Funny Songs: Lighten Up, Morrissey

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Today’s song is a double whammy. First, you’ve never heard it most likely. Secondly, you most likely won’t understand what I find so freaking funny about it. But this one also almost made the top ten. In terms of humor, it’s one of the funniest songs on the list. Lighten Up, Morrissey - Sparks Ah, good ol’ Morrissey. The lyricist and songwriter for The Smiths made being miserable a profession. If you aren’t familiar with the discography of The Smiths, I can explain them with the title of one song: “Girlfriend in a Coma.” The complete antithesis of that approach is Sparks. Their album covers show where they’re coming from, usually with keyboardist Ron Mael being the brunt of a joke (like a pie in the face or playing a pregnant bride). If you know of them, it’s probably because of their 1982 hit “Cool Places” with Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go’s, my frequent use of their stuff here, or Paul McCartney’s impersonation of Ron in the “Coming Up” video. They’re always having fun, and here it comes at Morrissey’s expense. After going through a list of things that a girl doesn’t like in the narrator because it’s not “Morrisseyesque,” (“she won’t dine out with me, say my t-bone steak as at fault” [a reference to The Smiths’ “Meat Is Murder”]) Russell Mael pleads with the singer to “lighten up.” And their video, with dancers having Morrissey heads, makes this even funnier. There are songs that occasionally roast someone brilliantly. This one is dang near perfect. Lighten Up, Morrissey Written by Ron and Russell Mael Recorded by Sparks From Exotic Creatures of the Deep, 2008 Says it’s way, way to masculine: