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Song Parodies -> "Jay Hawkins' Spell"
Original Song Title:
"MacArthur Park"
(MP3)Original Performer:
Richard Harris
Parody Song Title:
"Jay Hawkins' Spell"
Parody Written by:
Patrick McWilliams
The Lyrics
At first I was a bit intimidated by this song, recalling the long, long 45 rpm record. Then, I realized that it's mostly instrumental. Sing the lyrics, fill in your choice of superfluous strings. I suggest Satan's fiddle from "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"
"Spell" is always waiting for us, friends
More certain than the sun
As we scan the daily list
Priests still diddle altar boys, I'm not impressed
By flatulence released
Like an all-enshrouding mist
I hear Jay Hawkins screaming in the dark
"Please stop screwing with my classic song"
In his voice I hear a note of pain
I don't think I'll duplicate it
Like my homework, my dog ate it
And I'll never use that melody again
Oh no.
I recall the songs of life and love
And how they made me laugh
'Til I fell down on my knees
The words like polished gemstones
In their hands
Phrases they would craft to fit the melodies
Jay Hawkins is still screaming in the dark
"What the hell! Is this some kind of race?"
He said it with what sounded like disdain
It's become a competition
To excel in repetition
And they pay no heed to syllables or pace
Oh no!
There are many other songs, you see
Will you please choose them?
More sophisticated melodies
Will you please use them?
Won't you take the time to learn the form
And never let mere numbers be your only goal
Music is a love of my life
Music brings laughter to my life
It touches my soul
Chucky G has given us a gift, let's not abuse it
A chance to put our talents on display, let's not lose it
You can say the things that you desire
And your lyrics flow more smoothly if you try
After all, you do know how to write
With a bit of care you'll nail it right
I'll be reading your songs,
And saying, "Well done"
Jay Hawkins is still screaming in the night
"The power of the "Spell" is fading out"
Hope you see that it's time for a change
May I suggest you ought'ra
Pick a song by Frank Sinatra
I can think of one that's just a little "strange"
Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes!
O
More certain than the sun
As we scan the daily list
Priests still diddle altar boys, I'm not impressed
By flatulence released
Like an all-enshrouding mist
I hear Jay Hawkins screaming in the dark
"Please stop screwing with my classic song"
In his voice I hear a note of pain
I don't think I'll duplicate it
Like my homework, my dog ate it
And I'll never use that melody again
Oh no.
I recall the songs of life and love
And how they made me laugh
'Til I fell down on my knees
The words like polished gemstones
In their hands
Phrases they would craft to fit the melodies
Jay Hawkins is still screaming in the dark
"What the hell! Is this some kind of race?"
He said it with what sounded like disdain
It's become a competition
To excel in repetition
And they pay no heed to syllables or pace
Oh no!
There are many other songs, you see
Will you please choose them?
More sophisticated melodies
Will you please use them?
Won't you take the time to learn the form
And never let mere numbers be your only goal
Music is a love of my life
Music brings laughter to my life
It touches my soul
Chucky G has given us a gift, let's not abuse it
A chance to put our talents on display, let's not lose it
You can say the things that you desire
And your lyrics flow more smoothly if you try
After all, you do know how to write
With a bit of care you'll nail it right
I'll be reading your songs,
And saying, "Well done"
Jay Hawkins is still screaming in the night
"The power of the "Spell" is fading out"
Hope you see that it's time for a change
May I suggest you ought'ra
Pick a song by Frank Sinatra
I can think of one that's just a little "strange"
Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes!
O
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Voting Results
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Voting Breakdown
The following represent how many people voted for each category.
| Pacing | How Funny | Overall Rating | |||||||||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 5 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
User Comments
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Outstanding! And so very topical! 555!
"This is How I Rate You"
A triple 5!!!
This is a hoot! Great sarcasm to cover the current trend of "Spell songs"..(some good, some not so..)
Hmmm... Screamin' Jay Hawkins... Screamin' Jay.... ohhh yes, I think I HAVE seen one or two parodies of one of his songs on this site, now I think of it...! ;^D This is a perfectly-paced, razor-sharp parody Patrick, and should definitely be awarded a 555! (Oh, and - I'm gonna whisper this..... Thank you SO much for writing it!)
Good point. I plead guilty, but at least I'm somewhere in the ballpark with the pacing.
Ditto what AFW wrote.
It's become a competition
To excel in repetition
And they pay no heed to syllables or pace
- was spot on
It's become a competition
To excel in repetition
And they pay no heed to syllables or pace
- was spot on
Sit a "spell", Poke your voodoo dolls, yah keep up the great parody work yah hear? ;-D Great Job! 5's!
And I pay "very" close attention to "syllables" "and" "pace" when I do my SJH parodies, as I do with "all" my parodies! ;-)
Richard Harris as Dumbledore commenting on spells? Ironic but strangely amusing. *Flicking a wand* - maximusscore5+ textveryartful
I see this song resonates with many regulars on this site. Check out tomorrow's list for an additional expression of my views on this "Spell" phenomenon.
Now for something new- a parody WITHIN a comment box!!!
This is how I rate you/a triple 5!!!/I won’t stop the things I do/I ain’t lyin’/No, I ain’t tryin’/I know you can’t stand it/SJH song abounds/
You know better parodists/You can’t stop it cause I’m still around!!!/This is how I rate you/
a triple 5!!!/Perfect lines… but/Are you through?/Are you through?/Are you through?/
Are you through being witty?/And I don’t care/
If you don’t like me/Anybody can be a critic!!!/
You like J-A-B/This is how I rate you/a triple 5!!!/(but you can’t ignore ME)!!!
ROTFLMAO!!!
I was about to write a parody on this same subject, but you beat me to it. Well done.
Rob, I've learned more from you than almost anyone else on this site. Nazi history, airplanes, tanks, even the sad story of a man exhibited as a zoo animal. Anybody can be a critic. Not everyone can respond in verse as you did. No one is a total loss if I can get a song out of him or her. I'll have more to say on the subject of "Spell" tomorrow.
Practice makes progression, even if it's an obsession! ;-) Don't you and me know it Rob! :-)
Thoughtfully done, Patrick. And resurrecting Screamin' Jay was truly inspired. A very good read.
Patrick, thanks for the compliment. I come from outside of this group and have my own following and reputation for knowledge. I am just an amatuer at the song parody stuff. Before this, I had alwyas done writing and have been published in the newspapers, some magazine, poetry anthologies, but never had a real history with song parodies. My Madonna parody first version from 1985 was "Venereal Girl" which was stolen from me and used in Singapore in the 1990s!!! So nothing until AIR two months ago. Since I post heavily anywhere some people here are intimidated, but they shouldn't be. That is my normal behavior. And the SJH parodies are only a percentage of my overall songs that cover all genres and time periods along the AIR guidelines (1950s-2010s). Did not know about the CAPS rule either, so I am learning. I hope people can take the info-parodies for what they are and stop with the syllables and pacing comments- I deliberately alter the song to suit the tech or point, regardless of if someone is gonna ding me....
I second what Patrick said about all the stuff we've learned from you in your parodies, Rob - I've learned tons from yours. I just find that particular song really hard to rate because I don't hear it properly, as I mentioned before. I swear, whole lines of that song just sound like "RAAAAAARRRR-WAH-ARRRRGGGGHHH!!" to me, so I don't know what I feel worse about - dinging for pacing and dragging your score down for what is still a good parody, or not voting at all and just commenting so as not to pull your percentage down on pacing. It IS kind of funny that you do so many SJH parodies though... if one day I ever look at the New Entries posting and not see any up there I know my reaction is going to be like "What the...?" and worry that something dreadful's happened to you. ;^)
555 - Musta missed this one the first time out. The others you linked I'd already seen. Did you ever see this one (http://www.amiright.com/parody/70s/manfredmann18.shtml) where I smooshed all seven of the big 7 into one of them (BBTL)? After doing it, I thought about trying to do the 7-in-1 smoosh to each of the other OS on the list, so I'd have the complete set. I was surprised that TT didn't try to do that, but maybe he didn't see mine or maybe he didn't want to have to write one to BoRap, a song he thoroughly detested. I guess we'll never know.
Glad to see someone is still looking at my older stuff. I just checked out your Manfred Mann. Seven songs in one is certainly a feat to fete.
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