Lately, I'm noticing more and more parodies that rhyme line-for-line with the OS.  I'm not sure whether the gifted among us have been raising the bar lately, or whether I've just failed to notice it before. 

I've tried it a few times, and I've always ended up having to make awkward (i.e., ineffective) compromises -- my hat's off to those of you who manage do it so well -- I try to give you props for it in my comments now, when I notice it.

Just curious as to people's experiences in trying to pull it off well.

I generally tend to consider rhyming with the original OS more important than meeting syllable count. After all, you can always sing faster or slower than normal, but it's hard to make something rhyme when it doesn't. On my best parodies, it comes naturally; for the rest, I use www.rhymezone.com to find every possibility.

My small brain has enough to do trying to follow the rhyme scheme and come up with something clever and/or funny. If I worried about rhyming with the OS, my head would explode.

I chose usually because many of my early parodies didn't rhyme with the OS...but anymore, I always try to do it. 

It's not something that makes or breaks a parody, in my opinion, though....(I'd go toe to toe with Gonfonko that pacing is WAY more important)...it's just how I write. 

It honestly makes things easier for me a lot of the time... :)

I try to do it whenever possible and whenever it adds to the cleverness and humor of a parody.

My chief role model in this endeavor is Guy DiRito --- the man is a master at rhyming syllable-by-syllable to the OS.

Another author whose work inspires me along these lines is John Barry.

A well-paced parody whose syllables rhyme as closely as possible to the corresponding syllables of the OS is easy and fun to sing-along with a recording of the OS itself.    ;D

But I agree with Super Arwen --- IMHO, pacing is much more important.

Yeah, sometimes for a concept to work, the rhyme might have to be tampered with...and other times it's essential to keep the OS rhyme. It just depends.

For example, I had to change the essential rhyme scheme of "Sex Dwarf" (the chorus' "-ice" sounds) to "-ace", just so I could mention that the TV show Red Dwarf was set in outer space.

Yeah, sometimes for a concept to work, the rhyme might have to be tampered with...and other times it's essential to keep the OS rhyme. It just depends.

For example, I had to change the essential rhyme scheme of "Sex Dwarf" (the chorus' "-ice" sounds) to "-ace", just so I could mention that the TV show Red Dwarf was set in outer space.




Agrimorfee makes an excellent point here. 
I encountered a somewhat similar situation with some parts of my 500th parody,
"The Ditty of You or Me".

OS's first verse:

Riding on The City of New Orleans
Illinois Central, Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders
Three conductors, and twenty-five sacks of mail

My parody's first verse:

Writing up The Ditty of You or Me
Silly boy's mental fun way for some fame
Twisting bars of pristine breathless rhymers
Freakin' duct-work, of funny jive-stacks so lame

Original line:
Riding on The City of New Orleans

My line:
Writing up The Ditty of You or Me

Analysis:
"Orleans" and "or Me" --- close, but not perfect.

Original line:
Illinois Central, Monday morning rail

My line:
Silly boy's mental fun way for some fame

Analysis:
"rail" and "fame" --- only the long "a" vowel matched, I decided to give up trying to match the ending consonant.

Original line:
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders

My line:
Twisting bars of pristine breathless rhymers

Analysis:
"riders" and "rhymers" --- managed to match everything but the inner consonant "d"

Original line:
Three conductors, and twenty-five sacks of mail.

My line:
Freakin' duct-work, of funny jive-stacks so lame

Analysis:
I mismatched some consonants in the middle, and I gave up trying to match the ending consonant.

I agree that pacing is much more important.  A parody which doesn't AT ALL rhyme with the original can still be brilliant.  But a bunch of funny lines that don't fit well to the OS is, to me, a failure as a parody.  Might as well just write a funny poem.  But I bow to those of you who consistently pull off both simultaneously.

Though it hasn't worked for me, I can definitely understand how, as Arwen said, rhyming with the OS could make things easier.  It's that whole thing of finding freedom in limitations, which I can relate to in certain instances, but not in this particular area...

Something that impresses me as much if not more than rhyming the OS, is using one or more lines intact from the OS and using the surrounding text to change the meaning of those OS lines completely.

i think people have been answering different questions... i think Leo'd original question was whether people try to make words in a parody rhyme with the  corresponding words in the original song, but i'm not completely sure. I'll do that sometimes but i'd rather have the syntax make sense than have a parody that sounds exactly like the original but nothing like the way anyone ever talks. Itt doesn't have to be perfect, just reasonable.
     As for rhyme scheme, i always try to match that of the original but not necessarily have my end rhymes rhyme with the end rhyme of the original. Especially in rap parodies since there are way too many rhymes to do that without copying from the original. I never use rhymezone or any other rhyming dictionaries... ever since i found out they existed i've felt it was somewhat dishonest to use them. Besides, if i can't think of a word myself then it probably means that the woord is too obscure to belong in most parodies. Also, thinking of your own rhymes is a lot better for developing your skills as a writer than looking them up on a website.  

Well, my initial inquiry was based on the practice of simply rhyming the end of each line of the original.  Rhyming syllable by syllable or phrase by phrase is another level of skill entirely, and I commend those who can pull that off successfully.

As for rhyming dictionaries and any other reference materials: at those times when I'm trying to test my powers of mental recall for the heck of it, or seeking to waste time unnecesarily, then I certainly do consider them cheating.  But at those times when all I'm really interested in is trying to write a half-decent parody, I use any and all tools at my disposal.  The most brilliant lyricists in the world use them, and I'm no Sondheim.

Something that impresses me as much if not more than rhyming the OS, is using one or more lines intact from the OS and using the surrounding text to change the meaning of those OS lines completely.


Homphones are rare, but fun--

Learning To Fly--by Pink Floyd
"My soul in tension that's learning to fly"

Learning To Swim--by Agrimorfee
"My sole intention was learning to swim" ;)

Homphones are rare, but fun--

Learning To Fly--by Pink Floyd
"My soul in tension that's learning to fly"

Learning To Swim--by Agrimorfee
"My sole intention was learning to swim" ;)


Heh.  That's good. 
And the potential pun with 'sole' (as in 'filet of') would add yet another layer if it were about a fish.

Something that impresses me as much if not more than rhyming the OS, is using one or more lines intact from the OS and using the surrounding text to change the meaning of those OS lines completely.



Yes, I agree - and when those lines just magically, seamlessly, appear, in context (tho not necessarily in the same spot as the OS) without appearing contrived, is a delight to read

A lot of American Pie's lines can be used in new contexts at unexpected places in the parody

A lot of American Pie's lines can be used in new contexts at unexpected places in the parody



Quite right, Stu.  Two examples from my American Pie parody, American Pride :

Oh, and while the King was looking down
At dis-patches from Boston town
He read how Charlestown burned
His verdict was " 'Twas earned! "

.... and ....

And as the flames climbed high into the night
The British fleet was burning bright
I saw Washington laugh with delight
The day
Boston's
Siege died

I've been working on 'Such Nuisance' to Eminem's 'Just Lose It'.

Original: "Guess who's back, back again. Shady's back, tell a friend..."
Parody: "Jester, shmuck, jerk, cretin. Zany, wack, harlequin..."

I grumble inwardly at Ethan's claim that it's impossible to stick to the original rhyme scheme of a parody, but can see the point about the importance of having sentences that are coherent over sentences that are just one big feminine rhyme for the original.
My first parody here was 'Luke Yourself' which basically threw all sense of syntax and decipherability out the window at the expense of trying to rhyme every word in the sentence.

My first parody here was 'Luke Yourself' which basically threw all sense of syntax and decipherability out the window at the expense of trying to rhyme every word in the sentence.




"I snort with glee following four-degree saunas.
Then store iguana faeces with Pete's fauna. "

"My rhymes are try hard. Betting these are retarded
Lied to breed a daughter from pee, pu plus foetal water"

"Abusing is a losing past-time like collecting Lego.
Spread your legs for a half-inch of smegma and blow.
Or beg Greg for the exit of Meg's bordello."

"Only acrim-onious like that darn Teletubby Po.
Uh-oh the warden's here with his gear: syringe and goads.
Proper community restored to order? D'oh!"

Luke, with rhymes like those, you are a freakin' Aussie wacko GENIUS !!!    ;D

Aww, shucks, Johnny. My fifteen-year-old self is sheepishly scuffing his shoe.

Take this guy's complexion: :-'Luke can joke non-stop jocose hip-hop.'

Rhyming line for line is way too limiting.  Following the rhyme scheme is much more important.

Tricky one, this...
While rhyming with the OS (and I too am talking about end of lines) can really make a parody, sometimes it can be limiting and you end up with a forced, clunky parody. In general, I try to rhyme a majority of my lines (otherwise you're just writing a new song to an existing melody) and 90% of the time I try to get the title and/or chorus to rhyme...it depends on the OS. Syllable-for-syllable I try occasionally, but use sparingly, as I don't have the skill to make a coherent parody this way. Meter and pacing is far more important to me, as is captuing the essence of the OS in the parody. I use Rhymezone often; not only does it give me a wealth of rhyming options, but it also occasionally inspires me to take a parody in a different direction to the one I originally intended.
But, when all is said and done, rhyming is just one of the reasons a parody either flies or flops, and even that is subject to the different tastes of the Amiright community. Keep writin' y'all!!!