We’ve previously explored serious songs by goofy bands, but what about the complete opposite? Here we have three rock bands mostly known for more serious work, with moments of fun thrown in. But on these occasions, they took a total break from all that and wrote some ridiculous songs.
“Die Eier von Satan” by Tool
“Die Eier von Satan” (or, “The Balls of Satan”) appeared on Tool’s 1996 album Ænima, and while this hardcore rock band has had other moments of levity, this track took ridiculousness to the extreme. The lyrics are recited in German by Marko Fox of ZAUM, backed by intimidating instrumentals and the sounds of applause and cheering. As the track progresses, the noise gets louder, and the entire thing resembles some sort of militant address or Nazi rally. But, as diehard fans know, the translated lyrics reveal a recipe for eggless Mexican wedding cookies.
“Friggin’ in the Riggin’” by Sex Pistols
“Friggin’ in the Riggin’” appeared on the album for the Sex Pistols mockumentary The Rock and Roll Swindle, released in 1980. The film tells a fictionalized story of the rock band, from formation to commercial rise to break-up, but mostly from the perspective of their manager, Malcolm McLaren. It’s an odd little piece of Sex Pistols history, but it gave fans a rendition of a classic sea shanty. Way before TikTok brought pirate music back to the mainstream, the Sex Pistols recorded one of the most recognizable covers of “Good Ship Venus”. The band altered some lyrics here and there, but the original shanty still described the, shall we say, more salacious happenings of daily ship life.
“No Anchovies, Please” by The J. Geils Band
Before The J. Geils Band found renewed commercial success with the 1981 album Freeze Frame, they released Love Stinks, which included the ridiculous song “No Anchovies, Please”. This is a love song, essentially, in a roundabout way. It tells the story of a young wife waiting for her husband to return home. She then finds a phone number in a can of anchovies. This leads to her being stolen from her home, wrapped in cellophane, and put on a plane. She wakes up in a “strange, foreign-speaking nation,” introduced by a backmasked lyric.
Eventually, she is betrayed by scientists who transmogrify her into some secret object. Meanwhile, her husband is at the bar watching Bowling for Dollars on TV. In the final verse, we learn what secret object his wife has been turned into. Terrified, the husband exclaims, “Oh my God! That bowling ball! It’s my wife!”
Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns
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