Thread: Silly songs that make me happy Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.


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Posted by the long ranger (# 17109) on :
 
This one.

Not quite a shanty, but close enough for me. What is your favourite silly song?
 

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Posted by kankucho (# 14318) on :
 
No contest
 

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Posted by Lord Jestocost (# 12909) on :
 
Larry the Cucumber at his finest.
 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
"The Guinea Pig Way"

I used to have guinea pigs and this song puts it in a nutshell. Life can be very good for a guinea pig.

Unless he lives under a bed in Peru- and is called "Protein".
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
OK folks, if we can avoid this turning into just a list of links that would be good. If you can say a bit about what you're posting, to add interest, that would be good too.

Cheers
Ariel
Heaven Host
 

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Posted by the long ranger (# 17109) on :
 
Well. I'm into Santies. I really like the idea of a song that works (hence not so keen on more modern folksy interpretations of the song that the old salts hated to sing because it reminded them of hard work at sea. Most, apparently, refused to sing these things on dry land).

But then this isn't a shanty. It has a very similar rhythm and style. Not sure what else to say about it, other than it cheered up a deary Monday morning.
 

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Posted by Bob Two-Owls (# 9680) on :
 
When it come to silly there can be only one, good old uncle Spike. The Q Piano Tune was a masterpiece od Shotakovichian proportions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB3i8Wftv6g&feature=fvwrel

I always tried to work out the timing to play this at school but it is really difficult.

Jinsy has to be the place where the spirit of Spike came to rest and so I give you Retch and Hoik

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f06CYFNJSYA

And finally the reason I still own a Lambretta (apart from the mod thing) is jasper Carrott's majestic Funky Moped

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKnoffPV8m0

Actually my favourite songs that make me smile are far too filthy to post here in polite company but I do like Ivor Biggun and K**t and the Gang.
 

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Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
There are so many to choose from! I love silly songs and novelty songs and all their kin. But for seriously silly silliness, give me P.D.Q. Bach. In skewering the pretensions of the most serious of the serious, the snob--er, sorry, classical--music crowd, Peter Schickele is a god. I also like this song because of the multilingual wordplay, which tickles all sorts of funny bones as well as puffing up my intellectual vanity. And there is also the religious aspect.

From the opera, Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice, I present: Et Expecto: The Monk's Song.
 

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Posted by lily pad (# 11456) on :
 
This one about the ice berg is a standard on our local weekend morning radio show on CBC.
 

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Posted by comet (# 10353) on :
 
"The Scolding Wife" by Great Big Sea. (possibly a Trad and Anon, I don't know)

I don't even know why I like it. It's funny and fun to sing along to. Makes me laugh. 'cause, you know, songs about abusive spouses are hilarious.

Now that I think about it, GBS has a number of silly songs, and all fall into the "shanty" part of the spectrum. "The Old Black Rum" is particularly wonderful just for the refrain: "The old black rum's got a hold on me/like a dog wrapped 'round my leg"

(yes, I'm jealous of Trudy's hometown band!)

and my hometown band, The Denali Cooks, have a few silly songs. my favorite is called "Do It Again" and it's *gasp* Dirty! but great fun. "when it's time for dessert, there's homemade pie/with a little bit of whipped cream.. I KNOW you like the whipped cream!" There's a fairly naughty story behind the song, too!

Holy hell I did not expect to find this online...!(lyrics quite possibly not safe for work or small children. not crude, just suggestive) I might have been at that concert. The keyboardist who looks like Ralph the Dog is one of my best friends, and the lead singer is also a close friend.
 

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Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
My favorite is "The Squirrel Went Berserk". I especially love names such as, "The First Self-Righteous Church" and "Sister Bertha Better Than You". If you have trouble understanding the lyrics, here they are.

Moo
 

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Posted by BessHiggs (# 15176) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Moo:
My favorite is "The Squirrel Went Berserk". I especially love names such as, "The First Self-Righteous Church" and "Sister Bertha Better Than You". If you have trouble understanding the lyrics, here they are.

Gotta love Ray Stevens! My husband is esentially forced to sing this every Saturday night at Karaoke...

I love The Zambonis, particularly I Want To Drive The Zamboni. One of the items on my bucket list is to visit the Zamboni factory in California. Yep, I'm a Zamboni nerd!

Moo

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Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :
 
For the last 2 years I've seen Folk On at Greenbelt http://www.folkon.co.uk/ My favourite is Fol Krap (favourite line: 'The word on my street says 'no through road'') but my sons are big fans of Ernie (a story about a pet slug) and Australia (a folk tale about deportation and hanging).
I've found Ernie live in the Greenbelt music shop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvnumpHTZ8g&feature=relmfu and Australia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQvKL6A62Ck&feature=related
Ooh, I've also found 'I'm in love with a Morris Dancer' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsuNmJqR9Rk - 'When he waves his 'kerchiefs, well, I lose my briefs and I want him'
 

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Posted by Darllenwr (# 14520) on :
 
For me, this has to be the classic silly song. I cannot quite claim to be a life-long Goons fan, since I didn't come across them until I was in my teens, by which time they had long since ceased to be on the radio. However, this song was still circulating on 45 rpm disk, which is how I came to hear it for the first time at a friend's house.

Remarkably silly, and very amusing.
 

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Posted by Nanny Ogg (# 1176) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Darllenwr:
For me, this has to be the classic silly song. I cannot quite claim to be a life-long Goons fan, since I didn't come across them until I was in my teens, by which time they had long since ceased to be on the radio. However, this song was still circulating on 45 rpm disk, which is how I came to hear it for the first time at a friend's house.

Remarkably silly, and very amusing.

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We had an original 78rpm! The other side was "Captain Bloodnock's Rock & Roll"

I love this very silly song
 

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Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :
 
Rather than write a new song you can take a classic and subvert it. On children's TV too.

But be careful, or someone could subvert you,
 

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Posted by comet (# 10353) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Moo:
My favorite is "The Squirrel Went Berserk". I especially love names such as, "The First Self-Righteous Church" and "Sister Bertha Better Than You". If you have trouble understanding the lyrics, here they are.

Moo

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officially the Mississippi Squirrel Revival, I think. my favorite line I remember is "Some thought he had religion, some thought he had a demon, and Harv thought he had a weed eater loose in his fruit of the looms!"

Almost all Ray Stevens qualifies. Erik the Awful is oft quoted in this house, and for a long time my SoF signature was "Subtle as a chainsaw" which is a line from that song.

another favorite of his (let's see if I can do this from memory) is Ned Nostril And the South Seas Paradise Put Your Blues On Ice Cheap At Twice The Price Band (icky icky oogy oogy)

that might be the only cassette ("He Thinks He's Ray Stevens") that still gets regular use here - it's in the car and the boys always throw it on.
 

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Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
NOT work safe.

Best end of show song ever. At least for a gig in a pub. Specially as it is a call and response refrain. Laugh every time it comes round in rotation on my phone, though I need to be quick on skip depending on the company.
 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
Somewhat off-color- so maybe not work safe: "I Wear No Pants"

This is from a SoCal group that works the Renaissance faires and they enjoyed hanging out, drinking and singing, at the guild site where I acted. Their song got a big bump when Levi picked up the song for their 2010 Super Bowl commercial. I hope they got enormous bucks!

2010 Dockers Ad

Of course, in UK terms they all wear "pants", just not "trousers".
 

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Posted by Higgs Bosun (# 16582) on :
 
My pseudo-intellectual pretensions have always enjoyed The Rhubarb Tart Song.
 

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Posted by Jane R (# 331) on :
 
I like Weird Al's parodies of pop songs, but my all-time favourite collection of silly songs is the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society's parody of 'Fiddler on the Roof' - especially If I were a Deep One

(wanders off, singing 'The ramulose and arabesque floriations, spiralling so far beneath the waves....')
 

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Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :
 
I've always liked Flanders and Swann singing 'Pee Po Belly Bum Drawers'. If you grew up in a strict household, it allowed you to think of all the things you really wanted to do and say but just wouldn't dare. I enjoyed shocking my own children when they were young by singing it - mummies and daddies weren't 'supposed' to sing such things!
 

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Posted by Bob Two-Owls (# 9680) on :
 
If you liked Flanders & Swann you will love Brabbins & Fyffe from the Armstrong & Miller Show. Loads of them on youtube.
 

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Posted by jbohn (# 8753) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by lilBuddha:
NOT work safe.

Best end of show song ever. At least for a gig in a pub. Specially as it is a call and response refrain. Laugh every time it comes round in rotation on my phone, though I need to be quick on skip depending on the company.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Bob Two-Owls:
If you liked Flanders & Swann you will love Brabbins & Fyffe from the Armstrong & Miller Show. Loads of them on youtube.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Jane R:
I like Weird Al's parodies of pop songs, but my all-time favourite collection of silly songs is the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society's parody of 'Fiddler on the Roof' - especially If I were a Deep One

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I am going to come back tomorrow and, if I still read that, I will take a trip to the shrink, because I will quite obviously have finally flipped.

AG

(you may have the same view of this one)
 

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Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 
If you haven't time for Hoffnung's address to the Oxford Union, Noel Murphy made a song of it.
 

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Posted by Squirrel (# 3040) on :
 
The B-52s' "Rock Lobster." I was working at a camp for kids with severe disabilities, and one of the counselors brought in a tape of that tune. Not only did the staff love it, but the children went nuts! They'd be spinning their wheelchairs around, lying on the ground waiving their crutches, etc, all in time to the song.

I should write to the B-52s and tell them how happy they made those kids.
 

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Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :
 
Shaving Cream! Just naughty enough.

If you look up recordings of it, you'll hear that the trick is to sing "shhhhhhhhhh-shaving cream", as if you were going to say "shit", but changed your mind.

One of the wonderful legacies of listening to Dr. Demento. ("Wind up your radios, folks!")


 

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Posted by bib (# 13074) on :
 
I've always enjoyed the Wonky Donkey song, especially when it is sung by its author. Suggest you look for it on Youtube. It is a song written for children's amusement, but appeals just as much to adults.
 

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Posted by snowgoose (# 4394) on :
 
I am a huge Muppets fan. The Muppet version of Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens is my favorite, but I also love My Old Man
 

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Posted by snowgoose (# 4394) on :
 
Sorry. Hit the post button by mistake, then missed the edit window.

I agree, Balaam, the muppet take on Bohemian Rhapsody is wonderful!

The Gander is an Environmental Lawyer in the Federal Civil Service, and he just loves Clive Cahuenga, the singing civil servant, who sings the Municipal Vermin Abatement Code to the music of Mozart. It's another Muppet Show sketch, but I can't find it anywhere on the web.

The iceberg song is too sad for me.
 

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Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
This one makes me honk loudly every time. It helps that I've seen several of the aeroplanes involved (both replicas and genuine Edwardian flying machines) actually flying.

AG
 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
I was supposed to see Those Magnificent Men until the dratted younger sister got mumps? chicken pox?

Just because it's still making me giggle I bring you Thank you Captain Dinosaur - my daughter are singing along when that happens. (They recorded two versions with and without audience "help") The whole programme can be heard here for the next few days.
 

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Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
I still love lots of the songs I learned as a Girl Guide; Ging-gang-goolie; I have lost my underwear; I wear my pink pyjamas; the Presbyterian cat; MacTavish is dead. My daughter has added several more to our sing-along-in-the-car repertoire; black socks; fluffy sheep; etc etc.

I was delighted to find Kenneth McKellar singing this classic song on You-tube. NOT REMOTELY WORK SAFE!

That was another song I learned at Guide camp.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by North East Quine:

I was delighted to find Kenneth McKellar singing this classic song on You-tube. NOT REMOTELY WORK SAFE!

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quote:

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And that is definitely a picture of Andy Stewart, not K McKellar.

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quote:

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Originally posted by North East Quine:
Originally posted by Firenze:

quote:

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And that is definitely a picture of Andy Stewart, not K McKellar.

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Four of the five photos are K McK, with one of A.S. I'm sure A.S. knew this classic too!

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quote:

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Originally posted by North East Quine:


I was delighted to find Kenneth McKellar singing this classic song on You-tube. NOT REMOTELY WORK SAFE!

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One wonders how it went down in the locality, given that in "Peter Pan's First XI" Kevin Telfer writes of J M Barrie's father, compared to his mother, as "a member of the relatively more moderate Free Church of Scotland"...


Just to keep us on track, this always make me smirk revoltingly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDdzDDr42DM&feature=list_other&playnext=1&list=AL94UKMTqg-9A6nkwrsLN0lTFTESma6pnb (cannae be arsed to do it properly)

AG
 

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Posted by snowgoose (# 4394) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by claret10:
Llama Song

A very silly song that became a sort of theme tune between a couple of friends and I, which we sang to one another when we were facing difficult situations.

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Wonderful! I had never seen or heard this before. I love it!
 

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Posted by The Sainted Percy (# 17388) on :
 
Anything by Val Doonican - 'Delaney's Donkey'. 'O'Rafferty's Motor Car' etc. Really extremely silly, but somehow very cheering.

O'Rafferty's Motor Car
 

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Posted by Panda (# 2951) on :
 
Almost anything by the Arrogant Worms. Especially Rippy the Gator, which is more or less a parody of many kids' counting songs. IME though, kids know this and love it anyway. When you teach it to them you just have to make sure there are no impressionable adults around though - they always get worried.
 

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Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :
 
The Comedian Harmonists' Wochenend und Sonnenschein always puts a spring in my step.
 

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