easy on the bawdy

April 4, 2011 9:41 AM

I'd like to find funny, slightly bawdy songs suitable for teenagers.

In order to expand my songbook and be able to sing intellectually stimulant songs with teenagers involved in esl, I'd like to hear of bawdy songs that their chaste ears could withstand but still find amusing. Well, this question has partially been suggested by this recent question, but also, of course, by the learners' likings (they know an impressive numbers of bawdy songs - or chansons paillardes - in their native language).

That's it - bawdy songs - just not too offensive or suggestive.

posted by nicolin to education (31 answers total)

Shaving Cream
posted by tommasz at 9:42 AM on April 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

I can't find a version of the lyrics on-line that doesn't have horrible pop ups, but maybe the old folk song, "Johnny Be Fair"?
posted by ldthomps at 9:53 AM on April 4, 2011

I don't know about "intellectually stimulating", but I've always loved this bawdy parody of Elvis Presley's Are You Lonesome Tonight?"

Are you lonesome tonight?
Is your brassiere too tight?
Are your corsets just drifting apart?
Are there holes in your vest
Where it touches your chest?
Is your spare tire reaching your heart?
Are your stockings well laddered and your shoes wearing thin?
Do you keep up your knickers with a big safety pin?
Are your teeth old and worn?
Do they slip when you yawn?
Then it's no damn wonder you're lonesome tonight.

Thank you very much [lip snarl].
posted by orange swan at 9:54 AM on April 4, 2011

Oops, ignore my redundant redundancy.
posted by tommasz at 9:57 AM on April 4, 2011

"Entering Marion" by John Forster. It's suggestive, but basically it's just a bunch of signs with town names in Massachusetts.

Phil Harris "The Thing"

Chuck Berry "My Ding-a-ling"
posted by inturnaround at 10:00 AM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

The Scotsman! Song, lyrics
posted by Greg Nog at 10:12 AM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Fluffy Hunter - Walkin' Blues (Walk Right In)
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 10:20 AM on April 4, 2011

I Wanna Kiss Her But ... She Won't Let Me
Polka Dot Undies
The Second Week of Deer Camp

Check out Dr. Demento's compilation CDs, which have pretty much all of the songs listed here and above.
posted by Melismata at 10:22 AM on April 4, 2011

Your students might find Voltaire hilarious. Song examples include "When You're Evil" and "The Man Upstairs." The song style is a bit dancy, a bit klezmer.

Depending on their ages, they might also love Allan Sherman. There's the classic "Hello Muddah Hello Faddah" and "Hail to Thee, Fat Person."
posted by juniperesque at 10:26 AM on April 4, 2011

Seconding Dr. Demento. As a teenager, I loved the cds of his my father got me.
posted by rmless at 10:29 AM on April 4, 2011

Let's Get Naked by the Half Moon Jug Band. A call for world peace through nudity.

Full disclosure: I know these people tangentially. That does not make them any less awesome.
posted by Commander Rachek at 10:32 AM on April 4, 2011

"Lydia the Tattooed Lady" as performed by either Kermit or Groucho.
posted by katemonster at 10:34 AM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

It might be a little too intellectual, but Tom Lehrer has lots of funny songs that involve word play and are fun to sing - and could be described as 'naughty'.

Masochism Tango, Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, Smut, The Vatican Rag might all work. As a plus he speaks pretty clearly and there's only a piano for back-up, so ESLers should have an easier time follow along.
posted by benito.strauss at 10:34 AM on April 4, 2011

You might enjoy the works of Jonathan Coulton.
posted by Pastor of Muppets at 10:35 AM on April 4, 2011

What about Weird Al Yankovic? Allan Sherman's Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah is kind of cute, though kind of annoying.
posted by clever_username at 10:40 AM on April 4, 2011

I think your best bet, if you're doing this as a professional, would be something more along the lines of Santa Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Wouldn't want a parent questioning your choice of song.

On the other hand, I remember loving Irish drinking songs when I was a 15-year-old non-drinker. Unfortunately my favorite Clancy Brothers recordings come with strong accents.

You might also see what the School House Rocks has to offer. Some of the songs, like the Tale of Mr. Morton, are timeless. I've known recent middle schoolers to sing the chorus - they're just too cute not to.
posted by jander03 at 10:41 AM on April 4, 2011

PDQ Bach's Please Kind Sir is a round with a humorous hidden message. (That's the clearest recording I could find, but it can certainly be sung in a bouncier fashion.)

Lyrics: Please, kind sir, that portrait I see,
If that's your daughter present her to me.
Look ... her ... face could launch a thousand ships.
Look ... her ... face could launch a thousand ships.
Thousand ships, thousand ships, thousand ships.

Very well, it can be arranged, if you please.
Sit you down. Make yourself at home
While she's ... up ... dressing. She’ll be down in a jiffy,
She’s ...up ... dressing. She’ll be down in a jiffy.
Jiffy, jiffy, jiffy.
posted by Wulfhere at 10:54 AM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

I sing Just a boy and a girl in a little canoe to much younger kids (with ASL signs too). Otherwise, pub songs and Shel Silverstein's classics (a few mentioned above) were what immediately came to mind.
posted by saucysault at 10:58 AM on April 4, 2011

Master of the House from Les Mis.
posted by travis08 at 11:12 AM on April 4, 2011

Dan Zanes Sea Music
posted by zepheria at 11:36 AM on April 4, 2011

Maybe a little off the wall here, but you might want to check out 18th century drinking songs. They're catchy and they're bawdy, but not in a way that would upset the parents. Plus, you know, history!

Here are the lyrics to one of my favorites.
posted by artemisia at 11:36 AM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Probably way too old and creaky, but - check out the 1920s-1940s songs of Cliff Edwards and George Formby. Both did quite a few songs that were full of innuendo, but in an almost innocent way to today's listeners.
posted by chez shoes at 12:14 PM on April 4, 2011

Tom Lehrer is politically edgy...but "edgy" for his time, which makes him pretty tame today. "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park," "Be Prepared," etc.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:21 PM on April 4, 2011

Bessie Smith's Kitchen Man?
posted by Lou Stuells at 12:50 PM on April 4, 2011

Elsa Lancaster!!!!
posted by IndigoJones at 1:17 PM on April 4, 2011

Miss Lucy Had a Steamboat?
posted by plinth at 2:44 PM on April 4, 2011

The Beautiful South's 'Song for Whoever'
posted by Wantok at 4:43 PM on April 4, 2011

Don't neglect the works of Tom Lehrer. The Masochism Tango, Be Prepared, Smut, maybe even Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.
posted by fings at 7:02 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

It's not really that bawdy but it's fun to sing (especially if you have some good male voices in your class) The Bacchus to Venus line just sounds dirty.

Vive La Compagnie
posted by jaimystery at 7:21 PM on April 4, 2011

The Poxy Boggards' "I Wear No Pants," perhaps?
posted by Jinkeez at 8:05 PM on April 4, 2011

Lots of splendid answers so far. Thanks a lot. What great educational tools !
posted by nicolin at 1:25 AM on April 5, 2011