Song Parody Contest

Before Trying this I would like to suggest that you get a CD by the Christian parody band Apologetix and play several of the cuts for your group. Basically what you are going for here is to take a secular song and turn it into a song with a Christian Message. No one I have ever heard does this any better than Apologetix. You can find their CDšs at many Christian Bookstores around the country, or they can be ordered at http://www.apologetix.com. Break your students up into groups and allow them to choose any song (you may want to screen out Parental Advisory songs) and have them write out new lyrics for the song and then perform the song.

The best way to do the performance is to play the original CD in the background and crank the singeršs mic up loud enough that they overdrive the CDšs vocal track. Give prizes for the best performance, best message, most humorous, etc.

If you have a talented praise band, you may even want them to learn the songs and do a live performance in a more public venue. Here again, if you decide to do this as an outreach, try to set up costumes, props, etc. and use the best PA and lighting you can find.

How to Write a Good Song Parody

by J. Jackson
Lead singer/lyricist for Apologetix the Ultimate Christian Parody Band

Try to match the originalšs rhythm and rhyme scheme as much as possible, especially in the chorus and in the first verse, particularly the opening lines of the first verse. Itšll help to draw your audience in.

Make sure what you're saying makes sense and is Biblically accurate donšt sacrifice "understandability" or theology just to get something that sounds cool or rhymes better.

Pick songs that everybody knows ... if you plan on doing them for large crowds. Išll give you an example. Some of our earlier parodies were of songs like łBaby Driver˛ by Simon & Garfunkel. Now, thatšs a song that Simon & Garfunkel fans know, but itšs not a song that gets played on the radio very often. So a better Simon & Garfunkel song for us to play (for large audiences) would be something like łSounds of Silence,˛ łMrs. Robinson˛ or łBridge Over Troubled Water.˛ The same thing goes for any artist/band you are spoofing. If you're doing a song by your favorite band or artist, make sure it's a hit that other people will know.

Donšt take too much of the lyrics of the original BUT conversely, donšt come up with something that doesnšt resemble the original. Itšs important for you to łcomment˛ on the song in some sense. If you do łAmazing Grace˛ to the tune of łHouse of the Rising Sun,˛ itšs not really a parody of łHouse of the Rising Sun.˛ It is amusing and interesting, but it isnšt really a parody of the original, itšs just singing a whole new set of words to an established melody.

Write what you know about and what you feel passionately about. Before I became a born again Christian, I tried to write songs about love, relationships, sex, etc., but it got pretty boring. Although I was a passionate man, I just didnšt feel passionately enough about the subject matter. However, when I had just become a born again Christian, I couldnšt have written most of the songs we write now for Apologetix, because I didnšt know the subject matter well enough (hadnšt read the Bible enough times through) to really comment on some of those topics. Read the manual (the Bible) cover to cover and over and over.

Write first and foremost for yourself (and for God, of course). What I mean is, donšt think, łIšll write this kind of a song because people will like it and itšll be a hit.˛ Write what you care about, whether you think itšll be a hit or not. If you think a topic is interesting, many times other people will, too. Some of the biggest hit songs in history were written by people who thought, "Well nobody will probably like this, but this is something that I want to write about." They were surprised to find out that other people liked it too!

Many times your first idea is your best idea, so donšt be afraid to go with it. But donšt be afraid to try out many ideas for the same song, too. Conversely, many times it takes a while before the best stuff comes out, so donšt be afraid to tweak and tweak and tweak your parodies. Find some friends/family whom you respect and trust and bounce your songs off of them to get their input, too.