Last night, I dropped by The Southern Café & Music Hall to peek in on Jeffrey Lewis’ set. (I didn’t stay for Dr. Dog—I know, I know!—but the place was mobbed, and your blogger can’t whoop it up with the whooping cough.) I caught half of Lewis’ set, including "History of Communism, pt. 5: North Korea." Unfortunately, I didn’t make it quite in time for "Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror." Objectionable language and imagery is used, kiddies, so don’t watch the following if you’re impressionable:
The word "spoof" covers a lot of ground—satire, parody, fakery, goofery, what have you. Lewis has a knack for it; in addition to his Communism histories and the Oldham piece (which spoofs sound and Oldham’s song "A Sucker’s Evening," among other things), he has "The Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song." (Leonard Cohen, he’s your man.)
The Lewis set got me thinking of other spoof songwriters, from Tom Lehrer (great spoofer of genres) to the Yank to the 35-million-views-and-counting Lonely Island crew. Any favorite spoof songs or songwriters to share? How about filmmakers? Visual artists? Better yet, what makes a good spoof? Leave ’em below.
*Update: I’ve since gone on something of a Jeffrey Lewis binge, digging up gems like his cover of "Big A, Little A" (from his album 12 Crass Songs) and "A Complete History of Rough Trade Records." Both recommended.
