Parodied these, not those

You are much more likely to take fodder than to be given it.

This page gives examples of songs I picked and songs I passed on, divided into sections that contain pairs of one of each. Since the pick and the pass appear some distance apart, they are coded by color and font (e.g. underlined and green or bold and red) to make it easy to see which two songs I am comparing. (In the Green Day section, for instance, I compare and contrast Junkies on a High and Christian’s Inferno, so both are written in the same color and font.)

Please note that it is up to you to decide if you should take my advice or not. Depending on what you want to write a parody about, you may find that you are actually better served by the song on the Not those half of a section. However, I did try to limit the examples to swaps most parodists would probably agree with me on.

A quick review of the factors

• Long words with three or more syllables are associated with difficulty for parodies, partly because they are harder to rhyme but also because they tend to have more specific meanings and therefore make the song less flexible.
• Anything that makes the song less flexible is considered a complication. For example, words and phrases that did not exist until modern times are a problem for parodists writing stories that take place in old fashioned settings, such as myself.
• It is important that the song has a good number of different lines in it, and gives enough details that you can tell what it is about. It will not have the room or the inspiration, respectively, to tell a story otherwise.
• However, as long as the song passes these tests, the more it leaves to the imagination, the better. A song in which you watch a breakup as it happens, and do not know anything about what the characters look like, has a much better chance of aligning with an existing story than a song about a guy’s blue-eyed former girlfriend being engaged to his best friend.

Love songs

Parodied these

The Light of Love, by Rick Springfield

A basic song, easy to come up with rhymes for.

Lady, by Styx

Most anyone who really loves a lady could be singing this.

Not those

Sussudio, by Phil Collins

This is one of the biggest difficulties Phil Collins imposes on parodists, and the title speaks for itself on the matter.

Let’s Go, by The Cars

We have to know that his girlfriend will not give up, is exactly seventeen, is described as a frozen fire, likes night life, never likes to choose. . . Come to think of it, nearly every line in the song established a rather specific detail about her.

Bad/troubled/former relationships

Parodied these

Someone Tonight, by REO Speedwagon

Admitting that he will leave and never write, he does not make a very good case for himself. But lots of relationships could devolve into something like that.

I Wish It Would Rain Down, by Phil Collins

In Your Letter, by REO Speedwagon

A bad relationship that leaves things reasonably open.

Not those

Jessie’s Girl, by Rick Springfield

All too specific, as the woman he loves is engaging with his friend - a named friend at that.

“Tide is High,” by Blondie

Not enough words to tell a story.

My Best Friend’s Girl, by The Cars

This song is where I got the blue-eyed former girlfriend engaged to his best friend example given in the list of factors earlier on this page.

Mundane things/non-romantic feelings

Parodied these

Boulevard of Broken Dreams, by Green Day

The road can be anywhere in the world you want it to be.

Blazin’ Your Own Trail Again, by REO Speedwagon

This could be telling any character imaginable to cheer up.

Not those

Stuart and the Ave, by Green Day

The use of the phrase seasons change forces the song to take place in a temperate region.

Good Times Roll, by The Cars

The use of the phrase “rock and roll” makes this one much less ambiguous.

Miscellaneous Green Day songs

Parodied these

Junkies on a High, from the album Father of All. . .

There are difficult spots, but most of it is simple lines like “As we watch the world burn.”

Not those

Christian’s Inferno, from the album 21st Century Breakdown

Try to come up with a rhyme for that title, then deal with diabolic, catastrophic, chemical reaction, and reservoir all in one verse? No thanks.

See also

Top Red Herrings: What I consider to be some of the worst obvious choices I could have made.