8 Funny Songs for Teens and Adults
Whether you are a music therapist working with a teen or adult client or just someone who likes finding fun new music, sometimes you need to lighten the mood and children’s music isn’t going to cut it. (You can only listen to Disney songs so many times before “You’re Welcome” becomes “No Thank You.”) To help with this, I’ve compiled a brief list of lesser-known songs that utilize light-hearted humor. Some are witty and clever, whereas some are just a little too ridiculous to not crack a smile.
If I Had $1,000,000 Dollars - Barenaked Ladies
The best way to describe this song is cute. The song spends most of its time listing all the things the singers would buy if they had- you guess it- $1,000,000. Some of the items on their wish list are pretty normal (a car, a house, the occasional exotic pet,) while others delve into the absurd; a not-real green dress, a tree house with pre-wrapped sausages, Art Garfunkel. The song has some witty wordplay, and a few unexpected jokes that you can’t help but smile at. It’s hard not to be in a good mood when listening to this song.
Sliver - Nirvana
Of all of Nirvana’s discography, this song is one that often flies under the radar. The song is from the perspective of a young child whose parents have dropped him off at his grandparents’ house for the evening. He speaks on the struggles he faces while spending time at his grandparents’ house, such as stubbing his toe and not liking his dinner, in the usual angsty Nirvana style.
She Don’t Use Jelly - The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips juxtapose a retrospective sound with three borderline preposterous parables in this ode to using items far outside of their intended purpose. You can’t help but smile at the sheer silliness of the mental image of one trying to dye their hair with tangerines. To make matters even better, the three-word chorus is extremely catchy.
Peaches - The Presidents of the United States of America
From the moment the lead guitar comes in, it is very hard to take this song seriously- and the band knows that. The over-the-top love-letter to this simple fruit is played straight to the point that it enters into campy territory, which is what makes it so great. The song continues to ramp up in intensity into the bridge, at which point you might find yourself unironically rocking out despite the nonsensical nature of the song.
Vowels - Capital Cities
Maybe the slickest sounding song on this list, Capital Cities invents a whole chorus based only on vowels. It’s a pretty creative move, and also creates an extremely memorable chorus. Even though the concept of a vowel-only chorus is pretty silly on paper when not done for the sake of camp, the musical choices the song takes make it surprisingly cool.
One Week - Barenaked Ladies
I know, another Barenaked Ladies song. While they do actually have serious songs, this is not one of them. This is a song about a couple who has had an argument, but only in the chorus is this apparent or even relevant. The “verses” of the song feature clever, fast-paced wordplay. Seriously, there are so many words to this song. The verses tend to slide all over the place with each line talking about a totally different topic than the previous line, and that’s what make this song so great. The chorus complements this perfectly as it slows down and actually sticks to one subject matter, making for one extremely catchy song.
Volcano Man - Molly Sandén & Will Ferrell
This song is not for everyone. Born from the Netflix movie, “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,” it perfectly encapsulates the sound associated with the real “Eurovision Song Contest.” However, it is from a Will Ferrell movie. This alone should be enough to know that this song plays all absurdity with over-the-top seriousness. This song is about, well, a volcano man. It’s short, quick, and to the point.
Music is Everywhere - Jake Gyllenhaal, John Mulaney, and The Sack Lunch Bunch
If one were to use all the songs on this list in a music therapy session, this one would be the hardest to adapt. But, it also holds the most possibilities for application to a therapeutic setting as it’s an exploration- albeit a ridiculous one- of the sounds that create music. This song also comes from a Netflix special, so it might be the least well-known song on the list. John Mulaney and Jake Gyllenhaal created a dynamically and boldly absurd and chaotic piece of art with this song. The chorus is so catchy that with just one listen you will likely catch yourself singing “music here, music there, music music everywhere” long after the song is over.