Top 10 Parody Songs That Are More Popular Than The Original

#10: “Inner City Pressure” (2007)

Flight of the Conchords

Pet Shop Boys lamented class division by playing up the very glamour they criticized. Flight of the Conchords were much more blunt about urban decay… and more charming. “Inner City Pressure” debuted on the duo’s HBO show as a tongue-in-cheek spin on the socially conscious synthpop anthem “West End Girls.” Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie tackle the mostly mundane hustles of working-class life, with a sly jab at the absurdity of addressing them with synthesizers. Whether you’re mourning or grooving to “West End Girls,” the equally catchy “Inner City Pressure” may be more accessible in its deconstruction of the system and the way artists deconstruct. It was sharp enough to get an Emmy nomination to go with Pet Shop Boys’ accolades.

#9: “Revenge” (2011)

CaptainSparklez and TryHardNinja

Within the cottage industry of songs and parodies involving the beloved video game “Minecraft,” CaptainSparklez stands out. And for many of his fans, the TryHardNinja collab “Revenge” stands out from Usher and Pitbull’s “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love.” The sexy EDM anthem somehow successfully translates into the tongue-in-cheek saga of miners’ battle with thieving creepers. The subject may be more niche, but Minecrafters fell in love so hard that “Revenge” briefly overtook the original song’s music video in YouTube viewers. It wasn’t long before the multi-platinum classic got its own revenge against the trendy parody. Still, nostalgia for “DJ Got Us Fallin’ Love” could very well be rivaled by that for CaptainSparklez.

#8: “Glitter Puke” (2010)

The Key of Awesome

The comedic YouTube channel The Key of Awesome became a sensation on spoofs of hit pop songs. Their take on Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok” is arguably their most enduring skit, or at least their most agreeable. Andrea Feczko sings and stars as a party girl who wakes up with a hangover, an intervention, and apparently no regrets. “Glitter Puke” is a scathing counter to “Tik Tok’s” controversial glamorization of debauchery. As polarizing as it also was in terms of musical quality, Feczko’s exaggerated vocals and surreal lyrics take the edge off. The Key of Awesome were the clever highlight of a contemporary trend of lipsyncing to Ke$ha’s undeniably infectious breakout. In fact, “Glitter Puke’s” uproarious satire has withstood the test of time.

#7: “Elementary School Musical” (2008)

“South Park”

Trey Parker really doesn’t mess around with original songs that are as impressive as they are irreverent. Still, “South Park’s” deconstruction of the popularity and songwriting of Disney’s “High School Musical” franchise is a favorite moment among his fans. The episode “Elementary School Musical” directly riffs on numbers from the original film, including “Stick to the Status Quo” and “We’re All in This Together.” Parker and company effectively adapt the catchiest of pop styles with only minimal embellishment of the nonsensical lyrics and adolescent melodrama. While most will inevitably outgrow “High School Musical,” that just means “South Park’s” parody gets better with age.

#6: “Dark Horse” (2014)

Bart Baker

After years of experimenting with comedy skits, Bart Baker caught his big break on YouTube with music video parodies in the mid-2010s. It sounds like he knows more about being a “dark horse” than pop megastar Katy Perry. Her 2013 Juicy J. collab of the same name, while a major commercial hit, received mixed reviews for its simplistic formula and sleazy lyrics. The music video faced even more backlash for its tasteless Ancient Egyptian and Arabic aesthetic. Baker’s cover not only directly called out all of this, but mocked the very nature of Hollywood pop videos. If “Dark Horse” wasn’t the zenith of his music parodies, many would at least consider it more endearingly self-aware than Perry.

#5: “Diner Lobster” (2018)

“Saturday Night Live”

“Saturday Night Live’s” long history of casual song parodies delivered a sleeper hit in a 2018 sketch set in a cheap Greek diner. It’s admittedly hard to not judge someone who orders seafood at that kind of establishment, but not for love of the lobsters. Hearts change when the crustaceans rise up in their own renditions of three numbers from Claude-Michel Schönberg’s “Les Misérables.” Certainly, the classic musical is full of iconic anthems. But the absurdity of the “SNL” cast’s conscious rewrites won so much fanfare that it began a recurring skit involving other musical theatre parodies. “Diner Lobster” simply stands out as a rival to a revolutionary classic of the stage.

#4: “Royal Jelly” (2007)

John C. Reilly

“Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” ingeniously spoofs Johnny Cash, though the Man in Black still outshines the film’s soundtrack. “Royal Jelly,” though, nails a less commercial shift for another folk legend. Bob Dylan’s work in the mid-1960s was a polarizing mix of Americana and avant-garde. For every track that’s now widely recognized as a masterpiece, there are some that get a little too wordy and whimsical. The albums “Bringing It All Back Home” and “Blonde on Blonde” are particularly open to parody; and you can hear that more clearly in “Royal Jelly” than the lyrics. Such hysterical self-awareness ironically made it one of the biggest songs on the soundtrack, even among Dylan enthusiasts who know how perfect John C. Reilly’s parody was.

#3: “Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces” (1973)

Cheech and Chong

Stoner comedy pioneers Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong were also leaders in novelty music in the 1970s. The closing track on the album “Los Cochinos” is notably so popular that many have forgotten it was a direct parody of a serious hit. Well, “serious” may be a flattering word for Brighter Side of Darkness’s over-the-top, mostly spoken-word soul ballad “Love Jones.” Marin goes full falsetto as young Tyrone Shoelaces expresses that kind of feverish passion to basketball. Building behind him is a choral rock crescendo that frankly puts “Love Jones” to shame. So too has the legacy of “Basketball Jones” as a slam-dunk in ‘70s novelty pop that actually kind of rocks.

#2: “White & Nerdy” (2006)

“Weird Al” Yankovic

Not even the undisputed king of parody music can reliably overshadow his inspirations. “Weird Al” Yankovic’s biggest hit for over 20 years was “Eat It,” which obviously couldn’t compete with Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.” Then he unexpectedly hit a major market when he spoofed Chamillionaire’s 2005 gem “Ridin’.” “White & Nerdy” may not have been seriously comparing one form of prejudice to another, but it resonated enough with nerd culture to go platinum. Chamillionaire himself loved the spoof so much that he personally thanked Weird Al for promoting “Ridin’” after it won a Grammy. “White & Nerdy” may still be much lower on the charts, but pop culture is at least just as conscious of it at this point.

#1: “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)” (1963)

Allan Sherman

Some music was considered too sacred to parody until Allan Sherman came along. It was one thing for “When I Was a Lad” to poke fun at the Gilbert and Sullivan light opera “H.M.S. Pinafore.” But “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” actually had the nerve to score a child’s summer camp blues with the climactic ballet sequence in Ponchielli’s “La Gioconda.” And listeners love it! Sherman’s play on the self-seriousness of opera became his biggest hit, and is even preserved in the National Recording Registry. For better or worse, it’s now hard to hear “Dance of the Hours” without thinking of “A Letter from Camp.” You won’t hear anyone complaining about yucking it up to a great parody song’s longevity.

What are your favorite spoof songs? Sing along and laugh it up in the comments below?