Line #26 Music/StephenLynch


1	[[quoteright:337:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mi0001349585.jpg]]
2	Stephen Andrew Lynch (born July 28, 1971) is a musical comedian/actor noted for [[RefugeInAudacity audacious]] and [[VulgarHumor vulgar]] songs.
3	----
4	!!Tropes associated with Stephen Lynch include:
5	* AffablyEvil: ''"Beelz"'', which portrays Satan as a SissyVillain.
6	* AntiLoveSong: "Hey Love," which is about how Stephen hates loving hating love.
7	* AntiChrist: According to the song Beelz
8	--> ''"To spread my evil ways I went to Earth and had a son/And now he makes his living as a singing comedian."''
9	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: "Tennessee" claims Music/BBKing, UsefulNotes/AlGore and Music/ArethaFranklin were all born in Tennessee. Only Franklin was actually born there of the three, though Gore's dad was a Congressman from Tennessee, and the younger Gore did spend his summers there.
10	* AssShove: "Gerbil"
11	-->''"If Richard Gere can do it I can too!"''
12	* AudienceParticipationSong: When performing "Superhero", Stephen usually invites the audience to come up with their own superheroes. The suggestions tend to get... inventive.
13	-->'''Stephen''': "Valtrex Man"? Isn't that the herpes medicine? ''(beat)'' Notice how nobody said "Yes, it is!"
14	** Certain performances of "Vanilla Ice Cream" have audience members shouting out names of White celebrities who have dated/are married to Black women.
15	** Most of his songs count as this, but "Baby" [[InvokedTrope invokes]] it.
16	--->''Damn, that's an ugly baby! C'mon everybody, sing along! Damn, that's an ugly ba-'' '''[[SuddenlyShouting Sing, fuckers! C'mon!]]''' ''Damn, that's an ugly baby!''
17	*** The "[[https://youtu.be/HpWB_ZiFy-Q Live at the Del Ray]]" performance had him ask for just the guys, then just the ladies, then just [[SchmuckBait those who were ugly babies]] to sing.
18	* BeerGoggles: The "big fat friend" of the subject of "She Gotta Smile" "loses a couple of pounds" with every shot of alcohol consumed by the "non-discriminating friend."
19	* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: "Talk to Me, Dad" is on the subject.
20	--> Well it seems last night you caught me spankin' it\
21	No use denyin' it, I was really crankin' it...
22	* CainAndAbel: Evidently, Jesus had a brother named Craig, a party animal and BFF of Judas.
23	* DescentIntoDarknessSong: Several songs. "Superhero" starts with describing various superheroes kids might want to be before turning into a diatribe against his unfaithful wife who now lives in Hawaii with a doctor, dumping him with three kids and no job.
24	* DidNotThinkThisThrough: The twist at the end of "Grandfather" is that [[spoiler: he forgot that his grand''mother'' was still alive, and makes plans to bump her off next]].
25	* DirtyOldMan: His character in "Mixer at Delta Chi", a self-styled "bad professor" who macks on freshmen.
26	* DiscriminateAndSwitch: The setup for "Vanilla Ice Cream".
27	-->Just don’t take it personally, this is no attack; But we will never last because I’m white and you are… [[SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion also white]].
28	* EmbarrassingTattoo: "Queer Tattoo," which is all about queer tattoos. And by "queer", Stephen means "bad tattoo," not gay. Unless you get a tattoo of a pink triangle on a rainbow flag with [[TheBear a bear wearing leather]] and a ball gag.
29	* EverybodyWantsTheHermaphrodite: Used in the [[PunnyTitle appropriately-titled]] "Hermaphrodite" ([[DontExplainTheJoke pronounced Herm-Aphrodite]]).
30	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: "What If That Guy From Music/TheSmashingPumpkins Lost His Car Keys?"
31	* FakeOutOpening: His usual schtick is to have his songs start as a pleasant acoustic guitar ballad for the first verse before completely going off the rails by the chorus. Reversed with "Beelz," a song about Satan that starts out as a harsh whsiper for the first verse but then switches to a cheerful voice for the rest of the song.
32	* GoodAngelBadAngel: "Voices In My Head" parodies this. The two voices in Stephen's head are both bad, with one being rather violent ("I hope that guy who heckled me gets hit by a school bus, that fucker") and the other being obsessed with sex ("Go on, ask that girl up front to come backstage and show her thong"). Also, both of them suggest that Stephen is a mess and that he should do a ton of cocaine.
33	* TheGrotesque: The titular "Baby", especially if the lyrics near the end are any indication.
34	-->''She's got one good tooth and one ear, and one eye // Thank God just one nose, but it's on her left thigh!
35	* HappilyMarried: Reportedly, he trusts his wife Erin Dwight's opinion so much that if she doesn't laugh on the first pass of a song, he'll scrap it entirely.
36	* HeelRealization: Subverted in "Fishin' Hole". After calling everyone he meets an asshole, the singer wonders "are there really assholes everywhere I look, or am I the one to blame?" in the song's final verse. He takes a good hard look at himself in the mirror (complete with a {{Beat}}), then calls the guy who sold him the mirror an asshole, because the "son of a bitch said it was antique" when it clearly isn't.
37	* IfItsYouItsOkay: Implied in bridge of "Gay."
38	--> "We've never hugged, we've never kissed / I've never been intimate with your fist / But you have opened brand new doors / Get over here and drop! Your! Drawers!"
39	* IgnoredEpiphany: "Fishin' Hole" has the singer call everyone around him an asshole. Eventually, he decides to literally take a long look in the mirror, having realized that [[JerkassRealization maybe the big problem is him]]… only to call the guy who sold him the mirror an asshole, since it's clearly not an antique.
40	* ImGoingToHellForThis: Repeatedly states this between verses on "Special Olympics". The fact that he has others sing along with him means that everyone else is going down with him.
41	* InheritanceMurder: The singer's conclusion in "Grandfather".
42	-->''It's all over now, my grand-dad is dead. A mysterious blow to his wrinkled old head. Before I collect, [[DidNotThinkThisThrough a small oversight]], but everything should turn out alright. [[spoiler: [[HereWeGoAgain I'll start working on my grandma tonight]].]]
43	* LyricalDissonance: Every. Fucking. Song. A major source of Lynch's humor is his choir boy and slow songwriting contrasting some pretty dark lyrics.
44	* MadwomanInTheAttic: Special Ed has to live in his mother's shed. [[SubvertedTrope It's not all bad, though]], since Ed is 1) allowed out to play, and 2) gets a bed. Compared to most other attic dwellers, he lives like a king.
45	* MoodWhiplash: His songs tend to follow a structure of [[FakeOutOpening one completely straight verse]], then a chorus that turns it into a joke song. "Lullaby" is a good example of this.
46	* MushroomSamba: "So This is Outer Space" is about a man unaware he's high and thinks he's in outer space. He starts to come down from a bad trip, but gets some for the alien who sold him the drugs.
47	* MySisterIsOffLimits: "Best Friend's Song" subverts this. Mark Teich is fine with Lynch sleeping with his sister... he just has to pay first.
48	** The radio version has him [[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne glossing over this]] to make one thing clear - [[spoiler: he does NOT like Creator/JuliaRoberts movies]].
49	* NerdsAreVirgins: "D&D" mocks people who play ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', saying they've "never kissed a lady before", has one of the singers lie about having a girlfriend, and ends with the line "Virgins till the day we die!"
50	* ParentalFavoritism: The eponymous "Craig" claims Jesus was Mary's favorite, and this is clearly a source of Craig's resentment of Jesus.
51	* ParentalIncest: His "Mother's Day" song hints at this, as his mother was his prom date "And I was the only guy // who got lucky that night".
52	-->'''Stephen''': ''[[DefensiveWhat What]]''?! Oh, like you've never fucked your mom before!
53	* PatterSong: A few, but most notably "Whittlin' Man" (especially with Rod Cone's backup vocals).
54	* PedophilePriest: "Priest" is a song of a priest barely trying to resist his urges.
55	* PerishingAltRockVoice: Parodied in "What If That Guy From [[Music/TheSmashingPumpkins Smashing Pumpkins]] Lost His Car Keys."
56	* PragmaticVillainy: Played for laughs in "Fishin' Hole". The singer calls everyone around him an asshole, and fantasizes about punching them. However, when he calls a bar an asshole (because it's closed for renevations), he admits that he can't punch the bar because he'd hurt his hand.
57	* ProtestSong: Played with in "America." It sounds like PatrioticFervor at first, but then turns against UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush in the last verse. However, it still ends on a hopeful note about America.
58	* RaceFetish: "Vanilla Ice Cream" is about this.
59	-->''I only like black girls, the brown girls, the café au lait.// Oh, caramel girls and mocha girls just blow me away.// If you're a nubian,// I want you to be in// Every fantasy,// But if you're a whitey,// Say nighty-nighty,// You're just not the girl for me.
60	* RefugeInAudacity: His entire schtick is this. For example:
61	** A song about being divorced for being absolutely disgusting; [[LyricalDissonance couched as a lullaby to his infant daughter]].
62	** A song about a Jewish man who somehow lands a Neo-Nazi girlfriend.
63	** A song about his "special" friend Edward; who one day smashes him in the face him with a brick, making the narrator "special" too.
64	** A song making fun of the special Olympics
65	** A song about his twin daughters; one is born absolutely hideous (she's promptly abandoned).
66	* RunningGag: His complete inability to whistle as part of his songs. It might start out okay, but it quickly dries up into literally blowing air through his lips before he gives up.
67	* SelfDeprecation : From "Beelz"
68	--> To carry on my evil ways\
69	I went and had a son\
70	And now he makes his living\
71	As a singing comedian
72	* SiblingRivalry: "Craig" is largely about how much the titular character despises his brother, Jesus Christ, and how much cooler he is than said brother.
73	* StarbucksSkinScale: Used in the song "Vanilla Ice Cream". Stephen says he only likes girls with dark shades of skin, and if you're too light, he's not interested. The chorus always starts with the lines "I only like black girls, the brown girls, the café au lait; caramel girls and mocha girls just blow me away".
74	* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: "Special Ed".
75	--> I thought college life was great,
76	--> Ed couldn't count from one to two!
77	** Also "If I Were Gay", which he lampshades by included a slight {{beat}}.
78	--> If I were gay we would tear down the walls.
79	--> But I'm not gay, so won't you stop cupping my... [[LastSecondWordSwap hand]].
80	** Again in "Vanilla Ice Cream":
81	-->Just don't take it personally\
82	This is no attack\
83	But we will never last because\
84	I'm white and you are...also white
85	** Also, from "Whittlin' Man."
86	-->He'll whittle if it's new, he'll whittle if it's old\
87	Whittle something hot, and he'll whittle something rather chilly
88	* TakeThat:
89	** "Beelz" contains shots at Rush Limbaugh and the Boston Red Sox. One version also adds "I'm the reason that UsefulNotes/BarackObama even had a chance".
90	** "America" contains shots at UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush and his "great rolling war machine".
91	** "D&D" makes fun of players of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', saying that [[NerdsAreVirgins players will be virgins until they day they die]] and that they look like massive dorks to people who don't play the game.
92	* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Though he'd be quick to point out that he's not an especially skilled musician, Lynch considers himself a songwriter first and a comedian second, citing Music/CarlySimon as a major influence. The only part of his songs that are intentionally funny are the subject, which makes them all the funnier.
93	* ThoseWackyNazis: "Little Tiny Moustache".
94	* YourMom: At the end of "D&D" during his performance at the El Ray when his brother comes out to berate them for pretending like that.
95	-->'''Stephen and Mark''': We put a spell on thee!
96	-->'''Drew''': You guys are too much for me! Hahaha. ''({{Beat}})''
97	-->'''Stephen and Mark''': That's what your mama said last night! It's D and D!
98	* WhyWontYouDie: The singer of "Grandfather" is rather annoyed his elderly grandpa won't croak already, even name-dropping the trope.
99	-->Oh why won't you die, Grandpa, why must you fight?! // ''YOU OLD MOTHERFUCKER, JUST WALK TOWARDS THE GODDAMN LIGHT!''
100	* WorldOfJerkass: "Fishin Hole," which is all about how the singer thinks everyone in the world except him is an asshole.

Context Music / StephenLynch