5 Rock Songs That Started Out as Jokes (Until They Became Hits)

The intersection of comedy and music isn’t always as blatantly obvious as novelty songs like “King Tut” by Steve Martin or the entirety of Weird Al’s discography. Sometimes, the joke is so subtle and insular that the average listener won’t even realize that the song they’re listening to was originally a gaff, throwaway, or tongue-in-cheek parody of something else.

Videos by American Songwriter

On rare occasions, the joke flies so far over the heads of the masses, and the songs are taken so seriously, that they become major career-defining hits—including these five rock songs.

“D’yer Mak’er” by Led Zeppelin 

Though decidedly not as ubiquitous as “Stairway To Heaven”, Led Zeppelin fans hold “D’yer Mak’er” in high regard as one of the band’s more unique tracks. The dub-inspired rock song’s title came from a Cockney joke in which one person says, “My wife is going on holiday.” The next person replies, “Did you make her?” To which they reply, “No, she’s going on her own accord.” The punchline comes from “did you make her” sounding like “Jamaica” when spoken quickly with a Cockney accent.

“Karma Police” by Radiohead

Radiohead’s 1997 hit “Karma Police” also started as an inside joke among the band members. Whenever anyone did something “bad” or made a mistake, an offhand remark, etcetera, the bandmates would joke that they were going to sic the karma police on someone. “It’s a joke,” Thom Yorke later reflected. “You know, ‘Karma police, arrest this man.’ That’s not entirely serious. I hope people will realize that.” Jonny Greenwood added that “Karma Police” was “obviously not overly serious as a title or a subject.”

“Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses

“Sweet Child O’ Mine” is far and away Guns N’ Roses’ biggest hit. And while this rock song didn’t necessarily start out as a joke in the purest definition, it definitely got its start as an unserious jam. Slash was warming up on the guitar with a circus-like melody before a band practice when drummer Steven Adler started playing along. The jam evolved into “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, complete with vocalist Axl Rose’s “where do we go now” section, which literally came from the singer not knowing where to go next.

“I Am The Walrus” by The Beatles

In the late 1960s, John Lennon discovered that his high school alma mater was teaching and analyzing his lyrics as part of the class curriculum. In response, Lennon wrote “I Am The Walrus” with nonsensical lyrics specifically so that Quarry Bank High School for Boys wouldn’t be able to figure it out. “Let the f***ers work that one out,” the Beatle said. The Magical Mystery Tour track might not have made a whole lot of narrative sense, but it became one of The Beatles’ most well-known psychedelic hits.

“Stuck In The Middle With You” by Stealers Wheel

Sometimes, a rock song will start as a joke about another artist, which was the case for “Stuck In The Middle With You” by Stealers Wheel. Songwriters Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan wrote the rock ‘n’ roll track to parodize Bob Dylan, including the singer-songwriter’s habit of calling people clowns and jokers. “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you.” Even the vocal delivery was meant to evoke Dylan’s loosey-goosey phrasing and approach to melody.

Photo by Dick Barnatt/Redferns