I’ve studied the art of songwriting for many years. Along with studying serious songwriting, I’ve also looked at the humorous side of things. About 15 or 20 years into my songwriting journey, I did some intentional lighter-fare songwriting projects.
John Prine, Randy Newman, Steve Goodman, and Shel Silverstein are a few of my favorite songwriters. They also all practiced writing songs on the lighter side. I started writing some humor and satirical songs while I was finishing up grad school in 2000/2001. Ever since, I’ve found myself returning to the form on occasion.
World events, politics, news, and awkward social situations can all lend themselves to great novelty songs. I’ve even written a couple of parodies.
In today’s heated political climate, every day brings another surprise. That’s lent itself to some great opportunities for writing tongue-in-cheek lyrics and songs.
The downside of those songs is they often have a timestamp. I write them quickly. I grow tired of them just as fast. In other words, many of these songs are a flash-in-the-pan. But it’s still fun. Here are a few of my latest:
First, a parody based on Steve Martin’s “King Tut.” This is “King Musk.”
Second, a tongue-in-cheek story about a man who retires to Mexico only to wind up living on “The Gulf of America.”
The next one is a satirical look at how the “Greenlanders” might feel about Trump’s discussions of America taking over their country.
Finally, as announced yesterday, all K-12 and higher education institutions must remove DEI language and programs or possibly lose federal funding. It looks like “DEI Is Going to Die.”
I’ll continue to write some less-serious songs as I see the opportunity. However, my primary goal as a songwriter has always been to continually improve my skillset of writing great songs with universal and timeless themes and elements.
By the way, if you haven’t yet seen that I now have YouTube channel, I do. I encourage you to subscribe. I’ll be posting new work there on a regular basis. – dse
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