Areas of Unrest

16 December 2007 - Parody and Novelty

Since I spent the day doing unexciting household chores, solving puzzles, and reading, it seems like as good an opportunity as any for the Jewish music entry I had leftover from Chanukah.

Parody and novelty songs are not, of course, exclusively Jewish. But there are a lot of Jewish ones. I was raised on Allan Sherman, for example. It wasn't until relatively recently, however, that I knew he was responsible for the joke about the naming of Van Nuys. (In short, an elderly Jewish man looked over the San Fernando Valley and proclaimed it "very nice" in a strong Yiddish accent.) A song like "Shake Hands With Your Uncle Max" may not have any specific Jewish content, but it's about a typically Jewish experience. I can't hear the line "Stein with an 'ei' and Styne with a 'y'" without thinking of my family's assortment of Lubowsky, Lubofsky, Liebow names. (And that one started out as Chlebiotsky, if Aunt Sally, who started out as Tante Zelda herself, is to be believed.)

Probably the king of specifically Jewish parody was Mickey Katz, who some people think is better known for being Joel Gray's father. In our house he was known for songs like "Borscht Riders in the Sky," "Duvid Crockett (the king of Delancey Street)," and "Purple Kishke Eater."

Robert considers novelty songs to be something else entirely, but I'm not sure I could explain what he means by the term. I can give examples, but they're not particularly Jewish. They can be sort of unlikely fusions, like "Bach Meets Cape Breton" or "Reggae Celebrates the Grateful Dead" - both of which are actual albums I own, by the way. I suppose any recording that involves animals, chain saws, or sheet music played upside down qualifies.

At any rate, the tradition goes on. It isn't particularly seasonal, but I will refer you to Barbara Sarshik who has gotten a lot of local press for her Seder songs. And then there are folks like Rechnitzer Rejects and What I Like About Jew. I could list a half dozen more at the risk of forgetting about (and, hence, offending) somebody else.

If I were clever, I'd end this by writing some parody lyrics of my own (most likely to a Gilbert and Sullivan tune). But moving ate my brain, so I'll settle for fizzling out.