I Love a Bunch of Genres

Dare to Be Stupid

“Weird Al” Yankovic

Dare to Be Stupid

Another year of school is finally over today, and with the arrival of summer, I can finally allow my brain to function again.

I really, really hate school.

One more year.

Great Green Gobs of Greasy, Grimy, Gopher Guts

Penn Jillette (covering a traditional song of unknown origin)

There was a time in my life when I considered this song the height of comedy. I’m talking about the song itself, not the Penn Jillette version; I only just discovered the existence of this recording, and I chose to feature it here simply by virtue of it being the first recording of Great Green Gobs I could find online, though I don’t think I could’ve done any better if I’d had 100 other options. The man is a vocal powerhouse.

Considering the song now from an older, wiser perspective, I’ve concluded that it’s still really funny. Expecially that bit about forgetting the spoon.

Maybe Tonite

Corn Mo & .357 Lover

Diorama of the Golden Lion

Let me tell you a little bit about my friend Corn Mo. I saw him before .357 Lover had entered the picture. He was opening for They Might Be Giants, and he took the stage alone. Just one man in a fringed and sequined jacket, sporting the biggest mutton chops you’ve ever seen. Just one man with two instruments. Across his chest, an accordion; by his feet, a cymbal, which he struck with a stick attacked to his shoe. One man, two instruments, and a golden voice from the heavens. And he brought the house down.

I like this song because, if I’m understanding it correctly, he is asking a girl to join him in the basement to make out while listening to, among other bands, Corn Mo. How can you not love a guy who makes out to the sound of himself?

King Tut

Steve Martin and the Toot Uncommons

King Tut

I’m not going to say much about this because genius has a way of speaking for itself, but I will point out that the “Toot Uncommons” are actually members of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, or at least that’s what Wikipedia says.

Also, “Toot Uncommons” is a play on King Tut’s full name, King Tutankhamun. You see, “Toot Uncommons” and “Tutankhamun” sound similar, but “toot” is an onomatopoeia that’s funny in this context because it describes the sound of the band’s brass instruments.

Michael Jackson’s Nose

Bingo Gazingo

What is this?

The Björk Song

Lore Sjöberg

The Brunching Shuttlecocks

Lore Fitzgerald Sjöberg is on my shortlist for funniest people of all time. I’ll take that even further - he’s among the funniest of all mammals.

Of all sentient organisms, few can compete on a comedic level with Lore Sjöberg, and that’s why it’s sad that he so infrequently works in the medium of song.

Cows With Guns

Dana Lyons

Cows With Guns - The Cow Pie Nation Cowpilation

This is dumb and jokey and full of terrible puns, and I like it.

Tally Hall

Ruler of Everything

Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum

Funny, but not funny.

Moreover, they’re playing a show on a boat in the near future. Will this inspire re-imaginings of “The Bidding” and “Banana Man” as sea shanties? I certainly hope, but only time will tell. After all, ‘tis the ruler of everything.

That boat show, by the way, is a show on a cruise ship. Not quite as exciting as what I’m imagining, which is why I’m going to ignore the facts and continue making up stories in my mind about Tally Hall cruising down the Thames in a pirate ship captained by the ghost of Sid Vicious.

Mean Mr. Mustard/Polythene Pam

The Beatles

Abbey Road

Right, well here we are again with a song - two songs, really - that are grossly misfiled, and I don’t care. I’m going to make a statement right here in no uncertain terms just to clear this subject once and for all: I’m not going to stick to monthly genres very closely. Deal.

That message is more for me than you. Nobody has complained about me bending genres here, and I doubt anyone ever would, but I feel like I can move on and stop defending the songs I pick now that I’ve made a clear statement. Anyway!

Neither of today’s songs is a “comedy song,” and The Beatles did release plenty of songs which fit that category more strongly, but there’s something about detailed character studies in music that I always find so charming, appealing, and even funny. I wonder if I could fill a month with songs about characters…

Penelope

Of Montreal

Coquelicot Asleep In The Poppies: A Variety Of Whimsical Verse

For some reason I was thinking this was a really funny song, but now that I’m listening to it with that mindset, I’m not so sure. There are some very funny lines here and there, plus the general strangeness of the song structure is generally strange, indeed, but it’s hardly “Comedy Music,” is it?

But that’s the nature of funny things. There’s no explaining comedy, and I prefer not to dissect more than necessary. All the same, I have heard and read many explanations of what makes something “funny.” Some people say comedy is the pleasant and surprising reversal of expectations, a definition with so many obvious holes in it that I won’t bother to discuss it further, except to say that this is surprising and pleasant on a number of levels.

There’s something about the twisting, turning language and unpredictable composition that picks up my mind and tosses it around every time. It’s so unlike most music that the wildness of it has cracked me up many times before, so I’m counting it as “Comedy Music” even if it isn’t.