Christmas Parodies Step by Step

So, with the season of Christmas parodies, you may be wondering how to make a Christmas carol.

Yeah, I know this is probably a little late for your classes, but if it is late, you at least have something for you to do next Christmas. Thank you year-end obligations and Star Wars: The Force Awakens for making my holiday season interesting.

For fun, you may first want to look at some parodies of carols in English and perhaps use them.

One kind of parody is the changing of lyrics while keeping the rest of the song. For examples of this, classic parody lyrics from MAD Magazine are an excellent source. My favorite is this collection.

Another kind of parody is one not of a particular song but of the entire genre. This kind of parody is sometimes called a pastiche. A good example is Tom Lehrer’s “A Christmas Carol,” which mixes pastiche with brief song parodies. Hear Tom Lehrer sing it and consult the transcript of the entire bit he did.

Now you are in the Christmas parody spirit, so you can find some ways of approaching the parody.

One way to do this is to bring in the original and have students compare it to a parody. Find opposites or differences. I recommend going over the original on its own, to identify its overall feeling and attitude. Brainstorm how students can change the lyrics to make the song funny.

First, identify features of the song or genre you wish to parody. Look at the actual serious song first. You will notice key words and important themes. In the case of some Christmas songs, there is a lot about being old-fashioned and simple. Also, many songs have a soft touch to them. I recommend “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”

Second, identify key phrases or words you want to imitate from the original. So, for example, look at the Mad Magazine parodies. “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” becomes “Hark! The Carol Singers Choke.”

Bring in the parody and ask questions to the students to contrast it. In this case, they can make a simple chart. Example:

	“Hark, the Herald Angels Sing”	“Hark, the Carol Singers Choke”
Content	Angels singing to the baby Jesus	Carolers dealing with pollution
Emotions	Reverent and peaceful	Dark and unhealthy
Opposites	Soft and traditional	Harsh and modern
Etc.	Calls people to praise Jesus	Warns people of the dangers of pollution

(By the way, this is an example. If you would rather do this with a different song, then just notice the approach and pattern and apply this to that situation.)

Next, notice how the song is built around that phrase. It describes the whole song, which is all about dealing with pollution while singing Christmas songs. Often parodies revolve around the parody song’s title. A parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” called “Eat It,”  is a good example.

Then point out the features of a good song parody:

1. It’s never too long, just long enough to communicate the idea, then it finishes.

2. It imitates the structure, phrases, rhythm, and rhyme scheme as much as possible.

On the second point, do not ask them to be so close that they lose track of the premise of their song. The premise is more important than imitating the original song.

Now you can give them other famous Christmas songs that they may know already. From these, they can make a parody in small groups, in pairs, or solo.

Then, of course, the students can share their work.

And that's all for now. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

-- Roger