Line #56 Main/SelfDemonstratingSong


1	->''This is the first verse of this song\
2	It sets the beat and starts out strong\
3	This song is fast, in 4/4 time\
4	A catchy little tune, and the words all rhyme.''
5	-->-- Radio/TheFrantics, "This Song"
6
7	An entire song (or sometimes just a single line of the lyrics) which deliberately provides an example of whatever the subject is, usually [[RuleOfFunny for comedic effect]].
8
9	Compare IResembleThatRemark, ThisIsASong, HeavyMeta , TropeName, and BoastfulRap (as most of that features this trope).
10
11	----
12	!!Examples:
13
14	[[foldercontrol]]
15
16	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
17	* In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAsThePrincessAndThePauper'', the pauper-turned-princess and her etiquette master have a song detailing what a princess must do. One of the pieces of advice is "always harmonize in thirds". Guess what they do on that line.
18	* ''WesternAnimation/JonahAVeggieTalesMovie'': The song under the end credits is entitled, "The Song Under the Credits"; it's opening lines are "This is the song that runs under the credits. These are the credits, so this is where it goes."
19	[[/folder]]
20
21	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
22	* In ''Film/TheFrenchConnection'', Popeye goes into a nightclub where a girl group is singing a song called "Everybody Gets to Go to the Moon", which is actually original to the ''French Connection'' soundtrack. Here are some of the lyrics in the chorus:
23	-->''Everybody's going to the moon\
24	Everybody's going, it'll be quite soon\
25	It's customary in songs like this\
26	To use a word like spoon...\
27	You know everybody's going to the moon''
28	** The next time the chorus comes around the song uses "June" instead of "spoon."
29	* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
30	** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': Although Music/EdithPiaf's "La Vie en Rose" serves as Shaw's {{Leitmotif}}, the title (which can be roughly translated as "Life Through Rose-Tinted Glasses") is actually an apt description of how the optimistic Xavier perceives the world.
31	** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': Music/JimCroce's "Time in a Bottle" is featured in the Pentagon kitchen scene. When you read [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uR96vc2Y3I the lyrics]] (which is about a man who wishes he could save time and spend it with his beloved), it basically reflects the elderly Erik's profound regret when he tells Charles (whom he loves as a brother), "All those years wasted fighting each other, Charles. To have a precious few of them back..."
32	** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': Quicksilver listens to the Music/{{Eurythmics}}' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" while in BulletTime. The song itself spells out the plot in more ways than one. "Traveled the world and the seven seas, everybody is looking for something" refers to En Sabah Nur teleporting around the globe to recruit followers and offering them something they desire. "Some of them want to use you / Some of them want to abuse you" summarizes [[spoiler:the entire interaction between Apocalypse and Xavier]].
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
36	* The lyrics to the theme song for ''Series/ItsGarryShandlingsShow'' are about how the songwriter is writing the theme to ''It's Garry Shandling's Show''.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Music]]
40	* "Dance To The Music" by Music/SlyAndTheFamilyStone may well be a TropeCodifier, as it deconstructs their song style in the riffs and lyrics.
41	-->''All we need is a drummer for people who only need a beat'' [only a drum beat is heard]\
42	''I'm gonna add a little guitar and make it easy to move your feet'' [a guitar riff is added]\
43	''I'm gonna add some bottom so that the dancers just won't hide'' [now you hear a bass riff]\
44	''You might like to hear my organ, I said now ride Sally ride'' [an organ plays... and so on]
45	* Music Instructor's cover of Ultravox's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd847TfxgCc Hymn]] does the same thing, before launching into the actual covering of the song.
46	* Played with in "Only A Northern Song" by Music/TheBeatles; it was written by Music/GeorgeHarrison as a bitter take that to the Northern Songs publishing company owned by Music/JohnLennon and Music/PaulMcCartney and the way he was treated by it.
47	-->''If you're listening to this song\
48	You may think the chords are going wrong\
49	But they're not; we just wrote it like that\
50	When you're listening late at night\
51	You may think the bands are not quite right\
52	But they are, they just play it like that\
53	It doesn't really matter what chords I play\
54	What words I say or what time of day it is\
55	As it's only a Northern song''
56	* "25 or 6 to 4" -- Music/{{Chicago}}'s breakout song, one of the founders of '70s rock and considered to this day to be one of the greatest songs ever written is about... Not having anything to write about. No, seriously, that's it. People have been trying to find a deeper meaning in it for decades (ranging from drugs to sex to The Vietnam War), but just give up people, it's really about nothing. It's about the real-life case of a songwriter trying to come up with lyrics, looking at the clock, and seeing it was already after 3:30 am. Twenty-five or (twenty-)six minutes to four, specifically.
57	* "Dance Stop" by Music/DanielAmos is about society doing its best to ignore a nuclear apocalypse, dancing right until the bombs detonate. The music is fast and upbeat, and DA would encourage fans at concerts to dance along.
58	* "Superpowers" by Music/FiveIronFrenzy:
59	-->Sometimes we have a deadline, for writing our songs.\
60	Five minutes left to write this one... la, la la, la la, la la la.
61	* "Headphones" by Music/JarsOfClay. The lyrics are about [[HeadphonesEqualIsolation isolating yourself from other people's problems]] by listening to pop music. The music is exactly the sort of pleasant pop sound that the narrator would listen to.
62	* Music/LouReed's "Walk on the Wild Side"
63	-->And the colored girls go "do, do-do, do-do, do-do-do-do"
64	* Music/BowlingForSoup's "A Really Cool Dance Song," which is a techo dance song in which the singer explains that in order to make money, they're doing a techno dance song.
65	* "Song Inside My Head" by Music/TheArrogantWorms. The song is about an EarWorm. Chances are, like the song's protagonist, you'll have it stuck in your head whether you like it or not.
66	* "This is the song that never ends, it just goes on and on my friends..." NewerThanTheyThink: "The Song That Never Ends" was composed by Norman Martin in 1988; otherwise it would have made a good UrExample.
67	* Music/WeirdAlYankovic's "(This song's just) six words long." [[LyingCreator A lie]]. The chorus is just six words long, but the song is somewhat longer.
68	-->''I gotta fill time\
69	Three minutes worth of time\
70	Oh, how will I fill so much time, mm-mm\
71	I'll throw in a solo, a solo, a solo\
72	A solo, a solo here!\
73	[cue solo]''
74	* "School's Out" by Music/AliceCooper:
75	-->''Well, we've got no class\
76	And we've got no innocence\
77	And we've got no principles\
78	We can't even think of a word that rhymes!''
79	* Music/BadReligion: "Cease". Final lines:
80	-->''What pretension! Everlasting Peace\
81	Everything must'' [abrupt cutoff; CD ends]
82	* "Move" by John Reuben:
83	-->''[='=]Cause nowadays, music's too political\
84	And maybe just a bit too predictable\
85	The repetition <click>\
86	repetition <click>\
87	repetition <click>\
88	Man, I'm just kidding, or am I?\
89	* "Paint By Numbers" by Self, in which the lead sings about having to depersonalize his music so it will sell better:
90	-->''Alone I compose a bittersweet ditty\
91	About an ex-girlfriend\
92	But why bother with painful memories?\
93	Why tear out my heart for all the world to see?\
94	Why not paint by number\
95	Catchy melody\
96	Burn it up the charts with sweet simplicity\
97	Then do it again''
98	* Blues Traveler, "Hook":
99	-->''It doesn't matter what I sa-ay-ay [==] As long as I sing with infle-ection,\
100	That makes you feel that I con-vey-ay [==] Some inner truth or vast reflec-tion.\
101	But I've said nothing so far-ar-ar, [==] And I can keep it up as long as it takes!\
102	And it don't matter who you ar-ar-are,\
103	If I'm doing my job, it's your resolve that breaks! Because\
104	[[TitleDrop the hook]] brings you back, I ain't tellin' you no li-ie!\
105	The hook brings you back, on that you can rely-ay-ay-ayayay!''
106	* [=DaVinci=]'s Notebook, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=734wnHnnNR4 Title of the Song]]".
107	* Likewise, Radio/TheFrantics have a tune tentatively called "This Song":
108	-->''This is the first verse of this song\
109	It sets the beat and starts out strong\
110	This song is fast, in 4/4 time\
111	A catchy little tune, and the words all rhyme''
112	* The first verse of Music/LeonardCohen's "Hallelujah" is about its own chord sequence.
113	-->''It goes like this: the fourth, the fifth\
114	The minor fall, the major lift''
115	* Music/MitchBenn is fond of this; for example, "Boy Band", "West End Musical" and "The Apathy Song".
116	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Eet42N9O9c Body Be]]" by [[ChristianRock Johnny Q. Public]] explores the idea that [[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2012:12-26&version=NLT believers in Christ can be different, while still members of one spiritual body]], and that if one part tries to intrude on the natural function of another, chaos ensues. Around the bridge another song begins, then fades out. It comes back near the crescendo and the entire song dissolves into a confused mess.
117	* Subverted or Averted (Depending on your opinion) in the song "The Sultans of Swing" by Music/DireStraits. Many genres of music are listed in the Sultans' repertoire, and the song itself does not belong to any of them.
118	* "[[http://www.metrolyrics.com/three-minute-positive-not-too-country-up-tempo-love-song-lyrics-alan-jackson.html Three Minute Positive Not Too Country Up-Tempo Love Song]]" by Music/AlanJackson.
119	* ''#1 Radio Single'' by ''Music/{{Psychostick}}'' guides you through the entire song.
120	-->''Oh this is the verse that sounded just like the verse you heard before, yeah.\
121	But if you please take note that lyrics are slightly different than last time.\
122	We're killing time, until we're at chorus, agaiiiiiiiiiiin.\
123	And here we are back at the chorus.\
124	Don't you remember the one that is so freakin' catchy it's stuck\
125	in your head, for the rest of your life.''
126	* The Limeliters, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoYh-9gViLU "Generic Up-Tempo Folk Song"]]
127	* The song "Crayons Can Melt on us For All I Care" by Relient K. It basically just tells you that it wasted part of your life.
128	-->''I... just wasted... ten seconds of your life.''
129	* The Venezuelan genre of GaitaZuliana is full of songs that straddle between this trope and ThisIsASong, in a SeriousBusiness way. Often the lyrics describe how the song is going trough the [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth traditional Gaita guidelines and tropes]]. And there is the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRHmDX6Po8U Gaita Onomatopeyica]] (Onomatopoeic Gaita), which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
130	* "How to Write A Love Song" by The Axis of Awesome informs the listener how to write a generic chart-topping boy-band love song--in the form of a generic boy-band love song.
131	* A recurring trope in Mike Batt's songs for The Wombles -- most notably, "Tobermory's Music Machine" which describes various ways in which the titular machine goes wrong, and illustrates them at the same time.
132	* "Come All Ye" by Music/FairportConvention. Sandy Denny's vocals are highly affecting despite the fact that she's basically just describing what the band is doing.
133	* "Mozart's House" by Music/CleanBandit: "I can make my voice sta!cca!to! / then mix it ''allll le...ga...to''"
134	* ''Music/DieArzte'', "Die Instrumente des Orchesters". Especially when the singer complains that noone understands the text anymore as soon as the guitar WEEEEIIIIAOOOOOORRRR!
135	* Less so but still legit, "Die Summe der einzelnen Teile" by Kante (likewise German).
136	* "Please Play This Song on the Radio" by Music/{{NOFX}}:
137	-->''We wrote this song\
138	It's not too short it's not too long\
139	It's got back-up vocals (in just the right places)\
140	It's got a few oohs and aahs (oooh aaah)\
141	And it takes a little pause\
142	Just before I sing the F-word\
143	[...]\
144	Almost every... line... is sung on time\
145	Almost every verse ends in a "rim"\
146	The only problem we had was writing enough words...\
147	... (oooh aaah)\
148	But that's okay, because the chorus is coming up again now''
149	* Music/MarianasTrench's "Pop 101", which is a catchy pop song about... a catchy pop song. As the singer elaborates on the construction of the song, those very things appear in it.
150	-->''[[TheFourChordsOfPop The chords are 1-4-6-4]]\
151	Now I'm talkin' familiar\
152	Harmony in thirds, not fourths\
153	Will take you into the pre-chorus...''
154	* Music/TomLehrer's "The Folk Song Army:"
155	-->The tune don't have to be clever\
156	And it don't matter if you put a couple extra syllables into a line\
157	It sounds more ethnic if it ain't good English\
158	And it don't even gotta rhyme... excuse me: rhyne!
159	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMSUc2YjZ0k Hate the Villanelle]]" by Music/TheyMightBeGiants is a villanelle about how annoying the rules of a villanelle are. John Flansburgh calls it "a true story about writing this song".
160	** "Number Three" is the third song on their debut album, and is ostensibly about writing the song itself and how difficult it was since the singer only had "two songs in me."
161	* Music/TheWho:
162	** "Getting in Tune" has fairly self-demonstrating verses, but the first one stands out.
163	---> I'm singing this note 'cause it fits in well with the chords I'm playing
164	---> And I can't pretend there's any meaning hidden in the things I'm saying
165	---> But I'm in tune. Right in tune.
166	** "Guitar and Pen" is about songwriting, and contains a few self-demonstrating gags.
167	---> You write up the verse and you end with a scream
168	---> Then you swear and you curse 'cause the [[PainfulRhyme rhyming ain't clean]]
169	* "Bitter Cup" by Music/TheBlackSorrows ends with "Over again, over and over" being sung, well, over again, over and over...
170	[[/folder]]
171
172	[[folder:Theater]]
173	* ''Theatre/{{Spamalot}}'''s "The Song that Goes Like This".
174	* "Poppa's Blues" from ''Theatre/StarlightExpress'' is a blues song that is almost entirely devoted to explaining the typical lyrical structure of a blues song:
175	--> Oh, the first line of a blues is always sung a second time
176	--> The first line of a blues is always sung a second time
177	--> So by the time you get to the third line
178	--> You've had time to think of a rhyme
179	[[/folder]]
180
181	[[folder:Web Original]]
182	* "Ten Dollar Solo" from ''WebVideo/CommentaryTheMusical'' is entirely about itself.
183	* Creator/{{Tobuscus}}'s "Dramatic Song" is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin an emotional-sounding song]]... as long as you don't speak English. The lyrics simply explain the fact that he's not singing about anything serious or dramatic but it just sounds like that, all whilst lampshading the music, vocals and how foreign people who don't speak English might find this song intense. See it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WteF0j5gYGk#! here]].
184	* [[WebVideo/{{Charlieissocoollike}} Charlie McDonnell]] has a song on her album called "A Song About a Song".
185	[[/folder]]
186
187	[[folder:Western Animation]]
188	* The song "Montage" from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' (and later, ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice'') facilitates this trope by describing the exact narrative devices and reasoning behind {{Montages}} while the viewer actually watches a montage on-screen.
189	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SelfDemonstratingSong