Laura Mooney
Arts Editor

hat does the fox say? This

question has been on
everybody's minds now for nearly a
month, and it is all thanks to one single
parody video from two Norwegian
talk show hosts and comedy duo,
called Ylvis, who had originally created
their now infamous video “The Fox" as
a joke for a television show. The song
has reached over 100 million views on
Youlube, and is a great example of just
how much parody music has advanced
over the years and expanded into a
genre of its own. It has even begun
to spawn its own sub-genres, with
ditferent types of parodies now
surfacing and some even holding their
own on the music charts against some
of today’s top pop artists. We can
begin to explore the parody genre by
looking at some of the best from those
specific subgenres, and the genius
behind some of the strangest, and yet
catchiest, parody songs.

Parodies of a Specific Song: This is
the genre that most often comes

to mind when one thinks of parody
videos. It essentially consists of the
artist taking a popular song, keeping
the music but changing the lyrics

into something humorous. The most
well-known artist who creates this
kind of parody is Weird Al Yankovic,
who has been doing parody videos
since the early 1980s. Some of his
most famous parody songs include
“Amish Paradise,” which pokes fun at
Coolio's “Gangster's Paradise;” and
the slightly more recent “White and
Nerdy,’ which is a play on ‘Ridin’
Dirty” by Chamillionaire. This type of
parody is also very popular with the
Youlube community, with Youlubers
writing their own creative parodies of
popular songs and posting it on their
channels. Many of these videos, like
Ylvis “The Fox,” go viral, making them
more popular than some of the songs
you would only hear on the radio. One
great example of a Youluber making

13

Musical Comedy: Genres of the Music Parody

an online career from

parodying pop songs
is Shane Dawson.

Dawson's unique
sense of humour
combined with his

affinity for using gross out visuals, have
made his parody videos extremely
popular over the years, with most of
his videos bringing in upwards of five
to ten million views each. Some of his
more memorable parodies include a
spoot of Taylor Swift's “We Are Never
Getting Back Together,” and most
recently “Wrecking Ball” by Miley
Gyrus. While his parodies are not often

for the faint of heart, Shane shows true

genius with lyrics, much like Weird Al,
and a love for the parody genre.

Comedy Songs: The songs from this
subgenre are the ones most likely to

make it on the Top 40 and be up there

with some of the most popular artists
of the year. These artists create their
own original music and combine it with
a humorous topic, in order to make it
a song that is both fun to listen to and
will make you laugh at the same time.
One of the most well-known groups
who specifically write these comedy
songs is The Lonely Island which is
comprised of members Akiva Schaffer,
Jorma Taccone, and Andy Samberg;
all three were involved with Saturday
Night Live before leaving to pursue
their comedy group full time. The group
is known for their funny, and often
raunchy, videos dealing with a variety
of subject matter from the mocking of
a popular pirate in “Jack Sparrow,” to
giving a questionable Christmas gift

to your significant other in the now
infamous “Dick in a Box.’ The group
also often teams up with well-known
pop artists such as Akon, and Lady
Gaga, making their music seem even
more legitimate and allowing one to
forget they are listening to a parody.
The main difference with this genre is
that the songs being written by groups

such as The Lonely Island, are not

directly poking fun at a specific song,
but instead are more similar to going
to a comedy club, and simply having
the comedy act sung to you. This may
be why this particular subgenre, and
specifically The Lonely Island, has
really taken off and become a part

of everyday music over the past few
years. The joy of being able to listen to
original music and original comedy at
the same time was not really something
ever done in the past, even by those
artists who would directly spoof songs.
Maybe it is that originality that allows
for this subgenre fo survive amongst
the competing pop artists.

Parody of a Genre: The final sub-genre
of musical parodies is those groups
that parody an entire genre of music.
These bands make fun of a specific
type of music, including the sound, the
mannerisms and stereotypes of the
people in the bands, and even the fans
that listen to the music. Most of these
bands are found in movies or television
shows, but the main thing that makes
them stand out from any other musical
parodies, is the fact that the music

is actually good. Some of the best
examples of this type of parody are the
groups Spinal Tap and Dethklok. Spinal
Tap is a parody band from the 1984
film This is Spinal Tap, which makes fun
of the popular 80s metal bands of the
time. Although the film itself mocks the
attitudes of the band, often showing
them as egotistical, misogynistic,

and at times just dumb, the music

they made for the soundtrack was
amazingly good and was on the

same level as the bands they were
making fun of in the first place. One

other example of a genre parody is
the band Dethklok from the animated
television show Metalocalypse. The
show is based around a death metal
band as they deal with the trials and
troubles normally assumed to plague
any metal band, such as dealing with
their overwhelming popularity, handling
endorsements, going grocery shopping,
and having parents visit your immense
castle. Okay so maybe not all metal
bands deal with those issues, but that
is all part of parodying the genre.

It places seemingly tough as nails

guys in situations that are incredibly
ordinary, and it takes the entire

death metal genre down a few pegs.
Besides the laugh out loud comedy
that comes with Metalocalypse, the
music produced by the fictional band
Dethklok is fantastic. For any lover

of the death metal genre, Dethklok’s
music is just as good as any of the real
death metal bands out there today,
perhaps even better because you get
to watch a cartoon while listening to it.

Each of these subgenres contributed
to the music parody genre in their own
specific way, with each band bringing
their own comedic uniqueness and
originality. Although many of them

are still only popular on the Internet,
some have had the good fortune and
talent to make it in the music industry
and have shed light on music parodies
as a legitimate music genre that is as
good as any other. With that special
talent one can only hope that the
music parody sticks around for years to
come, and we will keep being asked
questions as crazy as “what does the
fox say?”