Red Mosquito

I don't look for humour in music. Maybe that's why I've never found it?

Self wrote:I don't look for humour in music. Maybe that's why I've never found it?

Yeah humor in music is wildly overrated. You end up getting garbage like Randy Newman or Frank Zappa.

Warren Zevon and Elvis Costello are about the only guys I can think of to consistently pull it off. Mostly b/c it's dripping with sarcasm.

evenslow wrote:You end up getting garbage like....Frank Zappa.

Randy Newman is great. Elvis Costello loves Randy Newman, too.

Humor and wit are two things I really like in my music-- they're all over the Great American Songbook, for example, and the best of 70s punk rock and contemporary hip-hop-- but it's not necessarily what I go looking for. If an artist can balance earnestness with playfulness and wit, that's an added bonus.

theplatypus wrote:Randy Newman is great. Elvis Costello loves Randy Newman, too.

Humor and wit are two things I really like in my music-- they're all over the Great American Songbook, for example, and the best of 70s punk rock and contemporary hip-hop-- but it's not necessarily what I go looking for. If an artist can balance earnestness with playfulness and wit, that's an added bonus.

Yup

evenslow wrote:

Self wrote:I don't look for humour in music. Maybe that's why I've never found it?

Yeah humor in music is wildly overrated. You end up getting garbage like Randy Newman or Frank Zappa.

Warren Zevon and Elvis Costello are about the only guys I can think of to consistently pull it off. Mostly b/c it's dripping with sarcasm.

They Might Be Giants are experts at it. But then again, they're not really trying to be earnest. But they do tackle serious, thought-provoking material as well ("Your Racist Friend," for example).

Everywhere the violence
Parallel lines
Talking in tangents

Give me my reruns

It makes no matter
Blood color chatter
You’re not immune
So just tune in!

Give me my reruns
Revolution Reruns!

A twisted Technicolor
Backdrop dream
Left behind
Someone’s scream
It’s déjà vu

It's nothing new!

Give me my reruns
Revolution Reruns! (x3)

(outro)

what's this now?

I wanna go
I wanna swim
I wanna use my fins

dan bern can be laugh out loud funny in his songs, but he's really the only one out of people I listen to.

Kevin Davis wrote:I wanna go
I wanna swim
I wanna use my fins

Thank you, for the lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng way home.

I'm betting Foliage is Stone's follow up to Salmon Song. Wanna use my leeeaaavveesss.

stip wrote:dan bern can be laugh out loud funny in his songs, but he's really the only one out of people I listen to.

Did you stop listening to Tom Waits?

cutuphalfdead wrote:

Kevin Davis wrote:I wanna go
I wanna swim
I wanna use my fins

Thank you, for the lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng way home.

That might be my favorite moment on the album.

Kevin Davis wrote:

stip wrote:dan bern can be laugh out loud funny in his songs, but he's really the only one out of people I listen to.

Did you stop listening to Tom Waits?

right. And tom waits

Kevin Davis wrote:

cutuphalfdead wrote:

Kevin Davis wrote:I wanna go
I wanna swim
I wanna use my fins

Thank you, for the lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng way home.

That might be my favorite moment on the album.

Mine too.

theplatypus wrote:Randy Newman is great. Elvis Costello loves Randy Newman, too.

Humor and wit are two things I really like in my music-- they're all over the Great American Songbook, for example, and the best of 70s punk rock and contemporary hip-hop-- but it's not necessarily what I go looking for. If an artist can balance earnestness with playfulness and wit, that's an added bonus.

Humor can be great, but I've always found it to only be effective if it's a secondary characteristic of a song. If the main point of the song is to be funny, I find it to usually be insufferable. But LCD Soundsystem, Prince, Nirvana...artists like that have great songs that have legitimately funny lines buried in them. I can't really think of a Pearl Jam song with a legitimately funny line in it. There are clever lines (like the "Ben" stuff at the end of Rats), but nothing that makes me smirk or smile when it comes on. Not that that's a bad thing. I don't think the strength of their catalog is any weaker for it.