23 Funny Songs That Will Make You Laugh Out Loud
Updated: Apr. 28, 2023
In need of a few laughs? Then check out these tunes that'll tickle your funny bone—and make you want to dance at the same time!
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A great song can make you cry—and sometimes, those are tears of laughter. No, really: Funny songs, along with funny song lyrics, are a time-honored tradition that dates way back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who often used lewd jokes in their music. And one of the first comedic pop hits, “Yes, We Have No Bananas,” turns 100 this year.
But sure, these days it feels like kids get all the funny songs, with the ubiquitous “Baby Shark” taking over the speakers at birthday parties. But “Baby Shark” singers Pinkfong and children’s performer Blippi don’t have a monopoly on modern musical humor. That’s right, there are plenty of hilarious songs that are just for the grown-ups—and even a few kids performers whose jokes transcend age. So if you’re in the mood for a few laughs, you can watch funny movies, binge-watch a comedy series, turn your living room into a performance space with some at-home karaoke or check out our Spotify playlist of songs that are sure to make you laugh—and maybe bust a move or two while busting your gut.
“Yes, We Have No Bananas” by Louis Prima
Funny lyric: “We have an old fashioned to-mah-to / A Long Island po-tah-to / But yes, we have no bananas”
Songwriter Frank Silver was inspired to write this novelty ditty by a Greek shopkeeper on Long Island, who answered every question with “Yes.” When the Panama disease impacted banana availability around the world, the shopkeeper would cheerfully say “Yes, we have no bananas” when asked if he carried the fruit. The silly tune ended up becoming one of the bestselling sheet music songs of all time, being re-recorded by multiple artists (although Louis Prima’s is arguably the most famous), and even landed in a Fig Newtons commercial in 1987. The track was famously sung by Belfast’s Protestants and Catholics, who united to protest unemployment and hunger in 1932, as it was one of the few nonreligious songs everyone knew the lyrics to.
“Peaches” by Jack Black
Funny lyric: “Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches”
The always hilarious Jack Black voiced Bowser, a giant, evil turtle-like creature who is the leader of the army of Koopas, in this spring’s hit film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, based on the iconic Nintendo game, which will particularly delight fans of ’80s cartoons. And while the lyrics of this hit power ballad may not be the most, uh, romantic, it’s Black’s passionate, no-holds-barred delivery that is winning over fans, if not Princess Peach, Bowser’s would-be paramour. The earworm cracked the Billboard Top 100 in April, a first for Black as a solo performer. Interestingly, Bowser/Black wasn’t originally scheduled to sing in the movie, but the producers approached the actor midway through filming with the idea and the start of a song, and the comedian-musician ran with it. “I’m really stoked for people to see this new sensitive side of Bowser,” Black told IGN in an interview.
“I Wish” by Skee-Lo
Funny lyric: “I wish I had a brand-new car so far / I got this hatchback / And everywhere I go, yo, I gets laughed at”
When gangsta rap was reigning over the airwaves in 1995—and funny rap songs were largely unheard of—Chicago rapper Skee-Lo came through with this clever, chuckle-along pop-rap song all about his self-professed shortcomings. And yes, he was short, but he also had a crummy Ford Pinto with a hatchback and an 8-track—all of which caused him to have a lackluster love life. While his romantic game might have suffered, his career didn’t: Skee-Lo earned two Grammy nominations for the track, which hit No. 13 on Billboard‘s Hot 100.
“Raining Tacos” by Parry Gripp
Funny lyric: “Just open your mouth and close your eyes / It’s raining tacos”
Nineties kids will remember Parry Gripp from the band Nerf Herder—they recorded the theme to Buffy the Vampire Slayer—but these days Gripp is the go-to creator of quality music for kids. You name it, he’s written music for it: Storybots, Emily’s Wonder Lab and Ben 10, to name a few. He’s also a prolific performer in his own right, penning catchy ditties about animals and memes—and creating the Raining Tacos Saga. The first song, “Raining Tacos,” kicks off the tale about a delicious weather phenomenon, but follow-up “Hailing Taquitos” takes a humorously darker turn, pondering “Is it a nightmare or is it a dream?” since the taquitos sort of hurt when they rain down. The saga continues with TacoBots and Tortilla Avalanches, and Gripp promises it will conclude with nine songs by the end of the year.
“Cheese Tax” by Puppy Songs
Funny lyric: “Hand it over quick or things might get ugly / I can get really loud, I’m a really barky puppy”
If you aren’t following Puppy Songs on TikTok, you’re missing out. The channel, created by Matt Hobbs as an ode to his wife and their two dogs, Leni and Mar Pup, features Hobbs singing creative little ditties about dog life, including “Big Stretch,” “Waiting for Mom to Come Home” and “Cheese Tax.” All the songs will ring true to dog owners and lovers everywhere, and they’re guaranteed to get stuck in your head. Hobbs started producing the videos during the pandemic, and they went viral from there. “I wanted a mega dose of things that make me feel happy—fun songs and dogs—so I decided to start making Puppy Songs to fill that need for me,” he says on his website.
“All I Eat Is Pizza” by Koo Koo Kanga Roo
Funny lyric: “My wife is going into labor! / I said every day is pizza time!”
Minneapolis-based duo Koo Koo Kanga Roo has a robust catalog full of dance-along (and laugh-along!) music. After all, it’s what’s made them a hit with kids and elementary school teachers alike. And while the nonsensical “Pop See Ko” might be their best-known song, you can’t deny the catchy appeal of their 2014 track “All I Eat Is Pizza.” It’s a tribute to the gooey, cheesy meal that’s basically a food group for kids (and, ahem, some adults—hey, don’t judge!). Try not to sing along to “I’ve got cheeeeeese on my fingers … all the time.”
“Friday” by Rebecca Black
Funny lyric: “Tomorrow is Saturday / And Sunday comes after … wards”
When then-13-year-old Rebecca Black’s parents bought her the chance to sing an original song (with an accompanying video) from vanity studio Ark Music, they had no idea the song would become a massive viral sensation. The 2011 track caught fire online, making Black infamous overnight and launching thousands of memes—and questions: Why is a 13-year-old driving a convertible? Why is she singing about which seat she will take? Who is that random older man rapping? Not all the commentary was negative though: Miley Cyrus praised Black as “great” and said she was a fan. And you can’t deny the catchiness of the song or the sheer ridiculousness of the lyrics. Just try not to sing along passionately as you recount the days of the week or ponder “Which seat will I take?”
“Eat It” by “Weird Al” Yankovic
Funny lyric: “Have some more yogurt / have some more Spam / It doesn’t matter if it’s fresh or canned / Just eat it”
There are a lot of “Weird Al” Yankovic songs that could make this list: “Amish Paradise” (a spoof of Coolio’s “Gangsta Paradise”), “Smells Like Nirvana” (a “Smells Like Teen Spirit” parody, which Kurt Cobain reportedly loved) or any of Yankovic’s original polka songs. But if you’re looking for a surefire way to get the giggles, you can’t go wrong with one of Yankovic’s earliest hits, the 1984 single “Eat It.” A satire of Michael Jackson’s smash “Beat It,” Yankovic’s version came with a video that was a shot-by-shot remake of the original video, but lyrically was from the point of view of a parent trying to get a finicky kid to eat their meal. The song hit No. 12 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 singles chart—and earned the singer a Grammy for Best Comedy Recording, his first of five.
“Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley
Funny lyric: “We’re no strangers to love”
Okay, you’ve got us: There’s nothing inherently funny about the lyrics to Rick Astley’s debut single, which topped charts worldwide when it was released in 1987. The jokes came long after Astley danced in a long beige coat and sang about enduring love. Specifically, 20 years after. In 2007, the concept of “rickrolling” was born on some Internet message boards—pretending to link to an article or photo, but instead sending people to Astley’s video for “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Thanks to rickrolling, the video has been viewed more than 1.3 billion times on YouTube, and Astley enjoyed a career resurgence, performing at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and embarking on a nostalgic tour last year with New Kids on the Block, Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue. And now Astley has the honor of inciting chuckles—and cheers!—the moment his song hits speakers.
“I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred
Funny lyric: “I’m too sexy for my shirt / Too sexy for my shirt / So sexy it hurts”
Topping the list of funny karaoke songs is this cheeky classic. Sing it with us: “I’m”—deliberate pause—”too sexy.” What started as a roast of egocentric male bodybuilders posing in the gym mirror has endured as a danceable, quotable song that’s been featured on The Simpsons and in numerous commercials for brands including Toyota and Kroger. Brothers Richard and Fred Fairbrass were inspired to write the song when running a London gym, way back when they were session musicians and played in a band that opened for New Wave icons Joy Division. But the campiness of “I’m Too Sexy” couldn’t be denied; it was better suited to a dance track, and the bop-along pop version topped the charts in the U.S. and the U.K. in 1991.
“What Does the Fox Say?” by Ylvis
Funny lyric: “Like an angel in disguise / But if you meet a friendly horse / Will you communicate by Morse?”
Everyone knows what sound a cat makes. Everyone knows what sound a cow makes. But what does a fox say? That’s the question posed by the comedy duo Ylvis in “What Does the Fox Say?” Think of Ylvis like the Norwegian version of Andy Samberg’s Lonely Island; “What Does the Fox Say?” was actually first featured on Ylvis’s variety show, I kveld med Ylvis, in their native Norway. The 2013 novelty track cracked Billboard‘s Top 10, and the accompanying video is a splashy, pitch-perfect send-up of overly serious EDM ones—so perfect, it passed the 1-billion-views mark on YouTube as viewers sang and laughed along, wondering if the fox says “tchoff-tchoff” or “jacha-chacha.” (For the record, the fox has a raspy shriek.)
“Boots and Cats” by Boots and Cats
Funny lyric: “I got this boot, this boot, this boot boot boot / I got this cat, this cat, this cat cat cat / I put the boots on the cat”
Back in 2016, a hidden talent of Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, went viral when it was discovered that she can “beatbox” simply by repeating the phrase “boots and cats”—which is actually an old hack real beatboxers employ to start honing their skills. Turns out, “Boots and Cats” also makes for a pretty hilarious visual, as children’s music performers Boots and Cats discovered with their most popular song, which happily chants about putting boots on a cat—before gleefully meowing a chorus, all over a relentless EDM beat.
“The Purple People Eater” by Sheb Wooley
Funny lyric: “But that’s not the reason that I came to land / I wanna get a job in a rock-and-roll band”
The ’50s and ’60s sure were a fun time in American pop music, because that’s when funny novelty tracks like this perennial Halloween favorite first topped the charts. And “The Purple People Eater” really does have everything: References to Little Richard’s “wop bop a loo bop” and the earlier hit “Short Shorts”? Yep. A cleverly named monster that doesn’t eat people—only purple people? Sure thing. A surprise ending where the monster joins a rock band? You got it. And if the Purple People Eater in question sounds an awful lot like he’s in Alvin & the Chipmunks, it’s because singer Sheb Wooley used the same technique—speeding up the recording—that Alvin’s creator David Seville used on his earlier hit “Witch Doctor.”
“Lazy Sunday” by The Lonely Island
Funny lyric: “Reach in my pocket, pull out some dough / Girl acted like she’d never seen a ten before / It’s all about the Hamiltons, baby”
The Lonely Island—Andy Samberg’s comedy troupe with Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone—have a robust list of funny songs, but it’s “Lazy Sunday” that’s credited with making YouTube a household name in 2005. When the video of Samberg and fellow Saturday Night Live star Chris Parnell rapping about relatively tame activities, like seeing a matinee of The Chronicles of Narnia and getting cupcakes, was shown on SNL, bootleg clips went viral on the then-unknown video sharing site. The result: Links to “Lazy Sunday” were shared fast and furiously over email and AOL Instant Messenger as co-workers and college kids alike laughed at the comedy duo mean-mugging for the camera as they strutted through the streets of NYC on their way to sneak snacks into a movie theater.
“One Week” by Barenaked Ladies
Funny lyric: “Like Harrison Ford, I’m getting frantic / Like Sting, I’m tantric / Like Snickers, guaranteed to satisfy”
Canadian pop-rockers Barenaked Ladies had a handful of songs break through the tough-to-crack American market, like “If I Had $10000000,” “It’s All Been Done” and “Pinch Me.” Still, none has reached the heights of their 1998 smash “One Week” (which spent—you guessed it—one week as the No. 1 song in the country). Bolstered by a tightly worded rap rife with chuckle-inducing pop-culture references to everything from Harrison Ford to The X Files, the song very loosely follows the weeklong timeline of a couple’s fight. Want more Barenaked Ladies–inspired laughter? Then stream an episode of The Big Bang Theory—they’re the ones behind the iconic theme song.
“Blue (Da Ba Dee)” by Eiffel 65
Funny lyric: “Blue are the streets / And all the trees are too / I have a girlfriend and she is so blue”
Is there any song that summarizes the pseudo-futuristic sound and metallic, shimmery aesthetic around Y2K more than Eiffel’s 65’s synth-pop smash “Blue (Da Ba Dee)”? A global phenomenon, it topped the charts in several countries and hit No. 6 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 in January 2000. Sure, the computer animation in the video looks dated in hindsight, but the nonsensical—but memorably silly—chorus and dancey melody keep going, enjoying new life with remixes from artists like David Guetta and Bebe Rexha, whose “I’m Good (Blue)” was nominated for a Grammy this year.
“Mambo No. 5” by Lou Bega
Funny lyric: “A little bit of Jessica / Here I am / A little bit of you makes me your man”
Head back to 1999, when women everywhere were listening to see if they were name-checked in the worldwide hit “Mambo No. 5,” arguably one of the best-known one-hit-wonders of all time. German singer Lou Bega scored the out-of-the-box hit when Latin music stars like Ricky Martin were gaining momentum on pop radio. And sure, the song itself may not have wildly hysterical lyrics, but it’s been inspiring smiles for more than 20 years. As Bega explained to Vanity Fair, “it’s joyful”—and no, he doesn’t mind singing the song, even today.
“Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” by Monty Python
Funny lyric: “There ya are, see / It’s the end of the film / Incidentally this record’s available in the foyer”
The first few lines of this song sound like an inspirational ditty about staying positive in the face of adversity … unless you know the movie scene from which the song originates. That’s right, this 1979 tune is sung by Eric Idle while he’s being crucified at the end of Monty Python’s Life of Brian. The lyrics spiral out of control quickly—”Keep ’em laughin’ as you go / Just remember that the last laugh is on you”—but maintain the same cheerful delivery, right down to peppy whistling! The tune has taken on a life of its own in England, where it’s often sung at football matches and funerals (no, really).
“Business Time” by Flight of the Conchords
Funny lyric: “You’re wearing that baggy old ugly T-shirt / You got from your work several years ago / Mmm, you know the one, baby / With the curry stain”
The first single from Flight of the Conchords helped set the tone for what you could expect from the New Zealand comedy duo of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie: laugh-out-loud lyrics delivered with deadpan sincerity and shockingly impressive musicianship. Lyrically, “Business Time” is a hilarious spoof of the marital rut of scheduled intimacy—”Wednesday, we make sweet weekly love”—but delivered with passionate, breathless R&B vocals and some funky bass. Try not to laugh at the deep, rumbly appreciation of “You sort out the recycling. That isn’t part of the foreplay process, but it is still very important.”
“Dentist!” by Steve Martin/Little Shop of Horrors soundtrack
Funny lyric: “You’ll be a dentist / You have a talent for causin’ things pain”
Steve Martin’s musical-comedy skills are legendary—just check out his “Ramblin’ Man” on YouTube or skits from his Saturday Night Live days—but he put down his banjo and picked up a toothbrush for his role as a sadistic dentist in the 1986 film version of the hit musical-horror-comedy Little Shop of Horrors. The dentist meets an appropriately grisly end, but not before Martin gleefully sings about going into the profession just to cause people pain. This one’s a must-listen for any musical-theater fan … or anyone with a severe fear of dentists.
“Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett
Funny lyric: “The scene was rockin’ / All were digging the sounds / Igor on chains / Backed by his baying hounds”
Is it really Halloween if you haven’t heard “Monster Mash”? That’s right, this top Halloween song has been going strong since its release in 1962, with comedian Pickett cheerfully doing his best impersonation of Boris Karloff, the iconic horror actor who famously played Frankenstein’s monster in the classic films. While Pickett tells the tale of his monster creating a Halloween-ified version of the “Mashed Potato” dance craze—the ubiquitous Monster Mash—other classic creatures (like Wolfman, Dracula—and his son) come out to join the fun. After all, it’s a graveyard smash!
“The Chanukah Song” by Adam Sandler
Funny lyric: “Paul Newman’s half Jewish, / Goldie Hawn’s half too / Put them together, what a fine lookin’ Jew”
“The Chanukah Song” premiered on Saturday Night Live in 1994, back when Adam Sandler was a cast member, but it has endured as a seasonal classic. After all, as the comic explains in the original live version, there are a lot of Christmas songs, but “not too many Chanukah songs, so I wrote this for all those nice little Jewish kids who don’t get to hear any Chanukah songs.” A runaway hit, it’s been re-recorded by Sandler in new versions that name-check different Jewish celebrities, and the track inspired an animated movie, 8 Crazy Nights, which takes its name from a line in Sandler’s song.
“Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” by Elmo & Patsy
Funny lyric: “They should never give a license / To a man who drives a sleigh and plays with elves”
A holiday classic that’s beloved by the whole family—well, maybe not by the matriarch—”Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” originally started as a novelty country song, recorded by the husband-and-wife team of Elmo Shropshire and Patsy Trigg back in 1979. Yep, for nearly 45 years people have been singing about an eggnog-drunk Grandma getting sleighed by Santa and his magical reindeer. The funny Christmas song has inspired countless covers (it’s surprisingly a favorite of ska bands, with Less Than Jake and Reel Big Fish covering it) and even a like-titled animated holiday special back in 2000.
Sources:
- IGN: “Jack Black Talks About Love Songs and Bowser’s Softer Side”
- Vanity Fair: “Lou Bega Knows Why You’re Still Dancing to ‘Mambo No. 5’”
