4 Songs That Started Out As Jokes but Became Classics Anyway

At times, we fans, are provided with the context and inspiration behind our favorite songs. At other times, it is simply given to us, and we are left guessing what inspired the song and how it came to be. That being so, there are songs that we take very seriously when in reality, the artists who created them don’t. With that in mind, here are four songs that started as a joke and became classics.

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“Michelle” by The Beatles

The average French stereotype is that they take themselves too seriously and hold themselves in a self-righteous artistic manner. On a mere humorous level, Paul McCartney agrees with that, and that is what inspired The Beatles‘ classic tune, “Michelle”.

Regarding the inspiration, McCartney told 60 Minutes that he used to jokingly imitate a sophisticated Frenchman at Lennon’s art school parties in order to pick up women. It never worked for McCartney, but it did become a classic. Also, if you speak French, then you knew long ago that this song was a joke, as the main French lyric in it translates to “Are the words that go very well together”.

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

The main inspiration behind Guns N’ Roses‘ “Sweet Child O’ Mine” was Slash’s opening guitar riff. However, that was not intentional, as the riff was a half-baked riff that Slash used to play around with. Though, it got the juices flowing for Axl Rose, and consequently, one of the biggest rock hits of the 1980s was born.

“Initially it was just a cool, neat riff that I’d come up with,” Slash told Total Guitar, via udiscovermusic. “I was playing the intro riff and they were playing chords behind it. And next thing you know, it was turning into something. I really just thought of it as a joke, but lo and behold, Axl was upstairs in his bedroom, and he heard it,” he added.

“I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred

It is unclear if everybody doesn’t take this song seriously, but it seems a large part of its appeal is that it is just a fun, borderline joke song. Well, that is reportedly how Right Said Fred intended it to be, as they wrote the track as a parody of the conceited and absurd nature of certain kinds of gym goers.

“My brother Fred and I ran a gym at the back of a theatrical rehearsal studio in London, where we saw lots of narcissism and posing. One day, it was really hot, and there was a mirror on a wardrobe, so I took my shirt off and just started singing ‘I’m too sexy for my shirt …’ in front of the mirror to the rhythm of a bassline we had,” Richard Fairbrass told The Guardian.

“Super Freak” by Rick James

Much like “I’m Too Sexy”, Rick James‘ “Super Freak” became a classic due to its playful attitude. Also like Fairbrass, James wrote this single not to move someone to their knees, but to literally get their knees to move, to dance.

Regarding the inspiration, James told Musician Magazine, “I just put ‘Super Freak’ together really quickly. I wanted a silly song that had a bit of new wave texture to it. So I just came up with this silly little lick and expounded on it. And I put a very operatic vocal structure on it ‘cause I’m really into opera and classical music,” via udiscovermusic.

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