This Is a Song: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

A song that is, at least partially, about itself.

When [[Medium Awareness]] meets music. There are quite a few songs in which the lyrics explicitly reference the fact that... well, it's a song. However, since listing every example that does this would be practically impossible, this trope limits the range to songs that don't just [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|break the fourth wall]], but, in fact, are pretty much all about the fact that they're songs.

 

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

 

* [[Mystery Science Theater 3000]] made one for ''[[Fugitive Alien]]'': [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juvKrcMWXKc This is the song written for the train chase...]

* The [[Title Theme Tune]] of ''[[It's Garry Shandling's Show]]''.

* [[Fresh Prince of Bel Air|Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped turned upside down...]]

 

== Music ==

* In Markoolio's song ''Nostalgi'', the verses are about nostalgia. The refrain, however, is an argument where Markoolio sings that he want the song to have a refrain - and the chorus sing a [[They Just Didn't Care]] message about how he shouldn't bother because they can just record one later.

* "Just a Song About Ping Pong" by Operator Please.

* [[Leonard Cohen]]' "Hallelujah" spells its own chord progression.

* "Don't Download This Song" by [["Weird Al" Yankovic]].

* Molly and the Tinker's "The Anti-Singalong Song" is a song about [[Mind Screw|the act of]] ''[[Self-Demonstrating Article|singing]]'' [[Post Modernism|"The Anti-Singalong Song"]]. [[Logic Bomb|Or rather, about refusing to sing it.]]

* "So Far, So Bad" by Five Iron Frenzy. "They won't play this song on the radio. (So far, so bad. That's how it goes.) They'll pull our record from the shelves."

* ''I Write the Songs'' by Barry Manilow is the [[Trope Codifier]].

* From ''I'm Lucky'' by Jim's Big Ego:

''The best darned food in the world,''

''It's called [[Rule of Three|Chick-Chick-Chicken]] and Corn.'' }}

{{quote|''And you can tell everybody''

''This is your song.'' }}

{{quote|''I've taken enough of your time with this stuff,''

''And all without a change of key.''

''You'll come looking for the light''

''And it won't be there'' }}

{{quote|''I couldn't tell you that I was wrong,''

''Chickened out, grabbed a pen and a paper, sat down and I wrote this song.'' }}

''The same as the first.''

''I forgot the words again.'' }}

{{quote|''Well, I thought I'd write a little song,''

''So I wrote a little song.''

''Trying to write a song an' stuff,''

''And I decided to keep on singing 'till I had had enough.'' }}

* Carly Simon presents a [[Logic Bomb]] in ''You're So Vain''.

{{quote|''You prob'ly think this song is about you.''}}

* [[Five Iron Frenzy]], "So Far, So Bad":

{{quote|''Don't worry what this song would say,

* [[The Beatles|Ringo Starr]], "This Be Called a Song".

* [[Pet Shop Boys]]' "All Over The World":

''When you're sad, when you're lonely & it all turns out wrong.'' }}

* "Kill The Director" by The Wombats

* "Track #10" by the Procussions. The lyrics consist solely of variations on ''"This is track number ten!"''

* "The Song Of No-involvement" by [[Skyclad]].

''Take it, don't turn away'' }}

** Also "Leaves That Are Green"

* "This is the Hook" by Deadmau5, which sounds something like an electronica-backed DJing lesson.

{{quote|''Now it is time for the breakdown.''

''So baby, if you want, you can sing along''

''But this ain’t no love song'' }}

* Darryl Rhoades and the Hahavishnu Orchestra's "This Song is Boring" lampshades itself with not only the words repeated ad infinitum but the same guitar riff over and over. }}

* "This Is My Song," written by Sir Charles Chaplin for his 1966 movie ''A Countess From Hong Kong'' and performed by Petula Clark.

* This portion of the last verse from [[The Beatles]]' "I Will":

{{quote|''This iiisss - the Very Happy Ending Song !''

''It's a happy, clappy ending song, it's a bit too long,''

''Some other bands try to write serious songs''

''But we'll just have a ball'' }}

* [[Sparks]]' "Strange Animal" is about someone escaping the police by somehow walking into a song, although it's never quite specified that it's the song you're now hearing. At one point he begins to criticize the very song he's now part of ("But this song lacks a heart \ comes off overly smart"), and in the end it seems that he murders everyone else in the song and tries to change it into something more to his liking ("You're in need of a fix \ of a total remix \ so I must kill you all").

* The lyrics to King Crimson's song "Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With" from their album "The Power to Believe" is filled with this trope. Here is a sample:

* ''Wild Swimming'' by Martha Tilston contains a verse in which she tells the person to whom the song is directed, that she plans to write a song about him, in which she will compare him to wild swimming. That song is, presumably, the one being sung.

* [[Vanessa Amorosi]]: "Heres your fucking song" on "I Thought We'd Stay Together".

 

== Theatre ==

* Several songs in ''[[Spamalot]]'' fall under this, most notably ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tldP-seoQX8 The Song That Goes Like This]''.

* "Poppa's Blues" from ''[[Starlight Express]]''.

{{quote|''The first line of the blues is always sung a second time

{{quote|''It's the opening song

 

== Web Comics ==

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', Sarah's cellphone has [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2008-12-03 this] little gem:

{{quote|* this is a ringtone song... ringing all the--*}}

 

== Web Original ==

* ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' has "Secret Song", the secret song on the ''Strong Bad Sings'' CD, which is a love song sung by Homestar directed toward... the secret song.

* Half the songs on ''[[Commentary! The Musical]]'', but particularly ''Ten Dollar Solo'', as seen in the page quote.

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[My Life as a Teenage Robot]]'' has ''This is the Song That Goes On Forever'', in a parody of the aforementioned ''Song That Doesn't End''.

* The final line of the [[Title Theme Tune]] of ''[[Jimmy Neutron]]'' is:

[[Category:Score and Music Tropes]]

[[Category:Music Tropes]]