I am just starting as a parody writer at amiright.com, but I would ask you to please read my parodies and tell me what you think.

John,

I was impressed with the "Friend of Violence" parody - best of the bunch so far, but I'll be very impressed if you manage to maintain that level of intensity.

The "Vengeful Dream"/Yellow Sub parody suffered mainly from the difficulty in actually singing the chorus line - it doesn't trip off the tongue very easily.  Other than that (and the votes hold this up) it's a really good parody.  You probably do need to know The Tempest to appreciate it, so it's not surprising it only has a few votes :-)

Compared to those two, the other three are space-fillers: not bad parodies, but not as inspired.  All of us at amiright have turned in our fair share of this sort of thing, but it's not always easy to tell when you've just finished a parody whether it has that extra pizzazz to make it stand out from the rest.

Keep it up!

Phil
PS Given that you've done a parody based on the Tempest, what do you think of this one http://www.amiright.com/parody/misc/willshakespeare0.shtml to the tune of Ariel's song, "Where the bee sucks"?

Thanks Phil,

The Friend of Violence was probably my most inspired. You know you did a good job when conservatives describe it as "a powerful piece of propoganda". The others aren't as good, but you gotta go with ideas when they come.

I also kind of liked Canadian Woman. That one also got a few people angry. I don't know why. Canadians always make fun of Americans and I have cousins living up there. It's all in good fun.

Once again, thanks for your comments, Phil.

Just wrote a few more parodies. Tell me what you think of them. I got a good one that I just entered, even though it has a few typos in it. It's ok, it's still the best thing I've written. You just wait for it! ;D

Hi John

I just read your 'Friend of Violence' parody
Not bad at all.
I wouldn't worry about low votes, political parodies attract these (whichever way you lean).  It can get annoying when you receive a 1 for pacing when you know it deserves far higher.
Personally, I write parodies for me, I only post them so other people can benefit (if they choose)

Due to the large number of parodies submitted each day, I (usually) only read the ones where I'm familiar with the original.
I've posted parodies and received only a couple of votes, I assume because I've picked a song noone knows.

Tao

I don't understand what you're refering to. I never wrote a "Fiddler" parody.

Because you and I had expressed a friendly difference of opinion, I thought it somewhat ironic that Philbo Baggins, whose brain is normally quite sharp, confused your work with mine.

For the record, my vote on your “Friend of Violence” parody was 5-1-3.  You clearly deserved the 5 for pacing, but the other two scores are subject to debate.  The goal of your parody was to be profound, not humorous; unfortunately, there is no “profound” category. I really do not know how to cast the “funny” vote on serious parodies, such as “Friend of Violence.”  Michael Pacholek was able to give you a high score by calling it “black humor,” and maybe that is the best way to vote for that category.  This was obviously a powerful parody and it did not seem completely appropriate to give it a “1” for funny, but it was not laugh-out-loud funny.

For overall score, perhaps the 3 was somewhat harsh.  It was based on my evaluation of your argument – I think that the Bush Iraqi policy has a lot more to do with terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and UN Resolution 1441 than oil and greed.  Be that as it may, you raise a good question about whether a voter should vote on parodies with political views that he or she disagrees with.

Even though low votes on my parodies bother me, I think that they come with territory of writing political parodies.  That is why I was very surprised and impressed when Michael Pacholek, whose political perspective seems to be completely different from mine and similar to yours, recently gave me a positive comment and a high vote on my “Leftist Tart from San Francisco.”  He was able to see beyond his political biases and try to be objective in the way he evaluated what I consider to be my best parody.  I really commend Michael for doing that, and I hope I can do the same.

Your comment about not voting on parodies that you disagree with and Michael Pacholek’s objectivity have caused me to re-examine my voting standards.  I would like to be as consistent as I can in the way that I vote, but I have to admit that my standards are evolving – for the better, I hope.  I especially hope that I can give the benefit of the doubt to someone who is smart enough to work Shakespeare into a parody.

By the way, I consider myself more of a libertarian than a conservative.  I truly do hope that we can find a better alternative to war, but I believe that diplomacy will not work with Saddam Hussein unless there is a serious threat of consequences for his non-compliance.

John

Thanks for your comment, John. I really have difficulty voting for parodies that go against my political beliefs. When a song comes up like "The Anti-Gun Control Song" I might comment on it, but I won't vote on it.

Here's my reasoning: If I vote low on it because of the subject matter, I'm no better that the jerk who hands out the 1,1,1 ratings. But if I vote high, I might be overcompensating for my bias and give an average parody a high mark and I'd have to wrestle with my conscience for supporting a song that I don't agree with. So I've given up rating conservative songs. It's a lot less painful this way.  ;D

I'm comming out with a different kind of parody. It's actually a serious parody. I don't expect it to do well in the humor department, but I felt I had to write it. It's a parody of Billy Joel's "Piano Man" called "The Lonely Man". It should come out tomorrow. Tell me what you guys think of it.

You can click here: http://www.amiright.com/cgi-bin/search_authors.cgi?AUTHORJohn%20HarveyAUTHOR to see my parodies, or you can click on my webpage in my profile.