ROOTS of Country Music

Novelty Songs

A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs.

The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions were ballads and dance music. 

Novelty songs are often a parody or humor song, and may apply to a current event such as a holiday or a fad such as a dance. Many use unusual lyrics, subjects, sounds, or instrumentation and may not even be musical.

Novelty songs are easy to dismiss as fluffy filler, but there’s an undeniable art to writing a really good one.

Ray Stevens is arguably the most successful performer of novelty and comedy songs ever. He is responsible for classics like Ahab the Arab, Gitarzan and Along Came Jones.

In 1974, at the peak of streaking (running naked in public) as a national fad, Stevens put together The Streak, a song featuring fake news reports of a streaker in various settings. It became one of his biggest hits and topped the pop singles chart.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------Novelty Songs A-Z

• Along Came Jones

Ray Stevens

• Comin' Back For More

C.W. McCall 

• Convoy

C.W. McCall 

• Gitarzan 

Ray Stevens 

• Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer

 Elmo & Patsy

• Harry the Hairy Ape

Ray Stevens

• I Saw Elvis In A U.F.O.

Ray Stevens

• I’m Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home

David Frizzell

• I'm My Own Grandpa

Lonzo & Oscar

• May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose

Little Jimmy Dickens

• My Girl Bill

 Jim Stafford

• My Uncle Used to Love Me But She Died

Roger Miller

• Put Another Log On the Fire

Tompall Glaser

• She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)

Jerry Reed

• Shriner's Convention

Ray Stevens

• The Mississippi Squirrel Revival

Ray Stevens 

• The Streak

 Ray Stevens

• When the Ship Hit the Sand

Little Jimmy Dickens

• Who Licked the Red Off of Your Candy

Little Jimmy Dickens

• Wildwood Weed

Jim Stafford

• Would Jesus Wear a Rolex

Ray Stevens

• You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd

Roger Miller

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Researched and compiled by Richard Bell, Roots of Country Music, Mar. 2, 2010.