Behind the Scenes - Selecting a parody source

Writing parody songs seems quite easy, doesn't it? Well, it can be incredibly easy if you just pick a random song and replace each word with a rhyme with "car". However, writing a *GOOD* parody song is, in fact, quite challenging, and requires a good deal of work right from the start, even down to the song you choose. 

A good source will allow your lyrics to flow easily and half of the humor will come from the changes people will distinguish from the original subconciously. A bad source will hold back lyrics, feel forced and pandering. Compare Weird Al Yankovic's classic, "Jurassic Park", which keeps significant lyrical similarities to "MacArthur Park" so people who have heard the original will laugh at how easily it changes: "MacArthur's Park is Melting in the Dark/All the Sweet Green Icing Flowing Down/Someone left the cake out in the rain" becomes "Jurassic Park is Frightening in the Dark/The dinosaurs are running wild/Someone let T-Rex out of his pen".

Compare this to the unfortunately-famous "UNDERTALE The Musical - Animation Song Parody" by LHUGENY, which is not a musical at all, but rather a genocide-themed parody of "Bad Romance", a song that already has absolutely nothing to do with UNDERTALE, and doesn't do anything to link them together lyrically, opening up with the changed lyrics "story of UNDERTALE" - which has no similarities at all to "caught in a bad romance". If I were to choose this song to parody UNDERTALE (and trust me, I would not) I would open up with something more relevant to the both the theme of my song and the original, such as "Couldn't give peace a chance", which, while still far from the best parody lyrics, fits much better and sounds like something someone would actually say.

On that note, it is VITALLY important when writing a parody song that the changed lyrics still actually sound like something somebody would say, despite the context being made completely different. The biggest thing that tears people away from not only parody songs, but even simply adding lyrics to instrumentals, is forcing rhymes so hard that you no longer sound like a human being singing it.

That being said, here's the lyrics to an upcoming Nintendo Switch parody song, with the classic canadian PSA, "Don'tcha put it in your mouth" used as the source. Thanks to the nostalgia critic, enough people have heard it that you'll probably play the song in your head as you read them, and if not, it's merely a YouTube search away. The recent trend of people tasting switch games to prove that a bittering agent has been applied to them makes the song chosen easily change context.

WHY'D YA PUT IT IN YOUR MOUTH (Nintendo Switch Song)

Parody lyrics by RecD

<Song likely to be out before the month's end>

Why'd ya put it in your mouth

(Why'd ya put it in your mouth)

Why'd ya stuff it in your face

(Why'd ya stuff it in your face)

Guess that if you're really starved

(Guess that if you're really starved)

Plastic's an aquired taste

Plastic's an aquired taste

You might feel sick (ick!)

That's nintendo's trick

To not get sued cos you choked on a $60 game what the hell is wrong with you

Why'd you put it in again

(Why'd you put it in again)

Whaddya think is gonna change?

(Whaddya think is gonna change?)

Is it really for the views

(Is it really for the views)

Are ya really just deranged

(Are ya really just deranged)

Unless you're a nintendo switch

(and if you are, my condolences)

(switch EEEEE sound and glitched screen displays)

Don't put games in your mouth!

<End lyrics>

Please look forward to more features such like this, EXCLUSIVE to $5+ patrons!