Top 10 Music Parodies Of The Last Decade
Mar 22A musical parody is a spoof of a song that is intended to be funny. The main ‘rule’ is that the song must be unique. It dates back to the 14th century and encompasses everything from church to opera to pop music. A successful single usually has a lot of parody versions, and the quantity of them is almost a measure of its success. We are more conscious of what is genuinely wrong with these songs, some of which we like, and this isn’t to imply that they are all horrible, owing to these mocking renditions.
Ten Music Parodies To Listen To
1. Call Me Maybe
By Carly Rae Jepson redid by The Key of Awesome. The original song’s harmless banality is twisted into a cynical monster in the guise of an obsessed insane female clinging to a one-night encounter, almost slicing him to pieces.
- Original – https://youtu.be/fWNaR-rxAic
- Parody – https://youtu.be/iTthJI0rDnk
2. I Want It That Way
Backstreet Boys’ I Want It That Way’s true meaning is revealed in a tongue-in-cheek parodic version by “Weird Al” Yankovic, from ridiculous lyrics shouted while dancing at an airport to tons of garbage acquired on Ebay. Thank you for bringing this song up in a different context, Al; it allows for forgiveness.
- Original – https://youtu.be/4fndeDfaWCg
- Parody – https://youtu.be/YKtlK7sn0JQ
3. Bohemian Rhapsody
The royal genius of Bohemian Rhapsody is attempted in a Muppets cover. The range of Queens’ performances ensures that there is lots of room to experiment vocally and theatrically. It seems to work for the Muppets as well.
- Original – https://youtu.be/fJ9rUzIMcZQ
- Parody – https://youtu.be/tgbNymZ7vqY
4. Gangnam Style
With Gangnam Style by PSY already being a parody in its own right, the extended silence version by Mikolaj Gackowski excellently complements the successful original piece.
- Original – https://youtu.be/CH1XGdu-hzQ
- Parody – https://youtu.be/f6ZSZbNfSpk
5. Riding
“Weird Al” Yankovic, the king of music parodies, is at it again. Even if you don’t know the original, his rendition of Riding, ‘White & Nerdy,’ is excellent music.
- Original – https://youtu.be/f6ZSZbNfSpk
- Parody – https://youtu.be/N9qYF9DZPdw
6. Wide Awake
Searching the labyrinth for the odd strawberry, aware or not, Katy Perry from Wide Awake made it into CollegeHumor’s video ‘I’m Not Awake’ which, so vividly, brings about the obnoxious and shallow metaphors of the perfectly rhymed song.
- Original – https://youtu.be/k0BWlvnBmIE
- Parody – https://youtu.be/69ewVbNIvvI
7. Booty
If you’re wondering if Jennifer Lopez’s Booty could get much sleazier, the answer is yes, and it’s all thanks to Bart Baker. This movie included booties and anything else that rhymed with it along the alphabet. In this Booty spoof, Lopez’s morals, as well as other aspects of her, are called into question.
- Original – https://youtu.be/nxtIRArhVD4
- Parody – https://youtu.be/dmiMkwZD5rM
8. Blurred Lines
The Blurred Lines parody is another lovely take on a tacky and somewhat lame performance (albeit it does have a super-catchy melody and hyper-styled models-like individuals) from Bart Baker. He did a wonderful job choosing this eventually appealing, catchy video in which it’s not always apparent whether it’s as offensive as it appears, blurred borders indeed.
- Original – https://youtu.be/yyDUC1LUXSU
- Parody – https://youtu.be/J3twwafch4g
9. Hair
Bart Baker, again, in offensive mode (how else) parody on Little Mix’s Hair ft. Sean Paul. Stroking, trimming, cutting, fluffing it in shallow water. Some say it is better than the original act.
- Original – https://youtu.be/kgUpRwMeRr4
- Parody – https://youtu.be/B1io52dNmmY
10. Ironic
And ‘It’s Finally Ironic’ as opposed to the not so much Ironic version by Alanis Morissette, a well deserving classic
status single. And while we, perhaps, shall never know whether Alanis has actually meant to have it that way (being quite the genius), we can still enjoy the joke opportunity brought to us in this low-budget, sharp lyric and a tad off-key production by Rachael Hurwitz.
- Original – https://youtu.be/Jne9t8sHpUc
- Parody – https://youtu.be/32LCwZFoKio