Tips on how to make great/funny song parodies?

Question

I already know the song has to be sort of familiar, otherwise you might lose your audience... but key components? Anyone been writing 'em awhile and could possibly give me a few pointers? If you do, there's a rabbit in it for you. Srsly.

Answer 1

Ive done some.

Yes the song needs to be familiar. Search on the web for sites about "songs that stick in your head" or "old familiar tunes" or any music from any era where they refer to it as classic. For example classic rock and roll, or classic pop.

The subject needs to be VERY different. It doesnt do much to take a love song and parody it into a different love song. And complete reversals dont go over all that well either (turning a love song into a hate song). So its more like a 90 degree turn. Something which has nothing to do with the original song at all seems to go over the best.

The hardest part is that a good parody tends to involve good comedy. Learning how to know what is or isnt funny is something there are universities teaching (seriously). Everyone has their own methods but for me the easiest thing is this....
A) choose a subject that you know well enough to be able to tell funny stories about it that make people laugh.
B) carry it around in your head and whenever you hear a tune that is very familiar to you then take a few seconds to try and fit that subject into the chorus. If the subject is "the internet lied" then try "internet lies" or "internet lied to me". If somehow the syllables can fit easily and clearly into the chorus without a stretch then you are on a roll. Then its worth working on the verses.

Added Note:
Do a search here on parodies. The subject has come up before. Not so much on how to do it but on people asking for more examples on the music. There are enough variations in the answers to keep you bust for days listening to the suggestions.

Answer 2

get your hands on works done by "Weird Al" Yankovic, king of the rock/pop parodies and Cletus T. Judd, prince of the country music parodies. Both take modern hits and rework them into funny pieces. Here is a hint think like a 12 year old boy, juvenile.

Answer 3

What I would do is to think of what you want to say like what you want the song to be about then what you do is try to make it flow to a song you know.

Answer 4

Keep em guessing.