Lily E. Hirsch's "Taking Funny Music Seriously"

Lily E. Hirsch is a musicologist and author. Her books include Can't Stop the Grrrls: Confronting Sexist Labels in Music from Ariana Grande to Yoko Ono; Weird Al: Seriously; and Insulting Music: A Lexicon of Insult in Music.

Hirsch applied the "Page 99 Test" to her new book, Taking Funny Music Seriously, and reported the following:

Classical music as a game, with a sportscaster and referee? A piece of music that pits instruments against each other, the brass players making fun of the woodwind players? That’s what the reader gets on page 99, in a chapter about humor in and around classical music. The chapter spotlights the work of late composer Peter Schickele, who made music as the factitious son of J.S. Bach, named P.D.Q. Bach. And his music didn’t just upend classical norms; his performance did too. On page 99, I quote Schickele, who I was lucky to interview before his death: “Swinging in on a rope is a great way to start a show, but it sure is scary to do.” I can only imagine what J.S. Bach would think if he knew a man would one day perform as his son, appearing on stage like Tarzan, minus the jungle.

This small window into Taking Funny Music Seriously gives the reader a fair sense of the book as well as the hilarious details sprinkled throughout—many of which I learned by interviewing some of the very best funny musicians around, including the reclusive Tom Lehrer. Of course, I wouldn’t want anyone to think, based on this single page, that the book as a whole focuses only on classical music. Humor is everywhere in music of every type and genre. For that reason, the book has different chapters focused on different genres as well as different topics in song, including love songs and songs about death. And all of this musical comedy is both “just a joke” and so much more. After all, as funny musician Insane Ian told me, in one of my favorite lines in the book, “Anyone can write a love song. Only a comedy musician can write a love song—about a taco.” Not only that, funny music often has a serious point and may just save your life, providing solace and psychological uplift in times of stress. Laughter really is the very best medicine, right after actual medicine.

On page 99, I explain that Schickele was initially Swarthmore’s only music major. Is it surprising that he then became a man who never was? Given all the benefits of and challenges in humorous music, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised; we should just be grateful.

Visit Lily E. Hirsch's website.

--Marshal Zeringue