Bawdy Song: Difference between revisions

* In ''[[Hellblazer]]'', John Constantine frequently sings these when drunk or sentimental, for example, during a ''[[Books of Magic]]'' crossover, he was singing "The Good Ship Venus" but cut off suddenly at the sight of the still-underage Tim Hunter. On the occasion of his [[Forgotten Birthday]] he was singing "The Woodpecker's Hole" while relieving himself in an alley, breaking off as he realised he'd pissed on [[The Phantom Stranger]]'s boots.

 

* There's a ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Fanfic]] in which the Doctor's asked what the rudest song he knows is—apparently, it's "a toss-up between 'The Lonely Little Academy Girl' and 'Och Aye! 'Tis Rassilon's Mighty Firm Rod" (the latter of which apparently runs to about fifty-four verses).

* Athena Prime's [[Knights of the Old Republic]] epic fanfic mentions a bawdy song called "The Starship Venus." Allronix, in her KOTOR fic, [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2344822/1/Destinys_Pawn_Leviathan provides some of the lyrics].

* In Rising Star (an adaption of [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]), [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2726841/10/Rising_Star Sonic suggests Tails should sing something during their trip through Casino Night Zone.] As it's revealed, Tails spent too much time hanging out behind the local bar...

* 'Galdwyn was a Shieldmaiden', in the ''Lord of the Rings'' fandom.

 

== [[Film]] ==

== [[Literature]] ==

* In A.N. Wilson's ''The Vicar of Sorrows'', an evangelical lady suggests to the vicar that modern, upbeat hymns would be better for the Easter procession than the traditional hymn he always uses. He responds that if they ditch the traditional hymn, then they can sing "Eskimo Nell" for all he cares. This leads to the lady, who has never heard of this song, asking various other parishioners about it and whether it would be a good song to sing in the Easter parade, spreading scandal about the vicar's morals and mental health. Eventually she finds a copy of the lyrics in a book of erotic poetry from the library; given that she is a self-appointed [[Moral Guardians|moral guardian]], the look on her face as she read it can only be imagined!

** Fans have of course written their own lyrics to Nanny Ogg's songs, some of which were printed in the aptly named fanzine ''The Wizard's Knob''. You really ''don't'' want to read them.

** This creativity on the part of the fans led to a priceless dedication in the UK edition of ''Witches Abroad'': "To all those people - and why not? - who, after the publication of ''Wyrd Sisters'', deluged the author with their version of the words of 'The Hedgehog Song'. Deary deary me..."

** A version of "A Wizard's Staff" appears on the ''From The Discworld'' CD (words by Heather Wood, music by Dave Greenslade).

{{quote|It's in May, it's about sex.}}

{{quote|''Four and twenty virgins

''Came down from Inverness,

''And when the ball was over

''There were four and twenty less.}}

* There's a passing mention in ''[[The Once and Future King]]'' of an old song about an Old King seeing with each verse more and more of a fair maiden. We only hear the (heavily-accented) first verse:

{{quote|''Whe-an Wold King-Cole / was a / wakkin doon-t'street,

''But if you desire dames like consuming flames,

''Try a Caladanin daughter!}}

{{quote|''A Lugard girl, she came to town, to see what she could see.

''With a wink of her eye, and a smile on her lip,

** In that same book, we learn that "the filthiest spacers' song" that Captain Kirk knows is called "The Weird-Looking Thing With [[Extra Eyes|All The Eyes]] And The Asteroid-Miner's Daughter".

** In another of her books, ''Honor Blade'', a Rihannsu song called "The High Queen's Bastard Daughter" is mentioned twice, but no lyrics are given.

* [[Thomas Pynchon]]'s books are ''full'' of these. It's one of his most notable stylistic tendencies. ''Gravity's Rainbow'' actually contains a bawdy song entitled "Bawdy Song".

* In ''[[Harold Shea|The Mathematics of Magic]]'' by L. Sprague deCamp and Fletcher Pratt, [[Harold Shea]] and his companions are captured by [[King Arthur|The Blatant Beast]], and it demands that they recite an epic poem that it hasn't heard before as their ransom for release. The only problem is that the only lengthy poem any of them knows by heart, that the Beast hasn't already heard, is ''[[wikipedia:The Ballad of Eskimo Nell|The Ballad of Eskimo Nell]]''. When they're done, the Beast doesn't say a word and slinks off in embarrassment.

* In both of the first two ''Dream Park'' novels, Gamers keep each others' spirits up while trekking around the Gaming areas with hearty renditions of the likes of "Cats on the Rooftops", the dirtiest verses of "That Real Old Time Religion", and (of course!) "The Ballad of Eskimo Nell". In ''The Barsoom Project'', a modest Gamer bribes another '''not''' to finish singing the latter in mixed company; the bribe-ee promptly starts singing "Kafoozalem" instead.

 

* In an episode of ''[[Hi-de-Hi!]]'', there is panic at the news that Old Partridge, the Punch-and-Judy man who hates children, is singing ''Eskimo Nell'' in front of the dear ickle kiddiwinks.

* In an episode of ''[[Dad's Army]]'', there is reference to Godfrey singing a song about a monk while in the pub.

*** Also, Gabrielle's little ditty in ''Fins, Femmes, and Gems.''

* Parodied on ''[[The Gillies Report]]'' with a 'politically correct' version of ''The Good Ship Venus''. The first verse went:

''By Christ you should've seen us!

''The figurehead

{{quote|''Well, some boys go to college

''But we think they're all wussies

''And we get all the...umpta, umpta, umpta...}}

* In ''[[Bottom]]'', Richie sings this version of [[wikipedia:The Sailor's Hornpipe|The Sailor's Hornpipe]]:

* [[Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds]]' ''Easy Money'' is a narrative about a male prostitute. The lyric "He kissed me on the mouth / His hands they headed south / And my cheek it burned" is too subtle for some to completely give it away.

* Probably the songs Dropkick Murphys are best known for, including "Kiss Me, I'm Shitfaced" and "The Spicy McHaggis Jig" ("Spicy was big, burly, and strong / His pipes were gigantic and so was his schlong / From city to city, running around / Always looking for chicks over [[American Customary Measurements|four hundred pounds]].")

* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXebnJ1D0OU Zombie Prostitute]" and "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Seh8cNirlU8 Cantina]", both by [[Voltaire (musician)|Voltaire]] and neither safe for work.

** "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DYrlt3CyaE Sexy Data Tango]"

* Then there is (are?) [[wikipedia:Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy|"Wit and Mirth: or Pills to Purge Melancholy"]] by Thomas D'Urfey in six volumes, first published between 1698 and 1720. This is a collection of songs, a rather large proportion of which are quite bawdy. Ed McCurdy mined them for much of the contents of his records (LPs) for bawdy songs on the Electra label, starting with "When Dalliance Was In Flower (and Maidens Lost Their Heads)", in three volumes, followed by "Son of Dalliance", and others. The books have been reprinted at least twice, once in 1876 and again in 1959 (in a limited edition). They now seem to be available as print-on-demand books.

* The [[Sex Pistols]]' "Friggin' In The Riggin'" which is perhaps the best-known version of the old song "The Good Ship Venus."

* Carl Orff's ''[[Carmina Burana]]'' is filled with bawdy song, much as the original text was.

* Any number of rap songs, infamously. (Not all are this, but many are.)

 

== [[New Media]] ==

 

== [[Radio]] ==

* A fairly mild verse or two of one of these these (well, compared to some of the others) is used in the radio play ''All Is Calm''. Since everything else in the play is based off of actual historical text from the time period, which is the very beginning of World War One, it's probably legit, but surrounded by all the other Christmas hymns and accounts of trench life it's one of the funniest moments in the entire thing. The loud Christmas songs drowning out the dirty bits of each verse don't help either.

* A skit in ''[[I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again]]'' parodying ''Listen With Mother'' (a BBC children's show) presented a song by an Irish folk group. The show's host, appalled at the song's increasingly-bawdy lyrics, finally cleared the group out of the studio by reminding them that the pubs had just opened (at which point they suddenly stampeded off).

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

''Their romance kindled real fast.

''But when she got him in bed, she found him undead.

 

* Richard Brinsley Sheridan's classic play, ''[[The School for Scandal]]'' (1777) features one of these. It sounds mild today, naturally, due to [[Get Thee to a Nunnery|changing language]] and values.

{{quote|'''Verse:''' Here's to the charmer whose dimples we prize; Now to the maid who has none, sir; Here's to the girl with a pair of blue eyes, And here's to the nymph with but one, sir.

'''Chorus:''' Let the toast pass, Drink to the lass, I warrant she'll prove an excuse for a glass! }}

* In the Australian musical "A Man's Gotta Do What A Man's Gotta Do", the character Muzza recounts his teenage years via masturbation with "The Wanking" (It was free/It was fun/It was more than I'd been banking on)

* In ''[[Hamlet]]'', after Ophelia goes insane, she starts singing these to Hamlet (who broke her heart).

* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'':

** ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion|Oblivion]]'' has "A Less Rude Song". [http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:A_Less_Rude_Song Someone had to transcribe it].

* The [[Sound Off]] "quote" upon building a Network Node in ''[[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]'' is one of these [[Double Entendre|when you]] [[Unusual Euphemism|think about it]]:

{{quote|''I don't know but I've been told

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' "Jagerchorus", while we never hear any of it, is implied to be this - knowing the Jägermonsters, it's a worthy entry in this category.

* ''[[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic]]'' features [http://yafgc.net/comic/0546-meanwhile-at-the-knotty-rose-tavern/ one] [[Famed in Story]]... or in-famed, as the case might be:

{{quote|

'''Bard''': I do, milord. Every last rhyme of it. (rolls eyes) Which is precisely why I ''won't'' be singing it tonight.

(the whole room bursts in laughter) }}

{{quote|She's got shoo-fly pie / Apple pandowdy / Makes your balls rise up and your pecker say howdy / You can huff and you can puff and you can strut your stuff / But you can't eat enough of her wonderful muff!}}

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Sex Tropes]]

[[Category:Music Tropes]]