Photos from Alden's "Preposterous Parodies" songwriting residencies

Margaret Brent ES students write parodies, May 2018

Songs: God's Plan by Drake; Colors by the Haschack Sisters.

I had a great time at Margaret Brent ES writing parodies this month! They wrote great lyrics in only 3 class sessions, which is really short -- I was impressed. The fourth graders (seen in the photo warming up with my magnet songwriting challenge) wrote parodies about weather and natural disasters for one song, and the book The Birchbark House for the other. Thanks to Mr. Smith and Ms. Rogers for welcoming me in!

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Survival parody of Colors by Ms Roger's class

Verse 1:
She’s blue
Some days she don’t feel like doing her chores
Then she’s red
Chopping down wood with all of her friends
Then she’s green
People might get jealous of what she thinks
But that’s her
She’s all of these things

Pre-chorus:
Omakayas is sad about
How Neewo got sick and died
But she found her inner strength
Say i-it, out lou-oud
Like a rainy day out of the clouds
She let her heart shine
Life didn’t get her down down down

Chorus:
It’s all in survival, survival survival
Survival with you, ooh ooh ooh
Smallpox is making it hard 
The whole winter through, ooh ooh ooh
All of it started with a little sneeze
And it turned out to be a whole disease
Survival, survival, survival
Survival with you, ooh-ooh, ah-ah

Verse 2:
Sometimes she works fields
Having hard shifts is really a risk
Trying to hunt food
Then Big Knife came, everything changed
Then they all got sick
Smallpox spread as fast as a fox
Neewo passed away
Ten Snow died the same
      
Pre-chorus:
Omakayas is sad about
How Neewo got sick and died
But she found her inner strength
Say i-it, out lou-oud
Like rainy day out of the clouds
She let her heart shine
Life didn’t get her down down down

Chorus:
It’s all in survival, survival survival
Survival with you, ooh ooh ooh
Smallpox is making it hard 
The whole winter through, ooh ooh ooh
All of it started with a little sneeze
And it turned out to be a whole disease
Survival, survival, survival
Survival with you, ooh-ooh, ah-ah


Bridge:  
Oh,Oh Omakayas its almost done
Got to get through this got to get through Biboon(Winter)
Just know Neewo is gonna be ok
Ten snows coming right his way, his way

Chorus:
It’s all in survival, survival survival
Survival with you, ooh ooh ooh
Smallpox is making it hard 
The whole winter through, ooh ooh ooh
All of it started with a little sneeze
And it turned out to be a whole disease
Survival, survival, survival
Survival with you, ooh-ooh, ah-ah

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Natural Disasters, parody of God’s Plan by Drake
[Intro]
They missing and missing and missing and missing
And missing on me

[Verse 1]
I’m just wind but everybody scared of me
When I hit your house all your stuff will hit the street
I come at any time so be prepared for me
Get in your car and drive down 83
I don’t wanna spin like a beyblade  
Flying through the air and smashed in a tree. 
Tornadoes spin around like they are free 
When a tornado hit it kills everybody.

[Chorus 1]
Natural (pause) Disaster
It’s a terrible disaster
You can run away faster
Did you hear the forecaster?
Earthquake coming to kill us 
You might fall into the earth’s crust 
All the shaking make the dust, ay

[Post-Chorus] 
And feel 
Feel me 
When I come around the city
they missing and missing and missing and missing
And missing on me
And feel 
Feel me 
When I come around the city 
they missing and missing and missing and missing
And missing on me
Yuh, ayy, ayy


[Verse 2]
Hurricane is coming so you better run hardly
I only love my basement and food I’m so sorry
Dangerous, I even got it tatted on me
Hurricanes are crashers to the party
Death chose me
Katrina was the killer back in 03, dog
Without water vapor there’d be no me
Imagine if I lived through it partly

[Chorus 2]

Hurricane (pause) hurricane

I can't stop it on my own

Someone watchin' the nadoes

I've started as a baby volcano, ayy,, ayy

Might go outside today., yeah, wait

I destroy every beach in the east

My destruction is complete,, yuh




[Post-Chorus]

And feel 
Feel me 
When I come around the city
they missing and missing and missing and missing
And missing on me
And feel 
Feel me 
When I come around the city 
they missing and missing and missing and missing
And missing on me
Yuh, ayy, ayy

 

Wyngate ES April 2018 - Parody songs about habitats!

It was another great year writing parodies with the excellent teachers and students at Wyngate Elementary School in Bethesda MD! They focused on several different habitats for our topic.

Songs used: Thunder; Feel it Still; Whatever It Takes; Best Day of My Life; Rockabye

Tundra - parody of Thunder by Imagine Dragons

Written by Mrs. Elgin’s class

Verse 1   Tundra (climate)

Verse 2   Jungle (climate)

Verse 3   Tundra (animals and plants)

Verse 4   Jungle (animals and plants)

Chorus compare and contrast and characteristics of habitats

Verse 1

In the Tundra, not much lives there

Empty hillsides with no warm air

It’s the neighbor to the arctic

Let’s leave this dreary place behind

Verse 2

Not a frozen zone

But I’m on my own

Cocoa beans in the rain

Take a whack at a coconut

I’ll tell you what let’s build a tree hut

Tundra, tundra Tundra, tun', tundra

Jun-jun-jungle, jungle, jungle

Tundra, tun', tundra, Jun-jun-jungle, jungle

Tundra, feel the freezing

Arctic hares in the summer

Jungle, hear the monkey

Living in the jungle

Jungle, tundra, jungle

Verse 3

Tons of creatures in the freezing

Wolves and bunnies are calmly sleeping

Where do you think they are?

In their caves watching the North Star.

Verse 4

You be the tiger, you be the King

The Panther’s crucial, It’s mysterious

You may discover new trees

Passion flowers are astounding

Tundra, tundra Tundra, tun', tundra

Jun-jun-jungle, jungle, jungle

Tundra, tun', tundra, Jun-jun-jungle, jungle

Tundra, feel the freezing

Arctic hares in the summer

Jungle, hear the monkey

Living in the jungle

Tundra, feel the freezing

Arctic hares in the summer

Tundra, feel the freezing

Arctic hares in the summer

Jungle, hear the monkey

Living in the jungle

Tundra, feel the freezing

Arctic hares in the summer

Jungle, hear the monkey

Living in the jungle

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Harsh Habitats - parody of Best Day of My Life by American Authors

Written by Mrs. Farrell’s class

Verse 1

The sun does not move very much

The snow is freezing to the touch

The A- a- a- r--artic

A- a- a- r--artic

The summers there are not so long

But flowers still  can come along

The A- a- a- r--artic

A- a- a- r--artic

pre-chorus:

A seals running through the snow

Wha-at, A polar bear’s chasing him

Oh-no please don’t eat me now

chorus: Arctic/ Desert

Burn- burrrrrrn

It’s  gonna be hottest day of my life

In the de-ee-sert

Brr, brrr, brrr

It’s gonna be the coldest day of my life

In the Arrr-tic

verse 2:

The scorching desert full with sand

One second there you’ll get a tan

De--ee--ee- sert

De--ee--ee- sert

Animals can camouflage

It’s so hot you’ll see mirage

De--ee--ee- sert

De--ee--ee- sert

Pre-chorus 2

Scorpion gonna sting me

Ow, a rattlesnake’ll bite me

Yow, Please don’t hurt me now

chorus: Arctic/ Desert

Burn- burrrrrrn

It’s  gonna be hottest day of my life

In the de-ee-sert

Brr, brrr, brrr

It’s gonna be the coldest day of my life

In the Arrr-tic

bridge:

I feel the coldness in my soul

Temperature goes down low low

There’s little rainfall

Chance of plants is so small

No people there at all, all

chorus:

Burn- burrrrrrn

It’s  gonna be hottest day of my life

In the de-ee-sert

Brr, brrr, brrr

It’s gonna be the coldest day of my life

In the Arrr-tic

coda:

This is gonna be, this is gonna be, this is gotta be

The hottest day of my life

Everything is heating up, everybody’s cold now

This is gonna be the coldest day of my life

Harsh habi-tat-ats

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There’s Too Many Snakes - parody of Whatever it Takes by Imagine Dragons written by Mr. Higgins’s class

verse 1:

It’s way too murky to see through this

Alligators extremely dangerous

Water lilies blooming, it’s hard to resist

Turtle shell carapace

verse 2:

The antelopes dashing quickly on the land

Cheetahs and lions want the upper hand

Giraffes trotting on the scorching plains

Wildfire flames, destroys the plains

Pre-chorus:

Chomp, chomp

Chase you like a cheetah

I’m king of the grasslands

You’re not enough for me

Scaley, smiley croc, croc

Queen of the swamp, swamp

Food chain? We’re the top, top

You’re not enough for me

Chorus:

There’s too many snakes

Slithering in the dry grassland plains

Don’t bite me for pe- ete’s sake

While the vultures devour ree-mains

There’s still many snakes

The crocs catch the prey their ready for

A bunch of swamp snakes

The crocodiles come out when it rains

There’s too many snakes

verse 3:

Always had a fear of water snakes

Slithering in the weed’s after lonely drakes

Tangled in the vines everytime the sun bakes

Fish get caught, with a cruel fate

Verse 4:

Lion catching deer in the darkest night

Kangaroos jumping into our plain sight

Gazelles and cheetahs have a savage fight

Sun is blazing bright, sun is spreading light

Pre-chorus

Chomp, chomp

Chase you like a cheetah

I’m king of the grasslands

You’re not enough for me

Scaley, smiley croc, croc

Queen of the swamp, swamp

Food chain? We’re the top, top

You’re not enough for me

Chorus

There’s too many snakes

Slithering in the dry grassland plains

Don’t bite me for pe- ete’s sake

While the vultures devour ree-mains

There’s still many snakes

The crocs catch the prey their ready for

A bunch of swamp snakes

The crocodiles come out when it rains

There’s too many snakes

Bridge:

Covered in the swamp, stay cool in the pool

Crawling round the thick mud silently to get some fuel

Silently sneaking on their prey in the very dark nights

Stalking their prey in the dead night, ready for a bite

Hiding in the high water

Ready to jump and kill some fish for all my daughters

I love this area, but it can’t get any hotter

I had a huge dinner of medium well gazelle

Although I can fight well

I prefer to laze in the river and sleep all day

I have been outside all day with no fresh water

There’s too many snakes

Chorus

There’s too many snakes

Slithering in the dry grassland plains

Don’t bite me for pe- ete’s sake

While the vultures devour ree-mains

There’s still many snakes

The crocs catch the prey their ready for

A bunch of swamp snakes

The crocodiles come out when it rains

There’s too many snakes

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Habitats - parody of Rockabye by Clean Bandit written by Ms. Hum’s class

Verse 1:

High in the trees hear the monkeys

jaguars hunt down little mammals in the darkest trees

Toucans lay high in the canopy

All on their own the birds will come

Berries are yummy (rainforests)

Pre-chorus:

Woodlands leaves fall down

whenever all of the leaves turn brown

Snow piling up on the cold ground

Rainforests never will freeze

It’s raining so hard, you know, it’s gonna be another strong flood

You better hold on to a tree, bud

The rainforests has tropical trees

Chorus:

So, habitats baby, habitats

Trees full of vines

Pesky, annoying little gnats

Don’t you start whining

Habitats baby, habitats

Trees full of vines

Pesky, annoying little gnats

Habitats, no (habitats-habi-habi-habitats) oh

Habitats, yea, yea (habitats-habi-habi-habitats)

Bridge:

Predators, whatchu doin out there?

Chewing the leg of an innocent deer

Jaguars are leaping without no fear

Gorillas roaring like the sound of typhoons

Wolves are always howling at the moon

Alligators love living in lagoons

Grizzly bears can always give off big scares

and sometimes we think that is not fair

Awooooo predators disappear

Camouflage their bodies everywhere

Gray foxes tearing meat off their prey all the time everyday

Predators kill day by day

Verse 2:

Foxes chasing down their prey,

so they can get some food

to feed their kits in the day

The vines are hard to find

Trees are tall, they touch the sky

1st 4 lines of Pre-chorus:

Pre-chorus:

leaves fall down

whenever all of the leaves turn brown

Snow piling up on the cold ground

Rainforests never will freeze

Chorus

So, habitats baby, habitats

Trees full of vines

Pesky, annoying little gnats

Don’t you start whining

Habitats baby, habitats

Trees full of vines

Pesky, annoying little gnats

Habitats, no (habitats-habi-habi-habitats) oh

Habitats, yea, yea (habitats-habi-habi-habitats)

Verse 2:

Foxes chasing down their prey,

so they can get some food

to feed their kits in the day

The vines are hard to find

Trees are tall, they touch the sky

Pre-chorus:

Woodlands leaves fall down

whenever all of the leaves turn brown

Snow piling up on the cold ground

Rainforests never will freeze

It’s raining so hard, you know, it’s gonna be another strong flood

You better hold on to a tree, bud

The rainforests has tropical trees

Chorus

So, habitats baby, habitats

Trees full of vines

Pesky, annoying little gnats

Don’t you start whining

Habitats baby, habitats

Trees full of vines

Pesky, annoying little gnats

Habitats, no (habitats-habi-habi-habitats) oh

Habitats, yea, yea (habitats-habi-habi-habitats)

Coda:

Animals high, animals low

Where the plants grow, when prey is slow

predators go, hunting you know

Animals help each other to grow

Spider monkeys, fruits they throw

Tigers roar to scare their foe and now you know

Spider monkeys, fruits they throw

Animals help each other grow

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Is It Living? parody of Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man written by Ms. Worley’s class

Verse 1:

The Ocean’s filled with fish

Ocean’s waving round, making a humongous swish

bright coral reef will shine in the sun

Blue whales weigh a ton

Chorus 1:

Ooh whoo. I’m a starfish in the ocean

Ocean water flowing with a graceful motion

In the jungle now, see me running around

Ooh woo, I’m hidden in the sea now

Let me hunt it like it’s 1986 meow

I might be a baby but I still have fangs

Verse 2:

Mama panda with her cub

Living in the rainforest, by the lovely waterfall

King Cobra climbing up

Is that tiger eating you up?

Chorus 1:

Ooh whoo. I’m a starfish in the ocean

Ocean water flowing with a graceful motion

In the jungle now, see me running around

Ooh woo, I’m hidden in the sea now

Let me hunt it like it’s 1986 meow

I might be a baby but I still have fangs

Bridge:

Shark’ll bite you on the knee (pause)

If the black sea’s where you’re swimming

Be careful of that jellyfish

Start stinging all it’s enemies

In the rainforest we are dangerous

I will give you a tip

Snakes in the jungle spit ve-nom from their fangs

Don’t bother it!

Is it living? (5x)

Is it living still?

Chorus 2:

Ooh woo, lots of animals and plants, now

Millions of ants are creeping up your pants, ow

Countless schools of fish visiting the reef

Ooh woo, lots of animals and plants, now

Seeing monkeys in trees in my dreams, wow

Countless schools of fish visiting the reef

Ooh woo, lots of animals and plants, now

Millions of ants are creeping up your pants, ow

Countless schools of fish visiting the reef

Rainforests and Oceans

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