GOOD funny songs

[Retinend]

Post songs which are both funny and substantial (i.e. not novelty singles).

Mine is probably the most obvious choice you could make, so I'll get it out of the way in the OP: Randy Newman.

[youtube=425,350]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1NvgLkuEtkA[/youtube]

[youtube=425,350]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TMAmCNRwyw4[/youtube]

[youtube=425,350]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PGO42gvCSPI[/youtube]

I find it difficult to really like a song which is deliberately funny; I usually see any kind of clear lyrical humour as being a separate, competing agenda to the music itself (I know this doesn't make much sense). For example, Alice's Restaurant to me is an amusing musical story, rather than a good song with funny lyrics (though I do love that guitar picking). For Randy, however, I make an exception. The man's a superb musician and for me his work does the rare job of making comedy and music work together. 'Short People', for example, works on 3 whole levels, like a kind of three-levelled car park. First you've got that simple but wonderful 4/4 solo piano part, then you've got the hilarious absurd imagery of the lyrics just at face value ("platform shoes on their nasty lil' feet", "you've got to pick them up just to say hello", "little cars that go beep-beep-beep... little voices goin' peep-peep-peep") and then a thin layer of ironical satire on top. I don't want to use the word 'underrated' because he's not, but it's a shame I always have to introduce him with "you know Toy Story?...".

[Don_Preston]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=huazqHdbgts

The subtle irony of the song was lost when those idiots at G3 decided to perform it together.

[Gradual Decline]

Lard - 70's Rock Must Die

[youtube=425,350]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3_0ZipyHVcA[/youtube]

[Danger Man]

[youtube=425,350]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3f72CTDe4-0[/youtube]

""Another big news story of the year (1965) concerned the Ecumenical Council in Rome, known as Vatican II. Among the things they did, in an attempt to make the church more commercial, was to introduce the vernacular into portions of the mass to replace Latin, and to widen somewhat the range of music permissible in the liturgy. But I feel that if they really want to sell the product in this secular age, what they ought to do is to re-do some of the liturgical music in popular song forms. I have a modest example here. It's called The Vatican Rag...

[Kishi the Bad Lampshade]

Ah, you beat me to posting Lehrer! I like the Masochism Tango myself - a good catchy tune and lyrics that are funny, but not so extreme as to distract.

[youtube=425,350]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TytGOeiW0aE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TytGOeiW0aE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/youtube]

[alan nagsworth]

Everything by Dead Kennedys ever. (Well, not quite; Bedtime For Democracy was a bit gash but the rest is superb.)