Nonsense song explained

A nonsense song is a type of song written mainly for the purpose of entertainment using nonsense syllables at least in the chorus. Such a song generally has a simple melody and a quick (or fairly quick) tempo and repeating sections.^[1]

History

The roots of this song type can be traced as far back as "Shoo, Fly, Don't Bother Me" and "Jimmy Crack Corn" to the 1890s "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay".

Every era has had its own nonsense songs. The turn of the 20th century had "Row, Row, Row", with lines like:

The jazz age created many nonsense songs, such as "Ja-Da".

Examples

• "Sarasponda", a children's folk song
• "Nonsense Song (Titine)" a song written by Charlie Chaplin, used in Modern Times (1936)
• "Hold Tight (Want Some Seafood Mama)", written by Edward Robinson; Jerry Brandow; Lenny Kent; Leonard Ware; Willie Spottswood in 1938
• "Three Little Fishies", written by Josephine Carringer and Bernice Idins; with music by Saxie Dowell in 1939
• "Mairzy Doats", composed by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston in 1943
• "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo", written by Al Hoffman, Mack David and Jerry Livingston in 1948
• "Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo", written by Helen Deutsch in 1952
• "Rubber Biscuit", written by Charles Johnson and first recorded by The Chips in 1956; later known from the Blues Brothers cover version.
• "Surfin' Bird", written by Al Frazier, Carl White, Sonny Harris and Turner Wilson Jr. in 1963. Performed by The Trashmen and the Ramones.
• "Chim Chim Cher-ee", written by the Sherman Brothers in 1964
• "The Name Game", written by Shirley Ellis in 1964
• "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", written by the Sherman Brothers in 1968
• "I Am the Walrus", written by John Lennon in 1967
• "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", written by Paul McCartney in 1968
• "Dig a Pony", written by John Lennon in 1969
• "Prisencolinensinainciusol", written by Adriano Celentano in 1972
• The Israeli rock band Kaveret, active 1973–1976, are known with their songs with nonsense, wordplays and surrealistic stories.
• "Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot", by novelty band Caramba, released in 1981 on the self-titled album. Other songs on the album are also of the same nonsense song genre.
• The closing theme song of the 1970s-80s sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati by Jim Ellis features gibberish lyrics.
• "Monster In The Mirror" from Sesame Street (1989)
• "The Gibberish Song" from Judy and David's Boombox (1999/2000)
• "Gibberish", from the 2003 Relient K album Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do.
• "Chacarron Macarron", written by "El Chombo" in 2006
• "Why This Kolaveri Di", an Indian song by actor Dhanush that skyrocketed him to international fame in 2011.
• "Ja Ja Ding Dong", a song from the 2020 film

See also

• Denpa song
• Literary nonsense
• Novelty song

Notes and References

1. Citron, Stephen (1998). Song Writing. Limelight: New York.