groce's "Junk Food Junkie" talks about the secret obsession of a rather outspoken health food nut as if it were an addiction to drugs or alcohol.
70	-->I'm afraid someday they'll find me\
71	Just stretched out on my bed\
72	With a handful of Pringles potato chips\
73	And a Ding Dong by my head
74	* Hep cat [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slim_Gaillard Slim Gaillard,]] with a background as a cook on continent-crossing ships, did a number of food-themed songs, including "Potato Chips", "Dunking Bagels", and, hard to tell though it is, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofZ-36g0ey0 "Yep-Roc-Heresay"]] (it helps if you understand Armenian).
75	* Music/BrianWilson's "Vege-Tables" is certainly the most light-hearted song in his ''Music/{{Smile}}'' album.
76	* "Coffee Mug" by Descendents, a 34 second punk song about how much the singer MustHaveCaffeine.
77	* [[http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uw0nCHvU19o "Noodles Can't Be Beat,"]] a [[CookingDuel rap battle]] with the villain of ''[[VideoGame/ParappaTheRapper Parappa The Rapper 2]]'' where he espouses the perfection of noodles while Parappa tries to convince him the worth of other foods like sweets. It's given some foreshadowing because the first song of the game [[http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv5au5ghmfE Toasty Buns]] involves the big bad's grandfather mentoring you how to make burgers.
78	* "[[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ioTQ7erZD1c Burgz]]" by Music/KenAshcorp is centered around making as many puns and references to various fast food chains as possible, with the song ([[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory allegedly]]) being a metaphor for relationships, as Ken [[ShrugOfGod may or may not have stated]].
79	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w48JjzNqvIE Captain Organic Vegetable Man]] by Moosebutter talks about about the virtues of healthy eating and proclaims {{No Animals Were Harmed}} in the making of this song! [[note]] Neither were any vegetables. [[/note]]
80	* Comedy-metal band {{Music/Psychostick}}'s album "Sandwich" overuses this trope so much they included a spoken-word track called "Too Many Food" that does nothing but hang a lampshade on it.
81	-->'''One Guy:''' Do you guys realize there's like a ton of songs about food on this new CD?\
82	'''Other Guy:''' Dude. What do you have against food?\
83	'''One Guy:''' Don't get me wrong man: If food was a band, I'd be at every show. But, uh, don't you think we should write at least one song that would, you know, like... sell?\
84	'''Other Guy:''' What if food was a band? [...] What would food play?\
85	'''Third Guy:''' I don't know. A sandwich?\
86	''[The next track "This Is Not a Song, It's a Sandwich" is a song that insists it is a sandwich.]''
87	* Trip-hop duo [[Music/CiboMatto Cibo Matto]] toy with this trope in their 1996 album "Viva! La Woman". It's a food ConceptAlbum: Every single song is about food and named for food (except "Theme", which is still about it). Indeed, some are funny: "Know Your Chicken" (a pet chicken gets cooked?), "Birthday Cake" (a hippie mother makes a cake for her son, to his dismay). Most are artsy or poignant. Some are even subversive, such as the creepy, sensual cover of "[[Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory The Candy Man]]". Their thesis? Featuring food in a song, if it doesn't instantly make it funny, at least makes it super-evocative.
88	* WesternAnimation/AdventureTime had a short song about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUYSGojUuAU makin' bacon pancakes]]. It was so successful that someone [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxELm6xdwXk expanded it into a complete song]].
89	* "Goober Peas," a comic ditty about peanut consumption very popular with Confederate soldiers in the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar.
90	* A semi-regular part of the humor on ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' are songs about foods. One is literally just the word waffles repeated over and over to a funky beat.
91	* ''Series/SesameStreet'' songs are intended to be funny as well as [[EducationalSong educational]]. As a result they've produced many funny songs about healthy eating, often by Cookie Monster.
92	* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' uses food, and [[MundaneMadeAwesome similarly mundane topics like hairbrushes and cebus]], for Silly Songs intermissions. For example, You Are My Cheeseburger (which was technically a "[[AntiLoveSong Love Song with Mister Lunt]]").
93	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-mhdIVwky0 "I Love Onions",]] a minor 1966 novelty hit by Susan Christie.
94	* NRBQ's "RC Cola and a Moon Pie", where the singer rejects a whole bunch of food in favor of his favorite combination of soda and snack pastry.
95	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6kBoauQjWw "Siomai Rice"]] by [=$ucc=], anyone?
96	** In a similar vein, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHVYg-1kedE "Sinigang"]] by [=No$ia=].
97	* "White Castle Blues" by The Smithereens: A tongue-in-cheek blues-rock song about a late night craving for White Castle hamburgers. The song was included as a CD bonus track to ''Especially For You'', though it was an old song written by guitarist Jim Babjak and his friend Bob Banta when they were in high school, and was only recorded for a lark when the band had extra studio time on their hands. It eventually found its way onto the ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'' soundtrack album (but not into the movie itself), and got Babjak and Banta into the official White Castle Hall of Fame.
98	* In a bit of a subversion, Music/TalkingHeads' ''More Songs About Buildings and Food'' doesn't actually have any songs about food. (Or buildings, for that matter, but that's besides the point here.)
99	* An NSFW example from Music/NinjaSexParty: "The Ultimate Sandwich" involves Danny singing about a massive ("Five feet high and three feet wide") sandwich full of incredibly random ingredients. The twist, however, is that Danny has little interest in actually eating the sandwich...
100	--> Now just add panther, bear meat and duck\
101	And you've got a sandwich that I'd like to [[ExtremeOmnisexual fuck!]]\
102	(spoken) [[VerbalBackspace I mean, eat... What?]]
103	* Music/HoboJohnson and the Lovemakers frequently reference food in their songs, which adds humor and comic relief to what might otherwise be somewhat sad songs.
104	* Music/TroutFishingInAmerica has "Pico de Gallo", an ode to the Mexican condiment of the same name ("Don't get it in your eye-o / Unless you wanna cry-o / So come on, don't be shy-o / It's pico de gallo!")
105	* Harry Champion's "A Little Bit of Cucumber".
106	-->I like pickled onion,\
107	I like piccalilli\
108	Pickled cabbage is all right\
109	With a bit of cold meat on a Sunday night\
110	I can grow termartoeses, but what I do prefer\
111	Is a little bit of cu-cum-cu-cum-cu-cum\
112	Little bit of cu-cum-ber.
113	* Israeli rap artist Yehoshua Sofer (AKA Nigel Addmore) published what is commonly recognized as the first Israeli hip-hop song, "Hummus Makes you Stupid", which is a humorous ode to all manners of Eastern Jewish foods.
114	* Melanie Safka has an early rocker called "Animal Crackers", cheerful self-mockery over her own struggle with her weight vs the foods she loves. The last verse has a ShoutOut to "Music/AlicesRestaurant".
115	--> Did you ever eat at Alice's Restaurant?
116	--> I eat at Alice's Restaurant year after year.
117	--> She makes an animal cracker pizza,
118	--> And she gives animal crackers out free with the beer!
119	* Parodist Music/CledusTJudd offers up "Bake Me a Country Ham", a parody of Music/TracyLawrence's "Paint Me a Birmingham".
120	* Even Music/NeilDiamond got into the act with "Chunky Granola", although this may actually be about something else.
121	--> If you sang it at school, they're liable to send you home
122	--> Never knowin' -- what you're showin'
123	--> Think you're growin' your own -- tea[[note]]Tea was slang for pot back in the '40s until the late '60s. Of course, with medicinal cannabis finally legal today, there really are cannabis teas.[[/note]]
124	** "Porcupine Pie" is ''definitely'' about food, however.
125	* Creator/LadBaby's four parody songs about sausage rolls: "[[Music/{{Starship}} We Built This City on Sausage Rolls]]", "[[Music/JoanJett I Love Sausage Rolls]]", "[[Music/JourneyBand Don't Stop Me Eatin']]", and "Sausage Rolls for Everyone". All of which became Christmas number ones in the UK (the fourth, "Sausage Rolls for Everyone", actually beat out the very song it was parodying--"Merry Christmas" by Music/EdSheeran and Music/EltonJohn--although it helped that Sheeran and John were also featured on [=LadBaby=]'s version).
126	* ''The Songs of [[Literature/PaddingtonBear Paddington]]'' has an entire number about [[TrademarkFavoriteFood marmalade]], with the singer really hamming it up toward the end.
127	* "Lima Beans" from ''[[Radio/IntergalacticalMagicalRadio The Wacky Musical Adventures of Ronald McDonald: Intergalactical Magical Radio]]'' consists of Grimace singing about times where he had dreams about vegetables.
128	* While Commander Cody is almost entirely remembered for his version of "Hot Rod Lincoln", he also got some fame from a silly yet memorable music video in 1980 for his song "Two Triple Cheese (Side Order of Fries)".
129	* “Taste the Biscuit”, from ''Film/ChickensInTheShadows''. At times it plays with being some kind of raunchy DoubleEntendre, but then it doubles down on just being about food, with hilarious results.
130	* The Marathons' "Peanut Butter".
131	-->Well, I went to a dinner and what did they eat\
132	(Peanut, peanut butter)\
133	Ah-well, I took a big bite and it stuck to my teeth\
134	(Peanut, peanut butter)\
135	Now everybody look like they got the mumps\
136	(Peanut, peanut butter)\
137	Just-a eatin' peanut butter in-a great big hunks\
138	(Peanut, peanut butter)
139	* Music/{{Eminem}}, as someone known for writing funny songs, has done this on occasion. He used to keep his mind occupied at his minimum wage line cook job by freestyling with the food ingredients, and maintained an affection for rhyming food items as a warmup exercise.
140	** The first verse of "Music Box" is a SlasherMovie villain listing the food items that his victim smells like. There's some RealitySubtext to this, as Eminem was recovering from disordered eating at the time, as well as relearning how to rap due to [[RecoveredAddict recovering from drug addiction]].
141	** Eminem often uses stereotypical [[LowerClassLout 'white trash']] food items in his lyrics as punchlines, usually food bank staples like Hamburger Helper and Kraft Mac & Cheese, or low rent restaurant food like [=McDonald's=] or Red Lobster.
142	* "After School Navigators" from ''Franchise/LoveLive'' is a heavy metal song about Nico, Rin, and Hanayo being unable to decide what to eat after school. Its extreme LyricalDissonance of it being a metal song with SeinfeldianConversation [[https://love-live.fandom.com/wiki/After_school_NAVIGATORS#Lyrics lyrics]] makes it one of µ's funniest songs.

Context Main / FoodSongsAreFunny