How to Write a Funny Song

I’ve written songs for more than thirty years and the most fun I have had is writing comedy. After living in Nashville a while, I had gotten to know many famous and not so famous writers. My favorite writer is Bobby Braddock. I got to know Bobby and listened to his album, “Hard Pore Cornogaphy.” He was definitely a major inspiration for me to write funny songs.

I would write a few songs, give Bobby a tape and he would call me from his cell phone, usually laughing. He would make suggestions and I would listen because Bobby had many hits under his belt. He was my mentor and my friend. I can pass on his wisdom and my experience to you.

I started out by making a parody of a hit song that was presently on the top forty charts. I changed the song, “Friends in Low Places” to, “Friends in Crawl Spaces.” Writing a parody of a popular song is the best practice technique you can do. Simply listen to the song and insert your own funny words into it. You can take a serious love song and make it hilarious by twisting the meaning.

I took a serious love song of my own and turned it into the funny song below:

I love you, I need you

To warm up the beans we had last night

Is there cornbread left, I love Martha White

Where is my plate with Mickey Mouse ears

Oh by the way, we are out of beer

I love you, I need you

To go to the store and get a six pack

Oh before you go, would you rub my back

It’s freezing outside, you can wear my coat

Could you help me find that stupid remote

I love you, I need you

To stop and get gas, the gauge is on E

Don’t drive it fast, the brakes are lousy

You’d better go now, the weather man said

They lost a snow plow and 14 are dead

I love you, I need you

To hurry home darling

The song above has gotten many, many laughs. It is as simple as taking a serious subject and making it ridiculous. You need to make laugh breaks in your song so the listener isn’t laughing over your next lines. Try to save your funniest lines for the end of the song.

You don’t have to rhyme words in a funny song. From my experience, rhyming makes the song easier to listen to. People tend to remember rhymes and rhyming makes it much easier for them to sing along.

You can start a comedy song with a simple idea. A good comedy songwriter can make something as simple as making toast, very funny. People need to understand what you are saying and it must be relevant to them. A song about Cryogenics can be funny but many people may not even know what it means.

Make sure your song has good structure and timing. If you have to stumble over words or jam too many words in a line, it tends to kill the effect. A comedy song rarely needs a lot of production. Many professional comedians record and release their songs with just a guitar and vocal.

A great comedy song needs to make you laugh and still laugh after you have heard it many times. It is most important that you have fun while you’re writing. Fun is the first part of funny.

Source by Tom Cornett

How to Write a Funny Song